Your office needs you!
21 August 2020
One of the undoubted take away lessons from the pandemic has been the world taking a look at their previous working practices. Being forced to stay at home has given many of us a chance to reflect on what we want our work life balance to be and good we work more efficiently outside the traditional 9-5 hours? So, will the office become a thing of the past? At RMF we think casting aside the office is not the answer and here’s why;
- Economic
The sights of many desolate high streets have plagued the news channels for months, many of the high street stalwarts have been forced to drastically reduce their costs via redundancies and reducing their property portfolios. Both retail and hospitality need office footfall to give them a much needed lifeline following the pandemic. Whilst online shopping has seen an undoubted boost, can you really match the personalised and face to face (at a 2 metre distance!) service offered by the retail and hospitality professionals across the country. The high street also offers more than service and products, it offers some of our ageing and vulnerable members of society a sense of community, a meeting place and for some their only social interaction of the day – can we afford to lose this?
- Social
Human’s are sociable creatures by nature. Our desire for interaction is biological yet all of us had this restricted considerably during lockdown, some of us will have gone days without seeing another human in ‘real life’. Whilst technology is boundless and has been key at keeping us connected during our solitude nothing can replace the ability to read body language, micro expressions and tone like a face to face interaction. Whilst working in your PJ’s has it’s novelty value in the short term we can’t replace that sense of purpose and feeling of belonging that comes with being part of a physical team. At RMF HQ we certainly missed hearing about each other’s weekends, celebrating birthdays and important milestones together.
- Productivity
The great debate over productivity is hotly debated with many saying they are doing more work from home and others finding motivation difficult and the constant distractions of children and pets a great hindrance. Under normal circumstances we would typically not have several adults and children at home whilst we work, however can we ever switch off if work and home are all in one place? Whilst technology allows us to connect quickly to one another it isn’t without it’s flaws, the phrase of 2020 has to be ‘can you hear me?’ – in the office a quick query can be resolved by simply using the oldest form of communication known – speaking!
Whilst there are many positives that can be drawn from the pandemic we believe the office shouldn’t be something to be hastily scrapped. The high street, hospitality, our mental and social wellbeing need the office still. If we can safely work as a team, if we can minimise our risk of infection or spreading the virus then we say long live the office!
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