THE OFFICE WILL FIGHTTO WIN YOU BACK...3-2-2

After a year of working from home, power dynamics have shifted. Companies will need to give employees a reason to return to the office. On offer? Spaces designed for what we’ve been missing all along: Human connection, and maybe a bit of rest and relaxation, too. People miss people the most. There’s a credible value to real life in-person contact. But because the culture of working from home has increased drastically, the work space will function in two key ways: As spaces where people gather for leadership, personal development and culture; and as clubhouses where they come together to collaborate and congregate. Either way, we won’t be gathering in them five days each week anymore. This transformation won’t simply be philosophical; it’ll be physical, too.

Most company staff want to work in an office, but this time, only twice a week. And when they do come in, they want it to be collaborative. Offices need to accommodate this activity-based working that suit a variety of needs. But collaborative spaces alone may not be enough to draw people back, so companies would be wise to entice people with either a lot of amenities and a super slick experience or a really unique experience you can’t get anywhere else. Companies may want to consider setting up outposts in scenic areas more associated with leisure employees can gravitate towards. Business leaders are being forced to rethink how their companies will work in a post-pandemic world. One of the biggest questions they will face? Where and when employees can work. By the time it’s safe to return to the office, many workers will have spent a year or more working from home. And many are enjoying the extra time and flexibility. Companies may let employees work from home two or more days per week, with some opting for three days in office, two days remote and then two days off — a 3-2-2 work week, if you will. Some employers may even cut down to a four-day work week altogether. Companies will allow them to be at least partially remote after the coronavirus pandemic wanes.