OFFICE AS A PLACE OF LONGING
BETWEEN HOME & OFFICE
Thanks to digitization, we can easily work from home in times of the Corona pandemic. The boundary between "home" and "office" is becoming more fluid. Against the backdrop of the current global crisis, we are experiencing the stress test for the home office. Even if it is not voluntary, it shows that working from home basically works, but also what we are missing outside the office. This will inevitably have an impact on the concepts of use and designs of office space in the future.
Even before the pandemic, the office had to accommodate our mobile and individualized lifestyles, support our personal "flow" and provide the place to match the intention and mode of work, "Tasked Based Working". In this context, the home office joins the catalog of choices and represents a possible retreat for concentrated work, if one's own roommates do not disturb instead of colleagues. Against this backdrop, the question arises as to how pronounced the proportion of retreat areas in offices will have to be in the future, if it is also possible to move home or to a third location for concentrated work.
OFFICE AS A PLACE OF WELL-BEING
However, the weeks of isolation also reveal the first weaknesses of working from home. The lack of personal exchange and contact becomes clear and the renunciation of our colleagues and fellow human beings more conscious from day to day. It's like going on a diet: food takes on a whole new meaning, it tastes more intense, and we crave it more. We feel the same way about the "diet" of personal contacts. We all "miss" our colleagues and sometimes even the boss after a few days. Our work is more than just social security for us. We meet people there with similar ideas and values and pursue common goals. While the home office used to be the place of longing for many, it is now the office, a social place.
OFFICE AS COMMUNICATION HUB
Places of encounter and communication are thus gaining in importance in the office. Because we have all become aware that as much as technology enables us to do at the moment, it can hardly be a substitute for personal encounters. Briefly exchanging ideas with the colleague next door, undirected input and inspiration from outside without asking for it, all this only works spontaneously. The moment we have to use technology for communication, spontaneity and immediacy are lost. New developments and creative processes fall by the wayside or are slowed down significantly. Especially when it comes to creation, strategy and negotiating complex content.
In addition, isolation has been shown to lead to depression, anxiety, stress, dejection, irritability, insomnia and emotional exhaustion. We are not creative or innovative when we are anxious and uncomfortable. Getting into performance mode requires a sense of security. Therefore, in addition to the right processes and structures, a good office layout primarily conveys a sense of familiarity and provides a feel-good place for each task. In the unpredictable times of a globalized world, offices, among other things, represent a second home for people by providing security, belonging and orientation. We want to be able to identify with our employer and our work - and the office is an essential part of corporate culture and well-being.
The office of the future is one thing above all: relationship-based.
