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Donna Forshaw, VP Sales America at Condeco, said: “I don’t know anybody who goes at the office every day anymore. For most of the globe that’s not even al- lowed.”


Forshaw reported on the findings of a recent Sur- vey: “The Covid crisis


is


the first time that many companies


allowed their


staff to work remotely. The numbers revealed by the Survey, at 30%, are pretty low and I think the number is actually likely higher. Unless you actually have programme in place re- mote working can be really frowned upon. Companies


practice many spend most of the day running from one meeting to another in a custom designed space, be it a huddle space or a conference room.”


Generational differences Different


generations of


employees react to the enforced changes in the working environment in different ways. Forshaw ob- serves: “Some people are going to be happy about having the necessary tech- nology at home some, while some just want to be in the office and didn’t even think it is possible for members


get together on weekend and I travel with most of them on a regular basis.” “The ability to continue to collaborate remotely is key. 84 % of professionals are staggering the workers present in their offices. So it’s really about using technology to help change the behaviour change and mindset of employees. The new normal is about col- laboration and the flexibil- ity to work anywhere, pro- ductively. People will likely visit their offices for differ- ent reasons, perhaps using it as a hub for face-to-face meetings.”


Part-time office work


A poll conducted among the 200 or so webinar at- tendees selected the op- tion of working in the office one or two days per week as the majority preference. Condeco believes that the return to the office will fol- low this pattern: “That’s how we’re going to get peo- ple slowly back at the office and


feeling


Booking a desk: A poll conducted among the 200 or so Con- deco webinar attendees selected the option of working in the office one or two days per week as the majority preference.


believes that workers are more productive in the of- fice environment and so that has traditionally been the norm.”


But as being a huge prob- lem for the economy, the pandemic could also be something of an opportu- nity. Forshaw argues that: “We shouldn’t just go back to the old way of doing things. We have an oppor- tunity to move towards a human-centric workplace. While most people with a desk may occasionally work from home, but in


2


of a global organisation to work from home. Some- thing that is universally recognised is the saving in time and money that home working brings.” “Most


people’s commute


in the US is a 90-minute round trip. The ability to save time and money is ob- vious. Less obvious is the saving on my dry cleaning as we work in T-shirts and jeans. On the flip side, for some people there is a feel- ing of that social isolation. I have a team of nine peo- ple. I love my team. We all


comfortable.


There are some workers who need to be there three, four or even five days. No matter how much the office is used, deep cleaning, at a daily cost of $5 per work- place, is a significant extra cost.”


“People want to know where they can work on any given day.


Imagine a technology that provides a notification, on your phone, that you’re working from home today, or if you’re working in the office


today notification


that your workspace has been cleaned and pre- pared. Contact tracing within the office com- munity and beyond will be


increasing important.


You will obviously need to know who is in the office and which space they have booked,” said Forshaw. As an example of the costs of the new normal, For- shaw gave the example of a building with 1,000 workspaces. At a cost of $5 per day for sanitising each workspace, a daily bill of $5000 is huge - par- ticularly if only 20% of the workforce is present on any given day.


Video is the norm


In the last few weeks, or- ganisations have had to scale up collaboration tools to account for remote work, improved security capabili- ties, networking and com- munications infrastructure. They have also had equip their workforce with lap- tops and other productivity devices. Videoconferencing will become more common in the office as employees continue to use the tech- nology to maintain social distance. People will join virtual meetings instead of walking to a conference room. Transitioning back to the office means the need for robust communications tools to share information and collaborate in rich ways, anytime from any- where. The new workplace environment necessitates an investment in produc- tivity, employee well-being, and, if the right steps are taken profitability. Deploy- ment flexibility is import- ant for interoperability that provides value and drives usage. Employees need to work where they are most productive. Technology simplicity and interopera- bility will be keys to suc- cessful communications.


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