Google and Alphabet are putting their bets down on at least some in-person work assignments, coming this September, and Twitter and Facebook figure that the work-from-home paradigm shift will be a permanent trend.  

Research from SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management) displays that at least 27% of business intend to bring all staff members back to work premises when the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more widespread. 34% of business still do not know when they will get all of their staff members back. An 18%, however, don’t want all staff members to return.  

Research indicates that what is most likely to happen is the adoption of a mixed model, where employees are expected to be in the work premises at least on some occasions, and to continue working remotely at other points in time. With an overall idea looming that we’ll be returning to work as soon as this fall, let’s get some insight into what the implications are. How will organizations need to adapt themselves? What are workspaces bound to be like over the course of time? 

Business – will they adapt? 

Get ready for a paradigm of a mixture of work-from-home and in person work, at least in the near future. Rachel McCann, a Senior Director, at Wills Towers Watson, stated that the SHRM’s discoveries were in line with her organization’s findings, which identified that 59% of staff members are voting for a mixed or hybrid structure.  

Backstage, Pichai and Google’s back-to-work plans for September depends on staff members working for three days in-office premises, and the rest of the day, in work-from-home. 

Here are some ideas for our eventual return to work: 

Concentrate on your corporate culture: One of the obstacles will be developing a new, coherent staff experience that is productive and democratic towards staff concerns. These need to be dealt with, and that begins with strategic shifts in culture.  

Maintain a posture/attitude of open communications: Make sure if one individual in your organization is needed to quarantine, everybody on your team doesn’t require to do the same. Maintain the size of meetings, at least at the start. Also, think about restricting the duration of time individuals interact with themselves. 

Utilize technology: The IoT (Internet-of-things), AI (Artificial Intelligence), digital twin, and further, will push industries forward in the post COVID-19 era. Tech will be vital to obtain a competitive edge in the market, facilitate improved business decision-making, and become tougher. Automation can assist in restricting the number of individuals that convene at a specific location. 

What are these spaces going to look/be like? 

Possibly one of the most important changes we will witness in months, and the years ahead, is the fashion is which spaces are going to be conceptualized. The design and construction industry have been engaged in a dialogue for years with regards to how offices, schools, libraries, and other interior and external spaces which are going to be developed to be work environments are going to be easy places to collaborate in. The COVID-19 pandemic, has in reality, forced the hand of the industry, to take a sharp turn. 

We realize the significance of thinking about how we develop the workspace, to enable organizational objectives and priorities. We need to redefine what the idea of an ‘office’ actually is. Over the previous year, design organizations have been visualizing what this ‘office of tomorrow’ might actually be.   

KAI Enterprises, for instance, has made a suggestion that design will persist to concentrate on restricted touchpoints, and new designs for meeting rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, spaces, and even the path to a meeting room. All cards are on the table. We could witness an increase in private or even semi-private offices, a huge change from the open spaces that have been spreading over the previous decade. 

Technology is without a doubt, a part of this as well, with the prospect to make buildings healthier. Healthy constructions can enhance moods, limit illnesses, and have a positive impact on productivity.  

BigRentz indicates a construction is perceived as healthy dependent on how it holds up against industry standards and conventions in 9 unique categories consisting of: ventilation, moisture, dust and pests, lighting and views, air/water quality, thermal health, safety and security, and noise. One of the critical ways in which a construction can be made healthier is via the ventilation systems, which can lower airborne pathogens by 8/10ths.  

Obviously, modifications to buildings and design could take a while to be implemented completely, but when we do go back to offices, it is going to look and feel very different from what it was just a couple of years ago. We are not only developing safer and healthier work places, but this demonstrates an even large opportunity to use our creative thought processes in adding sustainability to the places we work in.  

Reference 

https://connectedworld.com/a-look-at-the-future-of-work/