How Does the Office 'Work' Now?

10 Ways to Design the Post Pandemic Workplace

The COVID-19 global pandemic has had a profound impact not only on our working lives; it has fundamentally changed where people work, and why. Many offices around the globe are currently underutilized, and we know that Working from Home (WFH) is here to stay in some capacity. The corporate office still has a role to play, however it is vastly different than ever before. How each company deals with this will be unique, and it will be dependent upon their own individual culture, technology platform and business environment.  

The work we do at Futurespace has always been focused on the future. Our purpose centres around helping business (of all scales and sizes) to get the most out of their environment, and helping them to navigate the challenges they may be facing related to culture, environment and technology. Now more than ever this focus is top of mind for many organisations. Following are some of the things we recommend our clients consider when assessing how their workspace is currently performing, and how they’d like it to perform in the future:

1.      The Working Week will Change: the standard working week of Monday til Friday 9am to 5pm is no longer relevant. This has been evolving for many years, but it is now finally a thing of the past. Hours, working times and working days are all up for grabs in the new post pandemic world of work.

2.     Elevating the Role of Technology: Virtual tools and technology have a bigger role to play, not only in supporting how we work, but how we truly connect, build relationships and empathise with each other virtually, especially in instances when face to face can be a less desirable option.

3.     Culture drives Success: More than ever, the culture of an organisation will determine people’s workplace experience. The physical environment will need to underpin this. Culture drives loyalty, shared purpose and the capacity of an organisation to thrive.

4.     100% Wellbeing: From ergonomics to mindfulness to resilience, physical fitness and mental health – these will play an even bigger role in the future culture of a business – and we will be prioritising mental, emotional and physical health when it comes to our workspaces.

5.     Authentic Leadership: Leadership is entering a new era post COVID-19. It will be more relationship based – where leaders are genuine, can share openly with their teams and create an overlap of personal and professional networks that leads to new concepts of teamwork and trust.

6.     Future-Ready Workplace: It is entirely likely that we will face future pandemics in our lifetime. Workplace design will need to consider this, and intelligent workplace designs will factor in the ability to quickly convert a physical space to one that can cope with any sort of health emergency.

7.      Mental Agility vs Behavioural Inertia: – The rapid and unprecedented shutting down of the world early in 2020 forced everyone to adopt behaviours they’d been resisting for years, creating a new openness and mental agility. The businesses that will survive and thrive are the ones with a new mental agility – supporting innovation, creativity and a growth mindset.

8.     Compelling Work and Places; many organisations are now blending Working From Home with Working from the office, which means there now has to be a damn good reason to leave the comfort of home and travel to a large city office. The ‘why’ of an organisation’s people coming together will be fundamental.

9.     Curation of Space and Data Metrics; individuals and teams will split their working days between the tasks preferably done in the office with tasks preferably done at home. Teams may rotate or stagger when they come into the office, meaning booking systems, apps and sensor technology will play an increasingly important role in management of environments and teams.

10.  Collaborate, Focus and Socialise; these have long been the three main reasons why people come to a workplace. Post 2020 however, the emphasis on what is done in an office continues to evolve, and teams and individuals are seeking office spaces that support greater Collaboration and Social connections; Focussed work is predominantly done at home.