Opionion


Shifts in working models caused by Covid-19: Which will last, and why? Asks Lieven Bertier is the Segment


Director, Workplace, at Barco Click- Share.


Businesses across the UK are con- sidering what a return to work might look like as the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic begins to loosen its grip on the nation. As they begin the process of consolidating the business continu- ity lessons learned over the past few months, there will no doubt be a con- sensus that office life will never be the same again.


As the virus hit, forcing all but essen- tial workers into lockdown, technology came to the rescue providing the vital link between business leaders, em- ployees, customers and supply chains. As millions now begin to think about what comes next, many will look at their own experience of remote work- ing and ask whether this could be a glimpse of the future. Businesses will need to consult with their staff about what does come next as individual safety is of paramount concern. There will be those who have benefited from the freedom of work- ing from home despite the tragic cir- cumstances surrounding the imposed lockdown. While others, having expe- rienced a sense of isolation over these past months, may want the option to return to the office to interreact with friends and colleagues. There is no single answer for everyone. Giving people the choice of ‘how’ and ‘where’ they work by adopting a hybrid structure where some staff chose to work from home while others work in the office will likely offer the solution, but models will likely vary widely from one firm to the next. Technology will continue to connect co-workers while empowering businesses to manage the unique set of conditions, such as social distancing. In the longer term,


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a mix home and office working could even provide a vital step towards solving certain environmental and fi- nancial challenges, such as reducing unnecessary commutes, cutting office overheads and lowering carbon emis- sions.


Collaboration from home?


After months of working remotely, many employees are already asking whether travelling into the office every day makes sense. Staff numbers in the workplace at any one time must be drastically reduced to ensure phys- ical distancing is maintained. Working remotely, aided by conferencing and virtual meeting solutions, has shown people that they can collaborate in re- al-time from home without impacting their performance or productivity. The culture of remote working is not new to the workplace. Even before the virus, Gartner had forecast that the proportion of business meetings con- ducted face-to-face would decrease from the current 60 percent to 25 percent by 2024, largely driven by re- mote working and changing workforce demographics. Now with the enforced shift to home working, there is little to suggest that Covid-19 will have done anything other than accelerate this trend.


However, it must be remembered that during the lockdown, companies re- sponded to the crisis with varying suc- cess. Many businesses, particularly in- ternational organisations that need to empower teams to connect from any- where in the world, have already in- vested in technologies to support flexi- ble working. Others, particularly those in sectors where face-to-face meetings were the norm and where the right vir- tual technologies might not have been in place, would have initially struggled to maintain business-as-usual.


The wi-fi push


Ultimately, the experience will have shown businesses what is possible in a world driven by wi-fi and has given many the extra push they needed to prepare their workforce for a new ap- proach to remote working. Twitter, for instance, has announced that its staff can work from home ‘forever’, whereby less technologically advanced organ- isations may see a hybrid approach, with a balance between office and home working, as a more sustainable option. With the adoption of a hybrid struc- ture to the working week, staff may be asked to only come into the office to attend key meetings or split the week between home and the office to


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