DE
Around two years ago, millions switched to working from home virtually overnight and are now tried and tested "home office workers". They have learned that remote work works pretty well and now that it's "back to the office", many are asking themselves: "What's the point? What can the office do that my home office can't?" We think: the office has a lot of advantages - they just need to be communicated properly. And if the office is designed and furnished accordingly, it won't disappear from the scene like the dinosaurs once did.
The majority of employees (83%) would like a hybrid working model with one or more office days. This means they are happy to return to the office - if it makes sense and has clear advantages over working from home. Anyone who has ever commuted every day - for three hours, for example - knows this time waster and nerve killer only too well. So it's no wonder that commuting is no longer an option for 28% of employees if the job is actually independent of time and place - as a study by Ernst & Young shows. So if employees get the impression that they are commuting to the office for tasks that they could just as easily do from home, their motivation plummets faster than a rollercoaster in an amusement park.
These strengths will make the office attractive in the future:
Companies have to offer their employees a lot if they want to attract them to the office. The keywords: Experiences with colleagues, creative exchange and a skillful change of scenery.
Let's be clear: not all employees will travel to the office every day. In terms of office design, this means that if only some of the employees are on site, the office needs to look different from a full house. That's why every desk, all office partitions, acoustic panels and the like must be able to be moved in offices of the future. This means that the office furnishings can be used for exactly the work situation that the team needs at the time - the office landscape adapts to the employees and not the other way around.
Designing spaces that spark creativity
74% of Gen Z respondents want the opportunity to work with colleagues in person and 68% of boomers feel the same way - according to an Accenture study. Personal contact is at the top of employees' wish lists. And, as we all know, new ideas come to us when we are not expecting them. For example, when an office dog is scratching, a round of table football or during spontaneous conversations and meetings. Office partitions and acoustic curtains are then quickly pushed aside to make room for creative collaboration. There are also things that aren't quite as much fun remotely as they are in real life. For example, getting to know new employees. A beer together after work. Or a games evening. Visiting the office is becoming more and more of an event and the room design supports this development.
Screaming children, hyper pets or construction site noise - for some employees, working from home doesn't mean peace and quiet and productivity. Quite the opposite: these colleagues come to the office in search of a place for focused work and concentration. The office of the future therefore serves as an oasis - green plants and birdsong from surround speakers included. Walls of books and acoustic elements such as curtains, moss-covered walls etc. not only provide the right ambience, but also optimum sound insulation in the office. Movable soundproof walls simply absorb disturbing noises from the busy part of the office and allow everyone to work in peace.
Traditional meeting rooms are disappearing from the scene
We now know that standard meetings can easily be held via Zoom, GoogleMeet and the like. Customer meetings will also be held online even more frequently in the future. A McKinsey study makes it clear that 53% of all sales interactions during the pandemic are taking place as video meetings and 70 to 80% of all decision-makers prefer remote contact to face-to-face meetings. Meetings where the whole team gathers around a round table will therefore disappear from the scene. They will make way for flexible solutions such as telephone booths and meeting boxes that employees can book for video calls or smaller group meetings.
We believe that office work should not be about carrying a laptop from one desk to another. The secret to office success lies in using the office and its benefits to its full advantage. If you want to set up an office in the future, you should create space for personal contact and more community, offer opportunities for creativity and design retreat areas.
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