‘Do we really even need the Office anymore?’
Much has been made since the onset of the pandemic, the end of the pandemic, and the impact that whole episode has had on working in the workplace, working from home, hybrid working, supercommuters, working from a laptop on the beach - you name it.
So the question remains among all the noise created, do we really need the Office anymore, and if so - why?
Yes, of course we do - because we interact socially and we can’t learn everything there is to learn simply by performing a task or asking Chat-GPT for the answer. We must be in the presence of coworkers and those who have experience years beyond our own, or we fail to understand fully the possible eduction there is to gain from the workplace.
Yes, education.
You don’t stop “learning” and start “doing” when you go from college to the workplace. You start doing and keep learning - and you continue that journey your entire life. To think that can take place in a vacuum is to strip away one of the most important parts of education, growth, and learning.
It’s the accidental conversation. The overheard explanation. The story of a prior experience shared with groups of people. Teams and Zoom work great, but an impromptu conversation that can help ellevate someone’s knowledge path or ability to manage groups of people is near impossible to create virtually.
We must work together to work at our best. The workplace is the best place for that majority of efforts. That said, it is time to tear-down the preconceived notion of what that is and build back an adaptable environment that can shift to our needs understanding the possibilities we have to adapt space as well as the integrate technological advancements that do away with antiquated parts of the office space we continue to push unnecessarily.
Create a more engaging, creative, and collaborative environment. You go to Sporting or Music events for the experience over simply watching on TV. Use that same energy in the workplace
Understand you are addressing the needs of many people, many age groups, many levels of interaction. Plan for flexibility
Prioritize health and well-being
Encourage problem solving - collectively
Understand that everyone likes an easy work day or two per week, from their pajamas. Allow that flexibility as it builds trust and respect
Training and Skill Development: Providing opportunities for continuous learning and skill development
Make the effort, the commute, the hassle worth the effort to leave home and go to the workplace. Don’t just create amenities that will run their course and become stale - create a real environment that excites people to want to be there, and they will come.
