What have we learned about working from home?

One of the big takeaways from this experience is that working from home is not quite as simple as taking home your laptop and dialling in for your weekly meeting. The trends and behaviours that are emerging now are showing us that people’s requirements are vastly different. When we look at how we are working, the concept of working from a café or a coffee shop that takes us out of the office is not all that new. While that isn’t true for all employees, it’s a certainly a shift which has sparked debate over the types of environments that we work from.

I’m speaking to experts from all areas of the industry to ask their opinions on what this means for the workplace. This week I spoke to Mark Catchlove, Insight Group Director at Herman Miller to get his take on how this experience could change our working habits.

How are you dealing with working from home? Both personally as well as having your colleagues and clients work from home.

Personally, I am officially based from home, but I rarely spend more than one day a week working there. My normal week usually involves a lot of travel, so this is hugely different for me – and especially my wife. She is now wondering who this strange man is, who is sitting on the sofa every night! We have run a series of webinars, and whilst it is obvious that people are mastering the technology better as we move forward, many don’t have enough, or the right space at home to set up for work. This is especially the case where more than one person is now working from home. I have seen many people who have based themselves in a child’s bedroom!

Do you think people find working from home, or indeed other environments, better than going to the office?

We are all different, living in a variety of circumstances, and with different make ups and personalities. Therefore, some will have found this to have been the experience they always dreamed of, whereas others will be struggling with lack of social interaction. For me – I could not do this all day and every day when we come out of this. I will be straight back to our showroom – especially as it is currently undergoing a major refurbishment.

Are we still going to need physical offices if people can prove they can work effectively from home?

I think some people’s productivity will improve, but others will struggle and feel a sense of failing to manage. I don’t think it’s binary. I do think that in many companies, working for home will become more acceptable and add to the options of places where they work. The reason we go to an office will be questioned more and more.

What do you think this forced working from home period will teach us about workers and the ways in which we communicate/collaborate?

If people need to work from home, then they need both the right tech to support them, the right management culture as well as the right space and set up. I think companies often asked people to work from home without considering their wellbeing – I think that has changed

How will this mass working from home experience shape opinions on what we place importance on within working environments?

Commentators better than I have varying views on this – many can’t agree. The one thing I do believe is that companies will start to ask more questions. However – from experience – many companies will also revert to how things were – because “that’s how we’ve always done it.”

If you are interested in hearing more about the ideas Mark has shared, or joining one of the webinars mentioned in the interview, you can find a list of Herman Miller webinars here: https://www.hminsightgroup.com/HMEvents.html