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Post-Covid-19 Workspace: Rise of the Digital Nomad

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With the sudden changes brought in by the Covid-19 outbreak, the idea of the workplace has been altered almost overnight. The last few months have been a completely different experience for the entire world. Never have we been confined to our homes for this long and compelled to find solutions to maintain work-life equilibrium. There has been a mixed bag of outcomes that have surfaced, owing to the following:

1. Whether the person has a dedicated workspace at home or not, along with a proper work desk, ergonomic chair and a high-speed internet connection

2. Whether the house and the household provide for solitude to carry out work from home comfortably

If the above two conditions have not been met, working from home has been a disaster, as it has led to a considerable amount of stress - physically and mentally. However, in other cases, it has worked out to be a more productive endeavour. In either of the cases, as per an Asia wide survey carried out by Space Matrix, 85% of people miss the face-to-face interaction, and 58% of people miss the ability to collaborate with colleagues. These are staggering numbers that would necessitate the need to get back to the workplace as soon as there is a return of trust or vaccination, whichever is earlier.

In the meantime, there is a need to recognize the challenges that are being faced and find possible solutions to them. For instance, in an internal survey we found that about 20% of the employees did not have access to an ergonomic chair and resorted to sitting in unhealthy postures.

Despite the hardships of dealing with a global pandemic like the Covid-19, there seems to be higher productivity and job satisfaction. Indications are that Covid-19 is going to be around for a long time and the organizations need to restructure the workspaces in accordance with the pandemic protocols. These changes need to be implemented in an efficient and swift manner to address the employees’ needs and give them a sense of safety and comfort. For instance, it is important to analyse and prepare the workplace for zoning and occupancy focusing on aspects like Space, Materiality, Culture and Behaviours, Technology and Systems as well as health and wellness at the workplace. This is to ensure a safe and seamless return of the employees to the workplace.

In a recent report, Gartner indicated that about 64% of the professionals today said they could work from anywhere. Additionally, Real Estate operating costs account for a decent portion of the operating expenses of organizations. About 10-15% reduction of the footprint, in the short term, can lead to a reduced operational cost. Thus organizations would look at reducing their footprint in the short term.

In what seems to be turning into a reality, this decade could perhaps mark the rise of the digital nomad.

There will be two major categories of changes required to cater to the digital nomad in the new normal.

 

Blurring of lines - home and office - Human Resources and process changes

Larger organizations, multi-national companies, and tech-enabled firms would need to think on the lines of creating facilities that merge the conventions of home and office. There may be a need to set up a workspace at employees’ residences, powered by all the necessary enablers to carry out work comfortably at home.

HR and data security policies would need to be adapted and newer techniques explored to take care of data confidentiality issues etc.

Some of the firms that deploy a large workforce to carry out data-intensive works are exploring work and stay in the same or proximate buildings, thus looking at amalgamation of co-working and co-living models. Imagine living in an apartment on the third floor of a complex that has your office on the 20th floor, few floors above. All you need to take is to climb a few stairs or take the elevator from your home to the office. This could increase the demand for mixed-use complexes or buildings, which could become the norm in the future.

Then there are the co-working spaces and co-living areas, etc that offer a great opportunity in such a situation. Corporate policymakers are now contemplating creating a hybrid home-office model – think buildings with commercial spaces, paying guest accommodations, and serviced apartments within walking distance in the same wing. Whether it is a future pandemic, lockdown, or even disruption of public movement due to any other crisis, employees will still be able to work comfortably without relying on transportation or stepping out of their building complexes. On their part, companies would have a lesser need to move their systems or facilitate critical systems’ access to remote locations. This would keep their operations credibility intact.

Within the office space itself, while the look and feel had already moved towards a residential palette, the scale itself would become intimate now given the social distancing norms. Huge cafeterias and meeting spaces would give way to smaller decentralized set-ups to prevent mingling of large crowds. Such use cases of townhalls etc would be driven by technology. With a gradual return of the workforce to offices, they would seek spaces that allow them to be mindful of the social distancing protocols while also engaging with their counterparts. This would necessitate changes in everything from seating, cafeteria use and mandate less-occupied meeting rooms. Social distancing would make it necessary to limit the congregation of movement of people.

 

Technology changes

Until now, technology was a discretionary layer and something that only organizations with a long-term digital vision focused on integrating into the work processes. However, it has become a critical tool for effective functioning. These would now need to be implemented at two levels:

1. Technology tools to deliver day-to-day work would be invested in by organizations to enable a more robust work infrastructure. Better collaborative tools would also be used to ensure that work could be handled effectively by teams not in physical proximity to each other.

2. Experiential technology to take care of employees while at the workplace would be needed to enhance their experience, which would encourage them to come to the office to get the work done. This would also need an overlay of technologies that would take care of social distancing norms, create digital queues for office resources and operate doors/equipment, etc in a touchless manner. For instance, sensor-based monitoring that raises an alert automatically if any breach of the minimum distancing protocols is recorded. Similarly, technology can be used to create a digital waiting system for cafeterias or even generate a token online for lunch hours or meetings. Technology will eventually become autonomous with the integration of biosensors and smart gadgets. In the longer run, we are also likely to witness a revamp of materials and processes used. Interiors would be symbolic of anti-microbial surfaces and air purifying plants and other ways to ensure good-quality indoor air. Wellness LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) principles certification will become a norm of construction and we will see health and wellness gain preference at workplaces.

 

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the need is to create a hybrid workspace integrating the home and office elements. The future will belong to digital nomads who need plug-and-play facilities at the office as well as at home. Instead of a rigid desk-based workspace, organizations must look at the physical workspace in terms of sharing key corporate values and knowledge with the workforce. In fact, to several employees, offices are now not just spaces where they work but also a domain where they can focus on their health and wellbeing and grow professionally and personally. This means office design would need to convert the office hub as a node to home function — through smart technology, processes, and policies. The “new normal” needs to be considered taken as a world where the focus is on wellness, individuality, creativity, co-creation & productivity and the physical office space would need to cater to all of these as a basic necessity. Hybrid workspace is only an extension of this need.

The author, Akshay Lakhanpal, is Chief Executive Officer - India at Space Matrix.

 

 

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