Working Environment - Home and Office Working

In the different time, we are all going through, I have been thinking about what the future will be like and seeing what the implications might be for the working at home style, and how we can improve this situation for the benefit of the person, company and environment.

I see this time as an opportunity for all of us, to understand more about how lighting can help us in our daily lives. As working from home is more important now, I wonder if we have also been as forthright about making sure our employees have the right lighting in their home as we might in the office space. We know that the right lighting will benefit the employee and rise their productivity which has a benefit for the company, a happier workforce will create a better working practice. But as we are distancing ourselves from each other, are we continuing to make sure the employees have the best environment for their work and tasks?

There is more and more talk about the how to work while at home and a lot of reports talking about the mental health of the people doing this work. But I have not seen much in the way of the right lighting in place to support the employee. This seems to be a forgotten element and worry that some employers, although want to support their team don’t want to talk about it as it will complicate matters more.

The solution is to offer the team some advice on the best location while working in their home with some images showing the type of light to be used and the location of that fixture.

I am sure that when we start to return to some sort of normal, that it will be different. I see that the traditional working space, will need to be far more flexible and the members of the teams will want to be able to work at home a lot more. This will give them the freedom to create a work pattern that is far more beneficial to them and the company they work for. When the team needs to “get together” they can do so at the more flexible spaces of the modern working spaces. These spaces need to be ultimately more flexible not only in the terms of desk space, but the environments that the people will work in. So why not have a lighting system that can adjust for a team member when they are at a desk space. If they prefer more blue around their space of desk them make sure that it can happen for them, I can design a system that when a person logs into a system, that the lighting around their desk changes to be the best for them. This will be of benefit for everyone and adjustable if they have a need in their working environment. Plus, the company will be able to reduce their floor space as some members of the team can work at home just as well, instead of being in the office. I hope that one thing we will be able to take from this time is that the working environment should be about the person not about the need to have some in an office. We should also see a reducing on travel by cars and other forms of transport to and from the office, so the environment will benefit.

The interaction between all people will become more technology based and the way that meetings are presented will rely a lot more on the presentation from a distance. I.e. the presenter will be in a studio and this will come out to all the participants, this level of presentation will introduce new visions, in the way of a lot more scene setting will be needed. The presentation of these sessions will become very important, as the viewer can be easily distracted while being part of the online presentation. To be able to deliver a message that is engaging and informative, but also keeps the level of interest is very important. I have been part of several online webinars and meetings and the presenter, may be very good that the skills they process, but if they don’t present in an interesting way can lead to attention being lost during the session.

Real time media servers and content providers companies will be a good starting place for anyone who want to engage with the advanced technology. They can provide the tools to put together a interesting and engaging presentation and help with the technology in getting your message to the right people.

I am Chris Watts of Chris Watts Lighting Design, an international lighting design practice. I have been designing lighting schemes for over 40 years. I am an advocate of emotional and digital lighting design that creates emotional responses to spaces and situations. Please contact me for more information on creating a good environment and the companies who can help with the process..

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