The Future of the Office
The work landscape has changed considerably since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when offices all over the world were shut down overnight. A global home working experiment began, and the future of the office was turned on its head. Workforces migrated to their homes to set up remote workspaces and, although the flexibility of working from home has brought new joy for some, others still miss the structure and human connection found in a traditional office setting.
The last couple of years have taught us that working in an office, from home or in a hybrid setting all come with benefits as well as challenges. Companies and employees will need to work together to overcome these challenges to harness the benefits of both home working and office-based work.
When designing the office of the future, three important factors should be considered: space, place, and pace. The balance between these elements may vary for each company and they will need to decide which version works best for them to optimise collaboration, productivity and employee engagement.
Workspace
Before the pandemic, the office space was a concrete concept, but almost overnight, companies were forced to move into the cloud. The change was swift and, in some cases, chaotic, but the global home working experiment has largely been a success.
There will still be a place for the physical office in the future workplace, albeit with a redefined purpose. And in the future, it seems that the workspace will exist somewhere between the physical office and the digital world. The reimagined workspace of the future will be designed to foster creativity and innovation. Utilising the right digital tools and collaboration platforms will make that a reality from anywhere.
Workplace
The concept of the workplace has always been evolving and some companies were already well set up for home working before the pandemic. However, many had to adapt very quickly and it’s fair to say that 2020 changed our everyday lives beyond recognition.
Unified communications solutions allow colleagues to collaborate from anywhere, chat in real time, meet online and share ideas all in one place. With the right technology, employees are able to work freely, keeping them engaged as they seamlessly alternate between home and the office.
Workpace
It’s unlikely that we will return to the days of a 40-hour five-day office work culture where employees spend 8 hours in the office, so it’s essential to adapt to the new normal. What was once a strict 40-hour Monday–Friday in-office culture is now a flexible combination of remote, in-office, and hybrid working, depending on the company and employee preferences.
Instead, employees will build their work days around collaboration; finding times when their colleagues are available to share whiteboard ideas, before breaking apart to complete their individual tasks. The right technology is required to make this happen. Providing a single point of contact for all your devices, unified communications can enable your workforce to stay highly connected through multiple channels, empowering employees to interact together through telephony, video calls, email, diary, contacts and live on-screen file sharing in a virtually seamless way.
The Future of Work
There’s no clear prediction of what work will look like in the future. Many companies are redefining the traditional office model and each will determine what its own purpose of the future workplace will be for their business, brand and culture moving forwards.
Regardless of your sector or company size, one thing is certain: innovative use of unified communications technology brings many benefits; from more flexibility, enhanced communication abilities with improved efficiency. Empowering your hybrid workforce with the tools they need to connect and collaborate effectively will result in a working culture that will keep them productive and engaged for years to come.
The space, place and pace of the traditional office life may have changed forever, but there has never been a better opportunity for workplace transformation.
To discover how Entropie can help you reimagine your workspace with a future-proof unified communications solution, please contact us today on 01908 324 270 or info@entropie.co.uk.
