Office, Technology, COVID-19
It is no secret that the world of work and the workspace is changing. In a new world of ZOOM meetings and Slack messages, property teams in the office sector may be wondering what the future of their spaces look like. What will work look like after the COVID-19 era is over? As we can already see, technology will increase and how we communicate as well as the amount of touch-less areas that people will encounter will also increase. All things, as real estate managers, we should be aware of. While office space might not look the same, the outlook is not as cut and dry as some may think. This is an opportunity for reinvention and re-commitment to finding arrangements that work for our tenants. As the tenants’ workflow changes, it is the job of the property team to work with them and find the configuration that works. It is time to begin a new era of office space.
Returning to the Desk According to research conducted by Cushman & Wakefield, 50 percent of the workforce will likely be working across a Total Workplace Ecosystem meaning they will be balancing office, home and third locations.
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Insight • Issue 3, 2020
While the office may no longer be the primary location, it will begin to serve a much greater purpose. The office will become the cultural center for its branched-out employees. The office will serve as a space for face-to-face interaction, active collaboration, and bonding between co-workers. While many people have begun to see the benefits and flexibility of working from home, there are certain tasks that are just best accomplished face-to-face, such as training, mentor-ship or idea generation. The workplace will no longer be a single location but an ecosystem of different locations and experiences to support convenience, functionality, and well-being. The purpose of the office will be to provide inspiring destinations that strengthen cultural connection, learning, bonding with customers and colleagues, and foster creativity and innovation. Offices are not going to all go away, rather they will repurpose and re-energize with a new calling: to bring people together. While the flexibility and innovations surrounding work from home and technology will likely stay in some form, the workspace will be taking a new hybrid form full of opportunity.
