Remember the movie Office Space? Well this has nothing to do with that movie, except to trigger a desire to watch it again.
If, during the lock-down, you have shifted from working in a traditional office space to working from home, how has that worked out?
Most likely there are elements of your job that are better and some that are not so much. On the whole, is your life better or worse working from home?
In what ways are you more productive?
In what ways are you less productive?
Answers to these questions come up in conversation, especially now, has the specter of returning to the office is in view. Some can’t wait to get back. Some express that they will never do so, swearing that they are more productive and satisfied with life. Some, maybe the majority, hope for a hybrid – in the office some portion of the week and away the rest.
Commercial real estate folks have expressed concerns about the later two sets of people, what happens to office rents if portions of the workforce settle into non-traditional approaches. Some business owners, on the other side of the rent payments, see the potential for reducing a considerable expense.
One wonders if a model does not emerge whereby employees are given an office allowance. The employee is responsible for establishing working space conducive to maximum effectiveness, whether that be at home, in a co-working space, in common office space or some combination. Company offices might then be composed of mostly meeting rooms and collaboration spaces.
Sometimes a radical event will force us to reexamine old practices to see if there is a better way. Maybe more than Swingline staplers.