Who Said the Office is Dead? It’s Just Being Reimagined to Work Better.

Forget about debating whether the future of traditionally office-based work will be hybrid. That debate is over.

Hybrid is with us, and it is here to stay—a blend of working remotely and in a reimagined office-based environment.

It is that reimagining of the office—What purpose does it best serve? How can it be made a magnet for people, not a mandate? What should it look like and how should it be designed? — that is exercising the minds of organizations everywhere as they adapt to a world forever changed by the events of the past two years.

According to recent research by Microsoft, 66% of business leaders are considering redesigning their physical spaces to accommodate hybrid working. Of course, one of the biggest fears around the hybrid model is that teams and processes will disintegrate as members set their own timetables, driving productivity downwards.

But that fear has been proven to be generally unfounded. What has been proven though, is that the office will continue to serve a purpose, even if that purpose is still evolving and being tailored to the individual needs of companies and organizations.

The office remains—and will increasingly become—more important as an essential environment for people interaction, communication, and collaboration. It’s the physical environment that creates essential human connection, the fundamental missing link in fully remote working.

Collaboration and Communication Optimization

Communication is all about sharing information, while collaboration revolves around sharing an outcome—working as a team to accomplish something greater than any individual effort would produce. Culture affects how an organization communicates, and in a domino effect, communication affects how multidisciplinary teams collaborate.

Collaboration and communication in a modern workplace revolve around thinking and almost running a codesign of what the organization's culture is now, how you want it to evolve, and explicitly thinking about ways to express culture in a post-Covid workplace.

How an organization addresses these issues is very important because culture is so powerful that not only can it eat strategy for breakfast, if a company’s culture isn’t healthy, it can eat the business.

 Since most communication and collaboration occurs through technology these days, organizations must ensure they educate their employees on how to best use the available technology. This helps to create a flexible, dynamic workplace that revolves around collaboration.

Despite the availability of technology, communication and collaboration rely heavily on human behavior. The key is learning to use technology as an enabler for communication, and then use communication as an intersection for all human interactions.

Enhancing the Employee Experience

Employee experience is a catch-all term that defines an employee's experience at an organization. It covers the employee's cultural experience, user experience with workplace technology, and their experience with the workspace environment. Here are four key factors that influence employee experience:

— Interactions with management: Employee-to-manager interactions have a significant impact on employee experience. Organization leaders need to serve as coaches or mentors who inspire employees to be productive

— Team interactions: Team dynamics play a significant role in the employee's work life. Organizations need to promote positivity among workgroups which makes it easier for multidisciplinary teams to trust each other

— Interactions with the company: Organizations ought to create a two-way communication model for all their engagement channels. Company interactions significantly impact how employees will engage with an organization in the future

— Employee life cycle: These are milestones an employee achieves during their time at the organization. Most companies are implementing some aspects of the customer life cycle to improve the employee experience

All-inclusive approach

Achieving a positive employee experience in an office environment can be challenging due to basic human differences and preferences. Take a simple commonplace example: some employees prefer quiet spaces while others prefer highly interactive spaces.

Organizations need to take an all-inclusive approach that covers every employee's needs and preferences to guarantee positive results.

Eliminate digital fatigue

One of the commonly ignored issues when it comes to the employee experience is digital fatigue. This is when the employee has to use multiple platforms to perform specific tasks. Having the right technology stack is the key to improving employee experience and productivity while eliminating digital fatigue.

People don't want to be in an environment where they have to go into multiple apps for different services. That's just not what they're seeing in their consumer lives. So why should they expect it in their work lives?— OmarRoomi, Employee Experience Lead CIO, Employee Experience Strategy at Thomson Reuters

Digital Employee Environments vs. Physical Employee Environments

Since returning to the office is no longer mandatory for some businesses, organizations must come up with ways that will help employees transition from working remotely to on-site and vice versa.

Google launched a similar program, where employees received counseling from trained professionals through 15-minute virtual drop-ins. Each company must assess its workforce, identifying what their needs are, and how to promote the use of office space more fluidly.

How Digital Environments Impact Organizations

Each employee at an organization has a personal digital experience depending on their workgroup, workflow, and the software they use.

An employee who uses company software on their laptop might have a different experience than a field employee who uses a smartphone or a warehouse employee who gets most of the organization's information through digital signage.

Every experience has its own unique challenges, especially when each digital environment is a standalone software solution. This not only results in a suboptimal employee experience, but the siloed systems also prevent the business from gaining valuable information about communications preferences and office utilization.

People don't want to be in an environment where they have to go into multiple apps for different services. That's just not what they're seeing in their consumer lives. So why should they expect it in in their work lives?— Omar Roomi

While trying to leverage technology to improve their digital environment, most companies have ended up creating friction due to information silos. To avoid such pitfalls, you need to consider the following factors for an effective digital environment.

— Device compatibility: The organization should make its apps compatible with different devices such as mobile phones, laptops, or smart TVs.

— Targeting: Channel the right resources, tools, and content by granting access to every employee. Try to categorize employees based on location, workgroup, interests, and other attributes.

— Personalization: The more detailed your targeting is, the more personalized the experience is for each employee. This means they would be more likely to engage with the resources available.

— Intelligence—Collect data on employee engagement, preference, behavior, and space utilization to gain insights that will help the organization to optimize the digital experience.

How Physical Environments Impact Organizations

While you might get a lot of day-to-day tasks completed remotely thanks to technology, physical offices remain a critical part of any organization. Connections among people are still meaningful, which is why the office is being used as a magnet for people, creating the types of spaces needed for collaboration. 

However, in the post-pandemic era, employees are looking for organizations that are more flexible. To that end, organizations are changing their standard offices into hubs where employees can come to connect with one another.

Conclusion

Many organizations are looking for insights into what the workplace will look over the next few years. Organizations looking to prepare for the future need to consider how they can redesign the physical workplace to be a magnet for their people—the hubs in which collaboration and connection happen.