5 minute read
Returning to the Desk
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.
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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.
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. 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.
The Future of Office Space
Why it isn’t going away
By Russell Copeland
Re-Invention of Office Space
Not every office space is physically the same nor does every tenant have the same needs. The physical configuration of office spaces is likely going to change, but what that looks like will be highly dependent on the goals and interests of the individual tenant.
Some tenants may want to introduce distance in their office spaces. They may want more walls and partitions and less common space indoors. They may begin wanting more outdoor workspace that allows employees to distance themselves during the day.
Other tenants may transition more sharply to a work from home system and may want their office to be mostly conference rooms and cubicles. If tenants want to maintain the suggested distancing that is currently recommended, they may need more physical space to achieve that.
Employers requiring face-to-face interaction will likely need to reconfigure offices to allow for more social distancing. When capacity is met, expansion may be the best option. Employers that have now seen that work from home is possible will most likely continue to accommodate if they are able to continue to be successful. There will also be new technological elements infused into the office space. Touchless technology is almost becoming a mainstay in properties. From touchless bathrooms to touchless opening doors, the office and the way people move about in it will look different in the coming years. With many organizations opting for rotational schedules for employees, the egress and ingress will also look different.
Forging New Opportunities
This is the time for property professionals to get creative. We are headed towards a world that will be discovering how to merge the technology-based system we are now accustom to with the world we knew before physical distancing. Property teams can help in this transition and innovate new ways to combine the two.
Virtual experiences, AV lobbies or technology that allows tenants to connect will be a massive area of opportunity. There may also be a need for additional personnel with this transition. For example, instead of having just a community manager, perhaps we have an additional technology manager for the property.
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This could also potentially create an opportunity to promote a new certification/designation and to prepare your buildings for future pandemics. This one certainly caught all of us off guard. We have also learned to be more conscious of our own health and the wellbeing of those around us. The COVID-19 pandemic has also redirected our focus on the cleanliness of our buildings and controlling access to them.
We may see a slower market for new deals, changes in RSF with renewals, operating cost changes to include enhanced cleaning, and overtime or shifting engineering work hours to allow for repairs to be completed while social distancing, but this is all a part of the adjustment the industry will be going through as a whole.
Don’t be afraid to try and experiment with new ideas or propose those new ideas to your owners in order to create a new culture and/or environment to the office tenant.
These are uncharted waters that innovative property professionals will be able to navigate through. The future of office space has a lot of questions surrounding it, but that does not mean we, as an industry, cannot find the answers. Russell Copeland is currently responsible for business development, management and oversight of 3 million square feet in the Atlanta market. He currently serves as the president of BOMA Georgia and has previously served as the vice president. Mr. Copeland joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2007 as General Manager of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation’s campus portfolio, which is comprised of approximately 610,290 square feet. Copeland has also served as the chair of the executive advisory council for Berry College’s Campbell School of Business.
REPAIR. RESTORE. PROTECT.
Engineered Restorations is a specialty contracting company delivering restoration, repair, waterproofing, and protection delivering restoration, repair, waterproofing, and protection services for structures of all types.
