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Perspectives on the Future Workplace survey insights

March 2021

CONTENTS 01

INTRODUCTION

PRE-COVID EXPERIENCE

LOCKDOWN BEHAVIOURS & POLICY CHANGES

THE FUTURE MODEL

PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGE

FINAL THOUGHTS

CONCLUSION

ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS

INTRODUCTION

PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE When we ran our first survey we did not expect to be running this third one, almost 12 months on. The second lockdown did not come as a surprise, as the concept of a ‘second wave’ was well known to us all. From speaking with contacts recently, this (third) lockdown has been the toughest to endure; however, knowing that there is now a vaccine is evidence of light at the end of the tunnel our thoughts turn to what the return to the workplace will look like. It was our intention to send out a survey soon after (the first) lockdown began in March 2020, this was followed up with a second survey a few months later, and this our latest third survey, in order to look at longitudinal changes in organisational attitudes. We are hoping that our next survey will allow us to gauge how well the blended way of working (that is, allowing staff to use an ecosystem of spaces including the office, home and possibly 3rd spaces such as cafés or libraries) is ‘bedding in’ for those organisations that have chosen that particular model. The future workplace, is as much a step into the unknown for us as it will be for many of you and we will look to share lessons learned and also reach out to you, so you can share your insights and best practice also.

REPORT AUTHORS

Chris Carr,

Phil Muir,

Senior Workplace Consultant

Director of Consultancy & Design

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

INTRODUCTION

PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE The key takeaways from the first two surveys are given below.

PERSPECTIVES ON WORKING FROM HOME (April 2020)

“… the workplace landscape will be very different from the one we shut down in March 2020. With previous utilisation studies showing offices at an average of 45% utilisation and the current situation showing that technology allows us to largely work effectively from home, is this the evidence we need to design the future workplace less around individual tasks and more around collaboration and organisational identity?”

PERSPECTIVES ON RETURNING TO THE WORKPLACE (June 2020)

“organisations seem to be heading in the right direction when it comes to … the return to the workplace. The most popular strategies for addressing reduced capacity … are those informed by studying work functions and encouraging staff to continue to work from home wherever possible. This experience of working from home will have a lasting effect … however, there is still a lot of uncertainty over returning to the workplaces that were vacated several months ago.”

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

PRE-COVID EXPERIENCES

PEOPLE & POLICIES – what were the 3 most positive aspects of the pre-Covid workplace? 54.2%

ease of onboarding new staff 44.1%

regular social events

52.5%

visibility of senior staff / line managers

89.8%

access to colleagues a simple booking system for desks / meeting rooms support for flexible working

1.7% 15.3% 27.1%

staff learning & development programmes other

11.9%

The first question of the survey provides ample evidence that we are “people” people and are missing colleagues – be it for social interaction or for testing ideas through chance discussions outside of formal meetings. In working with clients across many sectors during lockdown, some have expressed an opinion that workplaces being closed has brought teams closer together and this new found camaraderie (extending to colleagues in other workplace locations) needs to be maintained and built upon. For some, communication has also improved between offices. As we found in survey 1, flexible working was not the norm pre-Covid – we were creatures of habit and the uptake of working from home on a regular basis was very low for a variety of reasons.

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

Bringing on board and training new staff, is proving to be more challenging without the ability for HR to carry out a face-to-face (f2f) induction. Issues around necessary paperwork being ready have been raised by some studies, but this was probably true when we were in the office also. For all these negatives, some HR professionals have referred to a more consistent and professional approach using virtual inductions. Of the ‘other’ responses, and one raised repeatedly in many reports, is that pre-Covid you ‘went to work’ and it was easier to have a separation between work-life and home-life.

PRE-COVID EXPERIENCES

PEOPLE & POLICIES – what positives need to be retained? Again this question was aimed at the pre-Covid working experience, with some of the free text comments listed opposite reinforcing points from the previous question.

SELECTED FREE TEXT COMMENTS:

▪

Access is very important – access to colleagues but also providing clients access to your staff (with the workplace being an ideal – but not the only – place for such f2f meetings).

Access to colleagues based on operational needs

▪

Ad hoc interactions and learning by osmosis

▪ ▪

Client access to staff

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

A sense of belonging and team ethos

▪

Having a permanent desk that is always available

The notion of all the team being in the office at the same time is an interesting one; pre-Covid, especially for larger teams, how often was the entire team together at the same time? This is an area where attendance management will be required within a future blended working model, otherwise the likelihood of teams all being in the office at the same time will potentially be even lower than previous. Learning by osmosis is very important, especially for more junior members of staff who pick up information just by overhearing conversations or phone-calls while in the vicinity of more senior colleagues. This is an often overlooked component of training. Regarding the comments around access to a desk, for some there is obviously a concern that a desk-sharing policy will result in problems. Organisations who have implemented a desk-sharing policy will testify to the fact that very rarely is there a struggle to find a desk (or an adequately-configured workspace for a short period of time) and that people tend to gravitate towards the same non-assigned desk when they are in the office.

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

Flexibility to work from home on occasion The team all in the office Face to face meetings and events Improved inter office communication Ease of finding a desk when coming into the workplace

PRE-COVID EXPERIENCES

PEOPLE & POLICIES – what were the three most negative aspects of the pre-Covid workplace? 62.7%

presenteeism

64.4%

printing as the default 35.6%

poor behaviours

52.5%

lack of support for flexible working 13.6%

room booking protocols poor access to senior staff / line managers limited opportunities for training other

3.4% 13.6% 17.0%

Almost 12 months out of the office has put paid to the notion that we need our ‘stuff’ to be beside us at all times. The concept of ‘printing as the default’ is the reason why many organisations are now having to devote so much time and effort to clearing out hard-copy files. Tim Oldman from Leesman is quoted as saying that “the genie is out of the bottle” when it comes to the move from the old ways of thinking (‘command and control’) to a more enlightened approach (‘support and trust’). With many organisations reporting productivity increases for some teams working from home, justification would be needed for a blanket return to the workplace (in whatever form).

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

One of the ‘other’ comments relates to “meetings for meetings sake”. This has to be read in the context of where managers often find themselves currently, with days comprised solely of virtual meetings becoming commonplace. While virtual meetings eliminate time spent travelling, the notion of what constitutes a good meeting is as relevant virtually as it is physically. Just as ‘printing as the default’ is a negative, ‘meeting as the default’ needs to be guarded against. In terms of the high score for ‘poor behaviours’, this is possibly an indicator of workplace protocols not being seen as ‘living, breathing documents’ that require to be regularly updated.

PRE-COVID EXPERIENCES

PHYSICAL SPACE – what were the 3 most positive aspects of the pre-Covid workplace? access to your own desk

55.9% 67.8%

the workplace as a social venue access to printer / copier / plotter

39.0%

15.3%

access to specialist technology / samples recycling opportunities

5.1% 52.5%

a mix of meeting spaces

support for active travel

11.9% 25.4%

high-speed connectivity other

13.6%

The workplace strategist Ben Capper talks of the future workplace as possibly evolving to become like a private members club, “spacious, work-lounge, inspiration areas, dining and quiet workspaces”. That the top score is for ‘the workplace as a social venue’ could be an overlyromanticised vision of the workplaces we left in March 2020. They may have supported socialising, but that was often in spite of the environment. Looking at the pre-Covid workplace, many had been moving towards greater focus on shared space rather than owned space – ‘ours’ rather than ‘mine.’ There is a belief that the pandemic experience will accelerate this, but we see from the responses that many rate ‘your own desk’ positively.

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

Not everyone has access to high-speed broadband at home, and those with multiple family members all vying for signal are suffering most. Reliable and fast internet connectivity is likely to be one of the main reasons to go to the office in future. One ‘other’ response touched upon management’s ability to ‘read the room’ when people are present and colocated – this is normally commented upon with regard to the preference for physical meetings over virtual meetings but applies regardless of the activity.

PRE-COVID EXPERIENCES

PHYSICAL SPACE – what were the 3 most negative aspects of the pre-Covid workplace? meeting room sizes

15.2% 42.4%

poor desk utilisation not enough desks

10.2%

lack of showers & lockers

28.8% 40.7%

lock of informal collaboration spaces lack of focus spaces

37.3% 35.6%

poor working environment (air, light, temperature) other

With memories of poor desk utilisation and an anticipation of the future being a tailored blend of home and office working, It is felt to be inevitable that desksharing will become more common for many. The requirement for the workplace to offer variety is evidenced by the high scores for the lack of non-desk spaces for collaboration and focus. While many responses have highlighted the workplace as a social place, it is important to remember that, regardless of your role, there are times when there is a need to ‘zone out’ and concentrate for a few hours – this type of work will not always be done at home as over the course of the day people are likely to need f2f collaboration and also time and space to concentrate.

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

23.7%

We know environmental factors are very subjective, but they are critical in terms of personal perceptions of what constitutes a productive workplace. We have become more conscious of our surroundings in the past year and environmental factors will be high on the agenda when workplaces reopen, with fresh air being up at the top. With concerns over commuting ranking highly in many lockdown surveys, support for active travel (as well as encouraging walking or running at lunchtime) could see more demand for improved workplace facilities such as showers and lockers.

LOCKDOWN BEHAVIOURS & POLICY CHANGES “Getting dressed and commuting to an office has been replaced by splashing water on your face and cracking open a computer as you settle back under your blanket.” bbc.com article, What happens when you work from bed for a year.

LOCKDOWN BEHAVIOURS & POLICY CHANGES

PEOPLE & POLICIES – what negatives have arisen and need to be addressed?

The BBC report paints a rather extreme picture of the influence of lockdown on working habits, but it would be fair to say that lockdown has affected us all to certain degrees, not all positive. Health and Safety while working from home is a major issue that will need to be (and is being) addressed by HR departments and individual managers, with some poor home ‘workstation’ ergonomics and feelings of isolation resulting from lack of social interaction with colleagues being some of the most reported concerns across a number of surveys. While there undoubtedly are some instances of staff not being available while working from home, ‘contactability’ can never be guaranteed regardless of the work location (e.g. site visits or client meetings). Anecdotal and survey evidence would suggest that we are working longer hours and some have converted the commute time into work time. The ‘dummy commute’ allows you to keep a regime going whilst exercising! One of the biggest challenges is how we deal with the number and duration of virtual meetings. Pre-Covid we would rarely have seen diaries with a full day of back to back meetings, but it is now commonplace. In school the bell rang at 5 minutes to the hour to allow you time to get from one class to the next. Do we have to put in place protocols whereby meetings start at 5-past and end at 5-to? Some lack of communication is related to the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and might encourage people back to the office. Not being able to overhear conversations in the workplace or participate in informal catch-ups with managers could create a perceived ‘them’ and ‘us’ divide between those who are predominantly office-based and those who visit the office on an infrequent basis.

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

SELECTED FREE TEXT COMMENTS:

▪ Unable to monitor staff wellbeing while WFH, poor adherence to sickness absence reporting

▪ Training and inducting new employees, lack of attention given to trainees

▪ Line management is more time consuming and difficult

▪ Risk of some staff being / feeling isolated

▪ Flexible working and staff not always

on-line means that tasks take longer to complete

▪ Lack of communication in some instances

▪ Meetings – increased frequency and duration and not subject to same protocols as in-person meetings

▪ The inability to ensure and control a

safe working environment for everyone

▪ Lack of visibility ▪ Teams calls and their frequency

LOCKDOWN BEHAVIOURS & POLICY CHANGES

POLICY CHANGES How likely are you to implement PEOPLE & POLICY changes following lockdown experiences? 27%

20% 14% 8% 5%

3% 0%

“not likely”

14%

0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70 70-80 80-90 90-100

Our first survey highlighted that, with regard to flexible working, many organisations either had no policy or their staff were unaware that such a policy existed, the latter possibly being a mix of poor communication from leadership and little interest from staff. Many workplace policies were undoubtedly tailored to a predominantly office-based cohort pre-Covid. With the expectation that more staff will wish to work from home on a regular basis, new policies will have to be created in order to safeguard both employee and organisation. The shape of the histogram above would suggest that the past 12 months will have a lasting impact on the People & Policy aspects of the workplace. Follow-on questions (as part of our next survey) will be required in order to understand the nature of potential changes.

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

“very likely”

Some topics to consider: ▪ How do you manage staff remotely? ▪ How do you support managers to manage staff remotely – training etc., as it is different to managing face to face daily? ▪ How do you manage / support employee wellbeing and teamwork? As well as regulatory considerations, protocols for how the workplace will operate in the future will have to be revisited. Additional topics might include ‘core hours’ for those regularly working from home, policies on travel to meetings and the provision of equipment for home working setups.

THE FUTURE MODEL “The hybrid model … will obviously need to be matched with the organisation’s needs during future phases. However, this does open up opportunities for organisations to consider how they can work differently in the future.” Scottish Futures Trust, New Frontiers for Smarter Working - Work and Workplace post COVID-19, March 2021

THE FUTURE MODEL

THE FUTURE MODEL What is most likely to be your organisation’s future estate model? 8.5%

workplace only home only

0% 81.4%

workplace and home blended workplace, home and 3rd space blended don’t know

8.5% 0%

other

1.7%

The ‘other’ response to this question is very apposite – “Mainly workplace with home working reserved for those who can demonstrate effectiveness.” During lockdown we have delivered projects with organisations where some staff functions fall under the category of ‘Operations’ and during the time these staff have been forced to work from home, the perception within management has been that workarounds were hindering the effectiveness of staff. The implication is that these teams will be accommodated within the future workplace with WFH not an option. For many ‘knowledge workers’, working from home with collaboration supported by both technology and regular, planned workplace presence, will allow them to be as effective as being based solely in the workplace.

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

What constitutes a 3rd space and are there any specific concerns? A 3rd space may be a client workplace, a coworking space or a local café or library. Ergonomics will still be important – mismatched chairs in co-working spaces or stools at ledges in cafes are a recipe for musculoskeletal injuries if used for excessive periods of time. Judging by the above responses, 3rd spaces may be more industry talk than reality. A concern for working from home and from 3rd spaces is confidentiality and data protection; privacy screens added to monitors might be necessary. Employers taking memberships in co-working spaces for staff has been mooted by some, but this is likely to affect only a very small number of organisations.

THE FUTURE MODEL

THE FUTURE MODEL If your future estate model is blended, what form will your organisation’s attendance model take? leadership decides uniform & fixed minimum # of days

6.8% 11.9%

team decides minimum # of days

15.2%

flexible model for the whole organisation

23.7%

flexible model implemented at team level 10.2%

flexible model implemented by individual don’t know yet other

27.1% 5.1%

When speaking with our clients regarding their future model, they were asked if they envisaged ‘flexible flexibility’ or ‘structured flexibility’, the former being a model where attendance was decided and managed at a local level, the latter being the case where there was a uniform minimum number of days in the office that all staff had to work around. There was a preference for local control, with the feeling that responding to project deadlines and varying workloads required as little rigid control as possible. In carrying out our own internal consultancy exercise (as part of a project to update our workplace strategy), there was agreement amongst leadership that local flexibility was essential, but with the fundamental understanding to be in the workplace when required to meet business needs.

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

That the highest score is for ‘don’t know’ is perhaps understandable as there is still a degree of uncertainty because the element of choice in where staff work is not available. We will hope to capture what influenced the ‘don’t knows’ in our next survey. Regardless of what model an organisation chooses, studying available data, reviewing how business needs are being met and how staff are adapting will become standard practice. We never questioned whether ‘going to work’ was the best model but it was accepted by most of us as being the only acceptable model. Making changes to models will require to be informed by data rather than perception.

PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGE “One of the objections to change is the kind of disruption it brings to our life. If change means a period of dust, confusion and loss of momentum, it is understandable why the cramped old show is lived in for so long.” Robert Propst, The Office: A Facility Based on Change (1968), p. 33

PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGE

DRIVERS PEOPLE & POLICIES – what are the greatest drivers of change within your organisation? employee expectations

41.8% 49.1%

opportunity provided by the pandemic leadership expectations

30.9% 74.6%

employee wellbeing / work-life balance 38.2%

cost savings

52.7%

attracting and retaining staff other

1.8%

The opportunity to work from home has improved worklife balance for many, but separating the two requires conscious effort and is a constant process that needs to be supported by new protocols. The pandemic is providing opportunities for creating the types of policies that were always on the ‘nice to have’ list and are now expected by staff at all levels. As the HR director of one of our clients said recently, “without such a massive upheaval [as a result of Covid] we would still be saying “we should be doing this” or “it’s about time we did that” in 5 years.” More progressive policies, e.g. offering flexible working will possibly encourage more people (esp. women or those with family responsibilities) back into the job market and the opportunity for some functions to be carried out remotely (with only limited attendance required) increases the potential talent pool.

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

In our second survey, some of our questions touched upon the range of benefits in working from home. The lack of daily commute was seen as the most important (even though, for many in Scotland, we have no real understanding of the arduous commuting times for the South East of England) in terms of time and cost savings. The reduction in CO2 with working from home and utilising virtual collaboration technology is a complex equation. Yes, there is a reduction in all forms of work related travel, but we’re heating and lighting our homes while also heating and lighting our workplaces. Interest in sustainability predates the pandemic – perhaps it has just brought into focus that there is now an opportunity for change.

PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGE

DRIVERS PHYSICAL SPACE – what are the greatest drivers of change within your organisation? employee expectations

40.0%

leadership expectations

36.4%

current lease arrangements

41.8%

employee wellbeing / work-life balance HR / legal concerns around home working

60.0% 9.1%

attracting and retaining staff

38.2%

costs savings

36.4%

space reduction other

16.4% 5.4%

‘space reduction’, ‘cost savings’ and ‘current lease arrangements’ could all be rolled into one common theme. Dependent on the size of the workplace, Covid-19 has possibly provided the impetus for downsizing and creating great space, one that better supports staff health and wellbeing and aids in staff attraction and retention. For others, reconfiguring the existing space to achieve the above might be the simplest route. Either way, specialist workplace and the general media have been foretelling of turbo-charged workplaces that tick every box when it comes to collaboration or fostering team spirit and there is an expectation that all workplaces will go some way to improving the facilities for staff and visitors.

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

During lockdown, Leesman have been able to compare and contrast the performance of workplaces with employee homes and the data is very interesting – if your current workplace is poor, your people will not be rushing back (and the corollary is true, working from home will not seem as appealing if your workplace is high performing). It is also clear from the responses above that there is concern over home-working environments and it is incumbent upon all organisations to carry out robust DSE assessments of their people’s home working setups.

PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGE

BARRIERS PEOPLE & POLICIES – what are the greatest barriers to change within your organisation? leadership expectations

41.8%

employee expectations

45.4%

workload – the process needs time

50.9%

HR / legal concerns around home working attracting and retaining staff

25.4% 9.1%

technology

30.9%

cost implications other

45.4% 7.3%

In our previous surveys we asked about the regularity of communication between leadership and their staff. We know from our own experience that properly engaging with your own people and determining what the future landscape might look like is time-consuming (and obviously costly in terms of resource), and that is before the drafting of policies. However, it is both necessary and worthwhile. The high score for leadership / employee expectations has to be seen in conjunction with our often-reported lockdown ‘resilience’. Did we adapt because there was no choice? One participant said, “COVID has proved to us there are no barriers” – this is perhaps an overly positive response, but it is closer to the truth than believing that we are predisposed to oppose change and that there are insurmountable barriers.

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

In the pre-Covid world, we stated that the full benefit of an agile working environment would be realised with the provision of mobile technology solutions. From our first survey, more than 50% of participants said their organisation was well-placed to transition to WFH, with the implication that technology played a major role in this. Not all organisations have the budget to provide everyone with a laptop or tablet immediately, and there are likely to be functions where a computer is part of the technology solution and other (specialist) equipment is required.

PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGE

BARRIERS PHYSICAL SPACE – what are the greatest barriers to change within your organisation? leadership expectations

36.4%

employee expectations

34.6%

current lease arrangements

40.0%

HR / legal concerns around home working attracting and retaining staff

20.0% 5.4%

technology

20.0%

cost implications

45.4%

existing office space configuration other

54.6% 5.4%

Reconfiguring space costs money and uses valuable resources. It is therefore no surprise that top scores relate to the theme of physical transformation. Some buildings will be better suited to simple changes while others will have a far more complicated services infrastructure and building envelope. With a great deal of uncertainty still surrounding the future of work, we would recommend that no knee-jerk decisions are made around physical space changes. Once restrictions are lifted, policy changes should be embedded first and physical changes should follow if required. If physical changes are made, it would be our hope that circular economy principles are in evidence when designing and fitting-out new spaces.

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

As we know from working with clients who have imminent lease breaks, taking the time to ask the right questions is important in order to quantify the amount of space needed and the different types of spaces required. This determination has to come after a people strategy has been articulated – people then technology then space – always in that order. As one of our clients said recently “technology is far cheaper than real estate and easier to update”.

PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGE

PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGE What physical, if any, changes might you make to your workplace following your experience of working though lockdown? reconfigure space to better align with new working practices move to a new space to align with new working practices

69.1% 20.0% 43.6%

reduction in overall space requirement increase in overall space requirement

3.6% 12.7%

none other

1.8%

It is good to see, given the statement on the previous page, that the majority of participants see the physical space as having to support, and be aligned with, new working practices, rather than the other way round. Regardless of whether it is reconfiguring existing space or moving to new space, there is benefit to be gained from incorporating change management activities into the process – the aim being that teaching people how best to use the new space will reduce the opportunities for reintroducing old working practices or workarounds, thereby negating the proposed / potential benefits. In terms of how much space organisations will require, there is no simple formula to calculate the future spatial requirement. No two organisations are the same and any ‘space budget’ will be built following an analysis of your processes, your workstyles and your appetite for

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

embracing opportunities provided by flexible working. Numerous figures have been reported with regards to future space requirement (“30% reduction in net internal area”, “7% reduction in space demand”) and some organisations have declared the end of the office altogether, stating that their people can work from home indefinitely. Time will tell what the actual change will be. And for some it may be that more space will be needed. Reconfigurable collaboration spaces and more generous circulation are just two of the space planning considerations that have risen to prominence during our engagement with clients as a result of Covid. For some, as indicated, there will be no physical changes – this may be due to budget constraints or an already high performing workplace.

PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGE

PERSPECTIVES ON CHANGE What physical changes might you expect to see if you were planning on making changes to your workplace? 43.6%

fewer desks 18.2%

no single-person, owned offices ‘hot’ offices for senior staff smaller meeting rooms larger meeting rooms

30.9% 10.9% 7.3%

more individual focus spaces

40.0% 67.3%

more informal collaboration spaces more social / ‘event’ spaces

other

16.4% 9.1%

Earlier in this report, we reported that some of the most negative aspects of the pre-Covid workplace were the lack of focus and informal collaboration spaces, and thus it is to be expected that these score highly here. That collaboration space is the top score ties in with the notion that the role of the new workplace will, for the most part, be to support team activities over individual work. The individual focus spaces, we believe, will double as spaces to host video calls; whether these will be enclosed rooms (“Zoom cupboards”) or furniture solutions might depend on budget and the desire to be able to adapt layouts quicker (“fail often, fail fast”). The prominence of C-suite single-person offices is diminishing (though not disappearing), but with senior

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

people likely to want to continue working flexibly (as they did more often than their junior colleagues previously) ‘hot’ offices combine the in-office visibility of leadership with the provision of privacy potentially with a reduced footprint (whether this ‘hot’ office needs to include a meeting space is up for debate). Pre-Covid utilisation study data plus an anticipated uptake in WFH numbers mean that desk booking systems plus lockers will enable reduced desk ownership and allow space to be won back for collaboration or focus spaces (or even purely social spaces) at the expense of desks. The so-called “flipped office”.

FINAL THOUGHTS “All is flux” Heraclitus

FINAL THOUGHTS

FINAL THOUGHTS The following free text comments give an insight into how organisations have already made some changes and what their concerns / hopes are. CHANGES MADE ▪“The organisation has already implemented a flexible working policy allowing employees with the freedom to choose how they work; IT and telephony systems have been provided to all staff to allow agile working to continue in the future. Expectations of line managers may change once restrictions are eased and expectations are for people to return to the office on a permanent basis.”

▪“The pandemic has given focus to office space in an organisation like never before. The opportunity to change for the better should not be thrown away. Less space, more flexibility, better work life balance, goals for years, now potentially a reality.”

▪“We have adopted some new practices with regards to

REMAINING CONCERNS ▪“We cannot run our business from home and our growth plans will see us run out of space soon. This is a concern for space and the number of people we have in the office.”

▪“Mentoring and developing staff from a remote working

only position is difficult; perception of agile / shared workspace from a hygiene perspective when this is actually the easiest to maintain.”

▪“Concern about making change to the workplace too

early will hold us back. There is a feeling that we need to see how return to the office pans out before making a change.”

meeting duration and who needs to attend what meeting – for a while we were guilty of having too many people at too many meetings with long durations, but these are much more streamlined now. A positive that working remotely has encouraged and one we will retain having updated all our Meeting Terms of Reference to reflect our lessons learned.”

▪“I

▪“COVID has taught us that we will manage our offices

▪“On the job learning for new employees. Maintaining

differently – when they get to 'capacity' we will reconfigure them to become collaboration spaces with no dedicated desks to individuals – staff will be given expense allowances to provide working space for them at home.”

think the organisation has learned from the Covid experience, although defining that learning in order to exploit opportunity is a difficult step for us to take. In addition, I think there needs to be more work to define and design home working environment for people, such that they are safe and comfortable whilst they increase their home-working.” team ethos. Losing the 'fun' of being in the workplace. Isolation for some staff. Not all staff have access to the right conditions for good homeworking.

▪“Employee wellbeing and team building are the primary drivers.”

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

FINAL THOUGHTS

A BALANCED VIEW ▪“Personally, I'd opt for a 50/50 set up. I get a lot done at

home but would be good to meet with colleagues to collaborate / innovate / set targets. For women in particular the flexibility is key. We're losing less time through the week which we can decide to allocate to work / family responsibilities. I also find it easier to get out for a lunchtime walk when working from home. What I would say if there is less time for natural breaks. I feel like I am working incredibly hard.”

▪“We

were fortunate enough to provide any IT / equipment to colleagues throughout the country. Some colleagues are unable to have a proper home office and will require access to desk space in a physical office. The pandemic may make it difficult to ensure that staff are not sharing desks / keyboards etc. Some colleagues are not comfortable sharing, and this may result in an excess of empty desks on a daily basis.”

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSIONS The results presented in this survey tell an interesting story. For all that elements of the pre-Covid workplace were totally inadequate in terms of supporting the way we wanted to work, the one thing that the office did do well was that it brought us together. It gave us a worktop to lean on while we grabbed a cup of tea and chatted to a colleague about plans for the weekend, or it provided the spaces in which we created solutions with and for our clients. It allowed a sense of community to be developed and gave us access to samples and technology. It was far from perfect and too many times it was either too empty (in general) of too full of people doing work that could have been done anywhere. This is a unique opportunity to challenge perceived wisdoms and to embrace the opportunity to create the right type of policyled and technology-supported organisations and workplaces. Going forward, doing things differently and working smarter will be challenging, but hopefully worth it.

Thank you to all participants of the survey. If you have any questions, please contact: Phil Muir: philip.muir@spacesolutions.co.uk Chris Carr: chris.carr@spacesolutions.co.uk

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS

ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS Throughout lockdown we have engaged with our fellow professionals, participated in webinars and provided articles for other organisations. The links below will take you to some of our recent content.

WEBINARS

INSIGHTS

SPACE SURVEY – PERSPECTIVES ON THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

ABERDEEN DUNDEE EDINBURGH GLASGOW LONDON MANCHESTER e: philip.muir@spacesolutions.co.uk w: www.spacesolutions.co.uk

Perspectives on the Future Workplace Survey Insights Mar 2021