Four design directions a new workspace must incorporate to ensure successful organizations

What is the impact of the epidemic on face-to-face work? How will the future of this method be? To answer these and many other questions, experts from Steel case They did an analysis The impact, prospects and future of office work Since the start of the epidemic, through more than 8 preliminary studies, analyzing more than 8,000 plans and more than 32,000 surveys conducted with employees and managers in Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Mexico, China or India. Main conclusions: 90% of professionals surveyed want to return to the office, after at least one day of telecommutingAccording to an average of 55% in responses. With this, 24% of workers worldwide expect that in 2021 there will be improvements in labor flexibility policies.

What does remote work mean for employees and managers?

This unprecedented shift in the business model had different impacts on teams around the world, as it highlighted the different cultural features of each country. Compliance with subject matter, Spanish socialization and no clear compromise between them Worst manifestation of receipt: Feeling isolated (48%) and the negative impact of reconciling work and personal life (19%) are classified as the main downsides appreciated by the Spaniards, the data is more prominent, and they are much higher than neighboring countries, such as France or Germany.

Ironically, the positive part lies in the business side: at 48%, the travel savings are much higher than the global average of 37%. In addition to, Workers in Spain also demonstrate increased flexibility (28%) and the ability to avoid office distractions (26%). These effects, however, were not able to prevent a loss of contact between workers and their leaders, with an average of 18% in the case of Spain, and higher than 9% globally.

With this, after various analyzes, Steelcase experts identify 5 different worker profiles In the current business model:

1. A weary caregiver. Working from home is a stream of competing demands. She misses the office due to the possibility of a disconnection.
2. The “relaxed” factor. More than comfort from avoiding infection, he feels that the environment at home is more convenient and that it is a “break” for him to not share physical space with his buddies.
3. Creative and frustrating conductor. Frustrated by his inability to get his usual contacts with co-authors “close at hand”, a dilemma is whether this need justifies exposing himself to infection.
4. I am looking for “self rule”. Away from the looks of colleagues or bosses, this profile finds in his home a self-organizer of his time and organization.
5. Asylum “Zoomer”. Despite the constant and intense work and digital contact, they find that the greatest motivation to return is social contact with their colleagues, as long as the organization provides them with complete security guarantees.

Nothing will look like before: Spain chooses the “hybrid model”

Spain chooses A. Hybrid system for flexibility of work between office and remote work (53%), despite the fact that the global average analyzed prefers to delve deeper into this new hybrid model (72%). This point makes clear in our country that at the moment we have seen the advantages of working at home, since the question of how often is remote work in the future you want? 47% tend to telework two or more days a weekBut in the case of France it is 30% and in the case of Germany it is 28%, and this data may come from the novelty that this type of work represents for the Spaniards.

The still-existing pandemic has pushed the issue of change face-to-face at work even further, showing the insights Steelcase gained from various business managers in the past year. If in April 2020 there were about 67% of companies that were considering rethinking the weight of being in the office or working remotely, in September of this past this percentage rose to 87% in the expected increase in flexibility. However, we can currently point to this 53% of Spaniards analyzed would be willing to work remotely for 1 day or less, 33% would be 2 to 3 days, 14% 4 to 5 days..

What do new space workers expect

Since it could not be otherwise, the Spaniards, in line with most of the countries analyzed, are asking their organizations to return to the usual working space, Feeling safe and optimum air quality (73%), in addition to the correct disposition that allows for social distancing (70%), followed by solid policies for communicating with suppliers (64%) and feeling clean (63%).

They hope to recover, basically the same way The possibility of participating in creating personal and social relationships (30%), as well as access to specific tools (28%), or improving the training and learning aspect (28%). Out of curiosity, these priorities change when the profile is administrative, as his first need is to have a neutral space to deal with his clients personally.

Change in business design for the near future

The future of workspaces hinges on four main features of job development: Safety, productivity, inspiration and resilience, And the development of the specific characteristics that guided its development.

In these questions, Alejandro Busia, President of Steelcase in Spain “More than making a change in spaces, it is about making the office a space for change,” he explains. “Innovation arises when people come together in a common space that makes it easy for them to be more creative. There is no virtual experience that can replace physical experience. Communication and interaction between People are essential to the ideas we need to move forward to emerge, which is why it is necessary to re-plan many of the existing workspaces. Old offices no longer serve us, and we have to adapt to a more flexible model, with spaces designed for today’s needs and equipped for what might happen in the future.

This way they are posed Four great design directions By 2021:

1. Think about individual and group needsThey must facilitate individual and team work, while allowing for rapid changes from focusing on work alone to collaborating with the team.
2. Flexibility and fluidityThese spaces allow different ways to operate. In this sense, two types are drawn: flexible spaces (mobility, accessible power, technology and partition) and flexible architecture (elements that allow multiple ways to reorganize space, and spaces that expand and contract according to needs).
3. Combine open and closed spacesThe main trend will be closed spaces for individual focus and open spaces for collaborative work.
4. Physical and digital union: Teams will need space and technology to create holistic experiences for the remote team members who are physically present. Smart sensor technologies must be integrated into the infrastructure to support the growth of data-driven and artificial intelligence expertise.

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