Is this the end of office-life as we know it?

Due to the recent pandemic we have seen that millions of people are currently working from home. The question ‘if and when’ we can go back to our offices is in all our minds. The moment that we will be able to get back to work will come at some point; but how different is it going to be?

There have been many people speculating about the new way of working in offices. Maybe there will be more automatic doors, voice-recognising elevators making sure you don’t have to push any buttons anymore, or well-spaced desks and places where you are not crammed together with your coworkers.

So many things are about to change in the (post) COVID-19 time. We believe that there is a high likelihood for a lot of change in the commercial real estate and work culture. But what does this mean for you?

Is working from home the new normal?

A lot of people have been working from home during the past months due to the pandemic and for quite some people they also have noticed some benefits. One of these benefits is saving time in traffic, how nice is it to save that extra 2 hours per day on other activities? People are noticing a better work-life balance in these times and companies are starting to recognise that working from home isn’t that bad after all. On top of that; due to economical reasons, it might even be a new strategy that many businesses are going to adopt. Maybe COVID-19 was a push into the right direction for some companies, because now they see that working from home actually can work and might be beneficial in many ways. On top of that, in the past few months people have been investing in their home offices, from office supplies, monitors, desks, keyboards and other stuff. Do you believe that working from home is going to be the new normal for you?

What do businesses need to consider when it comes to working from home?

Working from home is comfortable for many people, however businesses have to put some extra time and effort into creating a new work-culture. For example; company files should be accessed securely by employees, you don’t want your financial reports to be going all over the internet. This needs some proper thought and work, but once set up your employees are good to go! On top of that; maybe the work culture has to change a bit as well. How do you talk to each other online? What if your employees can joke around when they are physically near each other but these same jokes become offensive when others can’t see your obvious jokingly appearance. These are topics to look into now more people are communicating online, without seeing each others facial gestures and body language. Furthermore, we have seen the trend that people are investing in residential and commercial interior design. This means that more people are investing in their home offices. What is the company's role in this? Should people finance this all themselves, or is there a budget available for this? These are all things to think about.

A ‘new’ workspace; what does this mean?

Working from home is not for everybody. That is why many people are looking into the new way of working. Some businesses are thinking about going from open office plans to working in cubicles again? But didn’t people actually didn’t like that anymore? Whatever it is going to be, there will be an increased need for social distancing and hygiene measures in offices. We have seen an increase in demand for private spaces and personal offices. There is also an increased trend that instead of signing for 5 to 10 year leases people rather sign short-term agreements.

Anyspace can help with this: not only are the leases through Anyspace often short term (or as long as you and the host agree upon) it is also safe in regards to social distancing and hygiene. We have many private office spaces and personal offices for rent on our platform! Go check it out here: anyspace.co.nz 

Flexibility is important

We believe the new way of working is going to revolve around spaces in which people can have social distance and where clear health measurements are the rule. Whether this is from home or in a private or small office. We are here to help you, from the person who doesn’t want to work from home anymore, to small groups that want to hire a small office space to bigger groups that want to look into what works for them.

Take a look at https://anyspace.co.nz/current-listings or send an email to
info@anyspace.co.nz for more information.