As vaccination programmes are picking up pace across the world, companies are starting their scenario-building exercises focusing on safe return to work.
The Government’s stage 2 of the roadmap out of lockdown gave some prospects of hope for businesses in UK:
While some companies have pledged to fully transition to #wfh, like the IBM, Facebook, Shopify, Dropbox, Spotify and many other household names, other companies are considering adopting a hybrid workplace model, where employees would be able to split their time between the home and the office.
Hybrid workstations
The hybrid version seems to be one of the most sought-after options amongst the workforce. There has been many polls going around LinkedIn asking people to share their desired work patterns and the results are overwhelming. The majority has voted in favour of working at least one day a week from home.
And it is easy to see why – this past year has highlighted the importance of work-life balance and for some, working from home has provided them with the opportunity to embrace it.
The benefits of the office
However let’s not discount the value of face-to-face human interaction (safety first of course).
While organisations around the world have experienced great success in operating from a remote working set-up, some things happen differently while working from home. For example, the act of calling a spontaneous face-to-face meeting and jumping into a meeting room with colleagues to solve a problem or brainstorm an idea, becomes more of a process. Stopping by a colleague’s desk to ask quick question or simply to ask how their day is, previously giving staff a reason to move from their desks and be active, now happens from the other side of a screen.
For employees in entry-level positions hoping to expand their network, working from home presents challenges in this respect. Attending the same webinar as the person sitting in another living room miles away isn’t always going to bring people closer. It’s a different story from networking over a cup of coffee face-to face and sharing inspiration with people attending the same event.
Additionally, let us remind ourselves of the power of the watercooler chat. It provides employees with irreplaceable opportunities to chat with people from departments they do not necessarily work with on regular basis, building wider team morale and connections.
The need for adaptability has never been greater than in the past year. We will need to be resilient and be prepared for the changes that are still to come. Luckily for us, humans are incredible at adapting to seemingly the strangest things. If someone had told us a mere 5 years ago that we would be working from home and doing it just as well as we would have from the office, we wouldn’t have believed it. But here we are, even though we are sad to think that the phrase ‘Can I make anyone a cup of tea or coffee?’ is most likely going to fade into history.
Geiger is looking forward to their next team challenge of adapting to yet another way of working. And we are hoping your business is looking forward to coming back to the office, even if it is part time.
We will be happy to help you with your back to work solutions. Ready when you are.
#GeigerTeam
