By Dr. Mini Suresh, Head of Interior Design, Canadian University Dubai
Sunday, September 26, 2021: The concept of work from home (WFH) had been popular in sectors such as the IT industry for some years. Still, it took a global pandemic for most businesses to realize that most jobs could be performed without the bricks and mortar of a physical workplace.
When the pandemic hit, and WFH became the norm, employees were forced to reconsider how their physical environment impacted their working style and productivity. Many employees faced significant challenges when the often-idealized notion of WFH became a living reality.
As businesses start to question the traditional concepts of workplace set-up and design, and organizations such as Google and Facebook look to transition employees back into their facilities, concerns and queries rise as employees try to cope with this change. As designers, we need to look at the lessons learnt from the pandemic, in particular, what might the future office look like and what are the design considerations that will help to optimize employee performance?
WFH lessons from the pandemic
When the lockdown was enforced, both employers and employees quickly acknowledged that most work could be done at home. While working life has evolved dramatically in recent years thanks to technological advances, the benefits were largely under-exploited in terms of workplace flexibility. The pandemic brought about the sudden realization that these advances could facilitate working from almost anywhere.
As people conducted their work remotely, employers also learnt that they could unlock an international talent pool. WFH provided the opportunity to employ skilled professionals from around the world.
The pandemic also brought a trend of lowering absenteeism, and employees generally reported a higher level of productivity when working from home. However, this was largely dependent on the nature of work and the nature of household circumstances.
Attitudes to WFH
Among the most significant lessons learnt through the pandemic is the lived reality of working from home. Most WFH scenarios and attitudes have evolved since the sudden enforced lockdown of 2020. In the early stages of the pandemic, employees were struggling, trying to come to terms with restrictions, reduced or nil social interaction, and grappling with the challenges of organizing an office space at home.
As people started to adapt, approaches and attitudes improved. Employees with families were happier with WFH circumstances as this meant less or no commuting and additional opportunities to spend time with family. Those with no commitments at home also initially reported being happy with the WFH option as it freed up their commute time, and they felt more energized.
However, as time has gone by, the WFH experience has circled back for many people as they struggle to assert the boundaries between work and home life. More and more employees are expressing a preference to return to their workplaces. In a typical WFH scenario, lowered concentration has been reported due to home distractions, isolation, and potential burnout caused by a lack of separation between work-life and home-life.
Employees have also reported experiencing stress due to limited social interaction and financial challenges from having to set up or buy furniture and equipment that their employers did not generally reimburse. Those living in smaller places have had to deal with work infringing on their living space as they were forced to convert their home areas to fit WFH requirements.
The future of the office
The evolution of attitudes to WFH shows that there is still a place for physical workspaces. From the employee perspective, the workplace offers opportunities to interact and gain some sense of normality. For employers, it helps to break through the WFH fatigue of their employees and boost morale and productivity.
The success of a healthy workplace will depend on smart planning. The common theme is flexibility in design, both in the interior design of an office and the internal systems of a building.
The pandemic has dramatically shifted organizations’ attitudes to physical space, and we can expect future workplaces to be characterized by an emerging set of trends, such as:
- Morphing design configurations – Increasing hot-desking and satellite offices, both of which have seen a surge in demand as offices open up again and workers look to gain some sense of normality while still working remotely. Flexible office spaces and furniture will be configured for the new requirements, including protective shields and movable partitions, among other design considerations.
- Minimizing employee attendance – Reducing the number of employees required to work from an actual physical office to promote health and safety. Reduced visitors and increased health checks have already become standard practice.
- Reducing and redeploying budgets – With fewer employees in attendance, businesses are culling office space requirements meaning that organizations will spend less on spatial design and equipment with the funds being redeployed elsewhere.
- Smart building systems – There will be increased demand to establish smart building systems that enable organizations to conduct health checks and minimize risks. For example, changes to the ventilation system to safeguard against airborne germs and improve air quality; smart entry gates and checking processes to enable smooth internal transitions.
WFH design considerations
While employers are gradually getting their employees to come back into work, they still need to position WHF as an option and consider the associated design requirements. We have seen at least 60% of the employee population turning into amateur interior designers and establishing workspaces to fit their needs, with some ingenious design implementation during the pandemic.
Most people forced to WFH have established a dedicated study or workspace, generally within a bedroom or a designated place somewhere around the house. While some people may have individual rooms as office spaces, research suggests that home offices simply consist of a study table in most households. This makes it difficult for people to attend virtual meetings due to inevitable noise and privacy issues.
It is a known fact that performance and productivity improve when employees are satisfied with their working conditions and environment. If WFH is here to stay in some form, the future of residential design should begin to reflect that. The homes of the future will need to incorporate an additional office room to support WFH options, which include:
- Acoustical and privacy features – To enable zoom calls or virtual meetings and provide privacy from external or internal factors.
- Built-in workplace features – Additional data ports, storage options and worktables to resemble an actual office space.
- Design features – Enabling design features and built-in smart systems that provide employee satisfaction and boost performance, such as appropriate thermal conditions, good air quality, and daylight options. Artificial intelligence (AI) will also help in easing remote work fatigue.
- Spatial features – Physical spaces that are aesthetic and pleasing to the eye include workstations; non-toxic wall paint; apt floor covering and window coverings; ergonomic furniture such as chairs; whiteboards, or mounting boards.
The way forward?
Just as employees were grappling with the challenge of establishing a home office, businesses are now confronting the task of finding the best way to configure their future workplace. Factors such as a company’s uptake of technology, organizational vision, workplace culture, customer expectations, and operational budgets will help formulate these decisions. A hybrid approach may now be the way forward to balance the potential productivity gained by remote work with an increase in creativity from idea-sharing that typically comes from working with others.
With the evidence we gathered during the pandemic about the link between work environment and employee well-being and productivity, we can now expect physical design to play an essential role in shaping the future of workspaces, be it workplace or residential design.
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