Although many companies can imagine continuing to offer home office options and many employees would like to work from home at least a few days a week, the tide is slowly changing again. The home office, which is often compulsory, is gradually being ended. But what do employers and employees have to consider in the future? After all, the infrastructure created for mobile working exists and should continue to be used.
Home office: infrastructure is already in place
The modern workplace is not generally referred to as a permanent desk space. Companies are increasingly redesigning the premises and creating freely available workplaces within the building. This means that employees no longer have a fixed desk space and can work as they wish, for example on the terrace or in the seating area. If a company has not yet included free choice of workplace in the concept, this could happen now:
Infrastructure
Companies had to use cloud services for home offices; Change servers and services. Ultimately, it was important that employees could access the necessary data from anywhere and also send their own work results. This infrastructure is now in place. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether an employee works at home at the kitchen table, in the company or in a café. Access is via the same paths.
Data security
It was also significantly improved during the Corona crisis, precisely because employees were working from home and accessing the services. These security mechanisms such as a VPN and other protection programs can continue to be used in the future.
It would be fatal to completely forget the structures that have now been created and not continue to include them. In many cases this will no longer be possible, because in recent months the new options have become the standard that companies also appreciate.
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What could the office of the future look like?
The ideas about the office of the future are diverse and sometimes differ massively. The good thing is that there will probably be no right and wrong, because ultimately every company will find an ideal middle ground. There can be no clear guidelines either, because what is an “office”? The following examples show the differences:
Craft business
Every craft business also has an office. However, this is firmly linked to the craft itself and is the first point of contact for customers. Office employees often handle everything from employee planning to logistical questions to accounting in just a few people.
Insurance
Direct customer contact is reserved for field staff and a few other employees. The majority of insurance employees are invisible to the outside world and can actually do the work anywhere.
Law firms
They are a special example because pure office work could be carried out anywhere. Employees can easily write documents from dictation or create cost invoices. But: No written document can go outside from the home office. A lawyer from North Rhine-Westphalia showed how strange the situation is when he placed several mobile homes in the yard for his employees during the Corona crisis. Work was done there, but the appendices for briefs were copied in the office. Court and public prosecutor’s files are not allowed to leave the office premises.
Every company has to find the ideal solution for itself. But what could such an office look like? Some ideas:
Downsizing:
Future office space will probably be smaller. This is due to the new way of working, as employees will continue to work from home or at a location of their choice for at least a few days of the week. The company therefore has to provide fewer permanent workplaces; the employees present in the company share the free places.
Loosening up:
Sitting at a fixed desk will probably become less common in the future. Start-ups are already proving the new workplace design by emphasizing different work spaces: lounge corners, terraces, cafés and other areas. Every area is designed for work.
Shared Offices:
The more digitalization advances, the less important it is where an employee actually lives. In the future, companies could rent shared offices for their remote employees instead of requiring a move. The current home office technology already forms the basis for such employment relationships.
It is likely that companies will be able to save money in the future by no longer having to provide large areas for office work. The days of spacious office space in large buildings will soon be over. Of course, employers still have to provide employees with the necessary work equipment, but the high rental costs no longer apply.
The work itself will – if possible – continue to shift to the Internet and its possibilities. Meetings and conversations via webcam have been common practice since Corona at the latest. A number of companies would like to continue to conduct these virtually and forego real meetings if possible. In many cases, a virtual meeting is extremely practical because the necessary documents are guaranteed to be available and there is no need for long journeys, which in turn means lost working time for those involved.
Fundamentally, many people’s attitudes will have to change for the future office. Be it from employees who see private conversations in the coffee kitchen as career-enhancing or from employers who deny employees any work ethic as soon as they can’t be looked at. Working hours should also no longer be so strict in the future. Core achievements remain intact, but working hours could be reduced if employees work more concentratedly and efficiently by working at the location of their choice. It would be entirely conceivable for a working day to end after five hours if the employee can complete their tasks within that time.
Conclusion – the office is becoming modern
The fact is: Not all companies can constantly work from home or work from their desired location. However, there are also practical solutions for these cases – even if there is someone who can copy the relevant files in the law firm. However, contemporary changes can be implemented everywhere, especially since the necessary technology for working from anywhere is now available and tested in the company. However, the fixed and stationary desk space in the company will gradually become a thing of the past in the future. It is not profitable for companies because if, on average, only fifty percent of the workforce is on site, there is too much space left empty. This could of course be converted into other, more relaxed work areas.
