The dynamic work environment and the impact of work-from-home scenarios

The sudden adoption of remote work at the start of 2020 has affected major changes in workplace dynamics. With the world staying indoors for most of last year and this year, many dining tables have been transformed into temporary desk spaces while daily 30-minute journeys to work have turned into quick commutes between the lounge, kitchen and make-shift home offices. 

For some, the opportunity to work from home means enjoying an extra hour of sleep in the morning, spending more time with family and exchanging formal workwear for t-shirts and pyjama pants. Despite the benefits it brings to the table, remote work simultaneously catalyses a host of new concerns that previously were not even part of the conversation. Work-from-home scenarios, accelerated by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, have exposed various pain points in the traditional workplace setup. A change is needed. 

The solution lies somewhere in the middle of the two poles: rather than pitting office-based work and remote work against each other, we need to explore the possibilities of combining the best of both scenarios into a dynamic, hybridised workplace model that serves the unique needs of the modern workforce. This sentiment supports our retail design philosophy of reframing the traditional narrative of brick-and-mortar VS e-commerce into a cohesive approach. 

So, what does the hybrid workplace of the future look like?

Redefining professional environments

Around 15-20 years ago, remote work as we know it today wasn’t in the cards at all. Even as recently as two years ago, no one expected the work-from-home movement to become commonplace so quickly. Thanks to major technological advances over the past couple of years, however, it’s no longer strange for teams to be spread out across multiple countries and timezones. Further to this, digital acceleration and globalisation have also created the need and opportunity for jobs and skill sets that didn’t even exist at the start of the century.

The move towards more flexible work is calling for a reevaluation of our relationship with professional environments. By analysing data from job postings, LinkedIn has reported that listings and applications for remote positions have demonstrated strong growth during 2020, with key markets in Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines leading the Asia Pacific region in this regard. Is there still a need for physical office space, or will work-from-home become the norm?

Productivity, creativity and wellness in the workplace

Remote work scenarios blur the lines between personal life and work life. As the home morphs into the office, many people find it challenging to separate the two and mentally log off from work when the clock strikes five. With such a thin veil between domestic and professional spaces, employee wellness suffers from work-from-home setups even if productivity may improve. 

In addition to mental wellbeing concerns, key factors such as creativity, communication, collaboration and team-building in the workplace are likely to be neglected by remote employment in the long run. From a broader perspective, a large-scale shift toward working from home will also have a major spiralling impact on industries that rely on office operations — transport, cleaning and hospitality services to name but a few.

A survey by Airtasker found that remote employees work longer hours, take shorter breaks and get more work done per day than their office-based counterparts. Comparing Microsoft 365 data between February 2020 and February 2021, Microsoft offers a deep dive into behavioural changes when working from home: time spent in virtual meetings has more than doubled and continues to rise, meetings tend to be longer than usual, and the average employee sends 45% more work-related messages per day along with a 42% increase in messages sent after work hours.

As an indication of the fast-paced nature of remote work, more than 60% of calls and meetings are unscheduled while 50% of people respond to work messages within less than five minutes. More than half of respondents surveyed reported that they feel overworked while 39% communicated signs of exhaustion. Eliminating the physical office and working from home could therefore scale up short-term performance, but at what cost?

The benefits and drawbacks of working from home

It is important for companies and organisations that are trying to find the middle ground between remote work and office-based work to understand the benefits and drawbacks of the two scenarios. By mapping out the pros and cons and their relevance to your workplace processes, you will be able to formulate a hybrid solution that extracts the best of both options.

On the one hand, working remotely is convenient. The freedom to work from anywhere with an internet connection presents cost- and time-saving benefits by cutting out long commutes and travel expenses. The flexible nature of remote work also enables workers to move further away from major cities in pursuit of more affordable housing and living costs. For companies, remote work allows employers to access global contingent workforces and reduce costs associated with office infrastructure and maintenance.

On the other hand, the physical office plays a critical role in community building and creative collaboration. In-person engagement fills the social, imaginative and communicative void left by technology-driven remote work situations. Employees are likely to be more relaxed and better acquainted with each other when working together in a physical office environment as opposed to solely interacting via emails and video calls. The office creates a space for employees to be human; to prevent burnout and digital overstimulation, and to build connections beyond virtual meetings and performance reports.

Designing the hybrid workplace

Flexibility is the most important consideration in the hybrid workplace. According to Microsoft, more than 70% of workers want flexible remote options to continue alongside a similar response to the need for more in-person time spent with teams. As a response, 66% of business leaders are looking at redesigning their physical office spaces to accommodate the need for flexibility in the post-pandemic workplace environment.

Hybrid workplace models that present workers with the option of working from home or working in the office depending on the nature of their tasks for the day could have a major positive effect on productivity and staff morale. Scaling down to smaller office premises or engaging solutions such as coworking spaces can combine the cost-saving benefits of remote or partially remote work with the advantages of collaboration and community in physical office environments.

Behaviour-based design is central to the success of hybrid work environments by empowering workers with the freedom to curate their professional experiences. Flexibility, modularity and wellness should be integrated into workplace design processes to deliver uplifting and inspiring office spaces. Modern workplace design needs to cater to a range of different scenarios — focused individual work, collaborative teamwork, social breakout zones and quiet spaces for employees to recharge. The hierarchical divide between different teams and managers also need to be broken down to promote inclusivity and transparency in the workplace.

Are you ready to reconfigure your workplace dynamics?

Greater Group is a multi-disciplinary global retail design agency. We have been creating award-winning retail spaces, customer experiences and workplaces since 1989, utilising our combined expertise to deliver high-impact, high-return design, fit-out and manufacturing solutions and provide clients with one point of contact throughout.