COVID-19 has changed the work environment radically. Most businesses have had to shift employees from the traditional office to remote work. While this has caused significant disruption, it has also allowed business leaders to explore the potential benefits of having employees work from home.
So, once the pandemic subsides, what will be the new norm for physical office spaces and remote, virtual offices? How can businesses combine these work environment models to promote safety and resilience while still maximizing productivity?
These unprecedented challenges fall to today’s business leaders. Northern Kentucky University (NKU) offers an online Master of Business Administration (MBA) with the option to specialize in leadership, focusing on leading organizational change. This degree program can help business leaders develop the knowledge and skills necessary for transforming businesses and workplaces to manage current and future crises.
How Will the Physical Office Change?
Basic safety protocol in the office space can go a long way toward mitigating safety concerns. All employees should wear masks, maintain social distance and wash their hands regularly. Sanitizing stations should be available throughout the workplace. Office spaces and equipment need thorough cleaning and constant disinfection.
The open office design will likely be a thing of the past — at least in its current form. Employees must maintain distance to prevent the spread of disease, meaning workstations need to be spaced out with some form of barrier in between.
Transparent plexiglass shields can protect workstations and maintain line-of-sight and the open office layout’s benefits of visual communication and collaboration. More areas can take on new roles to house more workstations (e.g. the office atrium, large meeting rooms and open-air rooftop terraces or outdoor patios).
Open, airy spaces offer the additional benefit of increased, clean airflow — a necessary component of reducing disease transmission. The need for clean indoor air will also drive many businesses to install advanced air-filtration systems. To avoid employees sharing air space when crossing paths, one-way corridors and stairwells will become the new normal.
While most of these safety measures require relatively little investment, businesses that can afford it are taking additional steps to ensure employee safety and prepare for future scenarios.
Contactless technologies and automation are an integral part of this transformation. Many buildings already have automatic doors, hands-free sinks and the like. Employees can access secure areas using contactless facial recognition software. Even shared equipment like coffee machines and elevator controls can accommodate voice- or app control.
What About Remote Work?
Wholly remote work is clearly the best way to maintain safe working conditions during a pandemic. Since many businesses have seen the benefits of integrating remote work, the virtual office is sure to be a lasting facet of workplace structuring and organization.
Many jobs accommodate remote staff with collaborative, cloud-based, virtual office software, videoconferencing and other tools. Further, remote work allows employees with family obligations or long commutes to work more efficiently.
Some employees also find they make more productive use of time given the flexibility of remote work. Businesses may see a financial benefit by reducing office space and other overhead costs.
Additionally, the combination of the pandemic and advancements in virtual reality (VR) technologies is driving innovation in virtual office software. Using these mixed or augmented reality technologies, remote employees can work “together” in a VR environment, represented as avatars similar to a VR video game. This can allow for more direct, real-time interaction and engagement between teams of remote workers.
How Are Businesses Incorporating Hybrid Office Models?
Some job duties require in-office work, at least some of the time. Plus, the social aspect of working together is essential for collaboration and innovation. Some people simply have a hard time feeling connected to co-workers from a distance.
As such, many businesses will incorporate hybrid workspace models. Employees may come into the office on certain days and stay home the rest of the week. Managers can stagger shift schedules so employees start their workdays at offset times.
Restructured scheduling also helps reduce the number of employees in the office at any given moment, which improves social distancing. Further, staggering the workday can help avoid traffic bottlenecks in areas where distancing is impossible, like the elevator.
Simple safety measures and re-imagining office design and remote technology integration can keep employees healthy — both physically and mentally. With a little creativity, business leaders can use all of these and other methods to create new, resilient workplace models, cultures and organizational structures.
Learn more about Northern Kentucky University’s online MBA program.
Sources:
WebMD: How Will COVID Change the Workplace?
World Economic Forum: Is This What the Office of the Future Will Look Like?
BBC Worklife: How Offices Will Change After Coronavirus?
BBC: Flexible Working Will Be a New Normal After Virus
Deloitte: Workforce Strategies for Post-COVID Recovery
Inc: A New Study Reveals Why Working From Home Makes Employees More Productive
