How our office references have been reframed

When the dust eventually settles on 2020 and we move into 2021, with the pandemic on its way to being firmly behind us, we will have chance to take stock and settle into the changes that have been prompted by this year’s events, including the movement to work more from the home.

Having been put in a position in which we had the opportunity to consider what works best for us, many of us who work in offices have come to the conclusion that we’d like to work more from home in the long-term, post the pandemic. There is most definitely a shared desire to own the choice of how and where we work.

Changing the work psyche

It’s now recognized that part-time working from home is an achievable goal that can have a positive impact on health and well-being, allowing life to be more balanced overall.

It’s a change to our working psyche that’s been confirmed through national surveys, with reports revealing that 88 per cent of people want to work from home at least two days per week. The message has been delivered: The ‘work from home’ culture is part of the way we want to work going forward and businesses need to get on board with this new wave.

Proof of the pudding

In October, a survey, conducted by the Institute of Directors, revealed that almost 75 per cent  of the company directors who took part said that they would be increasing home-working after coronavirus.

The greatest incentive for businesses to embrace a new, more flexible approach to working is that it does actually work.  Many businesses carried on functioning as normal outside of the office environment during lockdown and got used to it. What’s more, the impact on output was largely shown to be the same – if not slightly improved.

Added to this, approximately two thirds of employees recognized that they were being more productive while working from home, according to those fore-mentioned national surveys conducted during lockdown.

Given that it has been proven, and we now know working from home can work very well, the path has been laid out for true flexibility going forward.

We now have to tailor the designs of our workplace surroundings and our choices of office furniture to embrace a looser and more free approach to work.

The future of work is hybrid

The office is no longer an inevitable part of every working day and so its presence must be repurposed. Our vision of the office has changed and so must the framework. For quiet work, we can take to our individual desks and work spaces in the home but for sharing, collaboration and social purposes, the corporate office must be redesigned to fit.

We want experiences from our future offices.

Agile working has taken on a whole new meaning and will shape shift  depending on the company, its ethos, its employees and its sector.

A more creative and diverse range of higher concept spaces will need fixtures, fittings and furnishings that complement each individual vision. The pandemic has propelled us towards a more free, flexible working regime far quicker than any of us could have predicted. Now, we have to calibrate our office design and office furniture accordingly in order to be fully prepared.

To discuss creative furnishing, for spaces designed for sharing and collaboration, drop us a line or give us a call.