DE
About two years ago, millions of people switched to a home office 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 time to go 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 have to be communicated correctly. And if the office is designed and furnished accordingly, it will not disappear from the scene like the dinosaurs once did.
The majority of employees (83 %) want a hybrid working model with one or more office days. So they are happy to come back to the office - if the return makes sense and brings clear advantages in contrast to the home office. Anyone who has ever commuted daily - for example, three hours - knows this time-eater and nerve killer only too well. No wonder, then, that commuting is no longer an option for 28% of employees when the job is actually independent of time and place - this is what a study by Ernst & Young shows. If employees get the impression that they are commuting to the office for tasks that they could just as easily do at home, their motivation will plummet faster than the roller coaster in the amusement park.
These strengths will make the office attractive in the future:
Companies have to offer their employees something if they want to attract them to the office. The keywords: Experiences with colleagues, creative exchange and a skilful change of scenery.
Let's keep in mind: not all employees will make the journey to the office every day. For the office design, this means: if only some of the employees are on site, the office must look different from a full house. Therefore, in offices of the future, every table, all office partitions, acoustic panels and the like must be able to be moved. This means that the office furnishings can be used for exactly the work situation that the team needs at the moment - the office landscape adapts to the employees and not the other way around.
Designing spaces that ignite the creative spark
74% of Gen Z respondents want the opportunity to work face-to-face with colleagues and 68% of boomers feel the same way - according to an Accenture study. Personal contact is at the top of employees' wish lists. And new ideas, as we know, come to us exactly when we don't expect them. For example, while fondling an office dog, playing a game of table football or during spontaneous conversations and meetings. That's when office partitions and acoustic curtains are quickly pushed aside to make room for creative collaboration. There are also things that are not quite as much fun remotely as they are in real life. Getting to know new colleagues, for example. Having a beer together after work. Or the games evening. Visiting the office is becoming more and more of an event, and the room design supports this development.
Screaming kids, excited pets or construction site noise - for some employees, home office does not mean peace and productivity. Quite the opposite: these colleagues come to the office in search of a place for focused work and concentration. So the office of the future serves as an oasis - green plants and birdsong from surround speakers included. Book walls and acoustic elements such as curtains, moss-covered walls and the like not only provide the right ambience, but also optimum sound insulation in the office. Movable soundproof walls simply swallow disturbing noises from the busy part of the office and let everyone work in peace.
Traditional meeting rooms disappear from the scene
In the meantime, we know that standard meetings can be easily handled 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 will take 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 are making way for flexible solutions such as telephone booths and meeting boxes that employees can book for video calls or smaller group meetings.
We think that office work should not be about just carrying the laptop from one desk to another. The secret to office success lies in making the most of the office and its advantages. Anyone who wants to furnish an office in the future should create space for personal contacts and more community, offer opportunities for creativity and design spaces for retreat.
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