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Going Digital? That’s Only Part of the Picture

Going Digital? That’s Only Part of the Picture

The great digital revolution gave businesses the ability to function during pandemic lockdowns. Revolution Part 2 is upon us now. Employees and employers alike discovered the benefits of remote work. Now that the hybrid office is here to stay, the secondary revolution is cultural as well as technological. How can traditional office culture accommodate the changes necessary for a successful hybrid operation?

Beliefs vs. reality – The traditional management style was one of synchronous work: everyone in the office at the same time on the same days. It was assumed that if workers were not closely monitored, in person, they would slack off.

The pandemic-dictated shift to remote work proved that off-site asynchronous workers were actually more productive than they had been under the synchronous regime. But now that offices are reopening, some managers cling to the old notion that in-person supervision is essential to productivity.

Formulating a new set of management beliefs requires a “trust walk” message from the C-suite. When top management signals that the flexible, asynchronous workstyle is the new normal — and they back it up with tangible support and rewards for making the shift – then team leaders can take that step of faith to trust their own team members in turn.

Supportive actions – It’s clear the hybrid workplace offers greater productivity, greater employee satisfaction, and lower overhead costs. To get the benefits, though, certain supports must be activated.

  • Collaborative technology such as asynchronous apps (Slack, Outlook, etc.) keep teams organized and goal-focused without forcing individual tasks into a synchronous schedule. Well-connected virtual meeting spaces also support hybrid productivity, as long as each meeting is truly useful (a challenge that existed in the traditional office too).
  • Technology for document accessibility is also essential. When paper documents are imaged (digitized), they become accessible to team members in and out of the office. Moreover, the data contained in the paper documents is made far more secure when it is stored digitally with access controls in place.
  • Inclusion can be difficult in the hybrid office, but managers can draw from the social function of the traditional office. Richard R. Smith, Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business, suggests, “Arrange and encourage social interactions on the days that people are in the office—and potentially encourage common in-person office days.”

Change is almost always uncomfortable, but the rewards are worth the effort. Commit to the office of the future, put the supports in place, and see the benefits flow to the bottom line.

 

Photo © Angelov / AdobeStock

One Way to Fix Your Open Office Plan

One Way to Fix Your Open Office Plan

The open office plan isn’t everything we’d hoped it would be. Once touted as the magic bullet for productivity, creativity, and collaboration, the open office plan in reality is too noisy, too public, and too distracting for heads-down workers. Rather than collaborating, employees use every tool at their disposal to claw back a tiny bit of personal space, isolating themselves with headphones and using email and texts to communicate with co-workers who are mere feet away, often at the same workbench.

Like business owners, facilities managers were initially enamored of the open office plan. Requiring fewer square feet per employee, the open office plan kept the cost of rent low, and the lack of interior walls reduced the build-out costs.

Facilities managers were among the first to hear the negative feedback around the open office concept, as staffers began requesting enclosed meeting rooms and sound-reducing measures. In an effort to achieve a balance between open areas and enclosed areas, facilities managers and designers have begun turning to a ready-made solution: the “phone booth” office pod. As reported in Fast Company, these micro-offices are fully enclosed, sound-proof, ventilated, and come complete with plug-and-play power for electronic devices. Businesses can add a string of these prefabricated offices within their existing open office space at a cost of a few thousand dollars each, without the disruption of construction.

There’s a downside, however. Although they’re small, micro-offices take up a certain amount of floor space, putting the squeeze on work space and storage space alike. Employees who are already feeling crowded are not likely to react positively to more encroachment on their work areas.

Files and supplies, on the other hand, never complain about having their storage space reduced. High density mobile shelving, rotary file cabinets, and lateral sliding files condense storage space into half the space of traditional shelves and cabinets. Moreover, these compact storage systems offer greater accessibility than old-school storage systems; search-and-retrieval times are reduced and productivity is improved.

Space-efficient storage systems provide the floor space needed to achieve the balance of open work spaces and enclosed, heads-down work spaces, preserving the overall office footprint while making room for everyone to do their best work. Businesses are learning that this balance will deliver the improvements in creativity and productivity originally promised by the open office concept.

 

Photo © Syda Productions / AdobeStock