What does an office look like in six months

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are learning, working from home, and accessing health services remotely for the first time. Governments, businesses, and individuals are increasingly relying on technology to perform many more everyday tasks. For many who were sitting in crowded offices with coworkers just three months ago, now Zoom calls, Slack messages, Google Hangouts, and virtual happy hours are the new social norm. 

In response to the coronavirus spread, companies shut their doors quickly, sending employees home with laptops, cell phones, and an evolving plan on how to make things work. As the nation slowly begins to reopen and commerce starts picking up in cities across America, employees and business leaders are working to determine the future of work and the business case for bringing employees back into the office. Many technology companies have permanently moved their workforce remote such as Twitter and Square, while Facebook and Google have talked about the future of remote working. Other companies worry about losing their identity and culture in employees remain at home. While others are concerned about productivity and isolation of their employees. All of these factors will come into play as companies tackle the next steps.

Technology has played a significant part in our sudden shift to a work-from-home world. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared on a recent investor call, “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.” Across platforms, we have seen explosive growth in video calls, webinars, and online learning tools. This transformation has allowed the office to move into the house and enabled workers to continue to be productive. This shift has happened in a very reactionary manner. Most businesses did not have a contingency plan for shutting down their office and moving workers remotely for an extended period. Corporate IT departments have quickly thrown together plans and infrastructure to support this new nomadic workforce. So what if we could plan and do this correctly.

I have been working remotely for the better part of the last four years. I have learned to adapt, be more productive, and contend with the challenges that come from working out of your house. The commute is fantastic, walking from the kitchen to the office, and you are ready to go. But having the right tools is essential - being able to feel like you are still part of a team is what makes remote working successful. I have a future post on my work-from-home setup. If companies are looking to shift their workforce, they will need to help employees invest and provide resources to create that right work environment. Having the correct monitors, cameras, microphones, laptops, and tablets, all of these enable a more seamless work setting. Google recently announced they would be providing up to $1,000 allowance to employees to update their home workstation. While in a micro view, that could be a costly expense, but consider they could cut massive budgets on office rent and equipment at the same time. Companies could save millions of dollars on rent, commuter benefits, parking, equipment maintenance, and so much more by decentralizing the office. 

I am excited to see how businesses respond and adapt to the lessons we have learned as a result of this pandemic. These transformations have been waiting to happen, and COVID-19 was the broad test case that could make them a longterm reality.