We have been seeing a lot of changes to business working patterns recently, including our own. The way of working is - or has - changed and, in our professional opinion, for the better.
Pre-pandemic, the majority of the country was strictly working within an office environment, or at least commuting each way (often for hours at a time) to their place of work, even if not to a traditional office space.
That all changed on 23 March 2020, when we were forced to work from home if we could. Hundreds of millions of people managed to survive through a series of lockdowns, juggling home working with home schooling, whilst others were furloughed, and some sadly lost their jobs.
The idea of remote working was accelerated, and according to a survey conducted by McKinsey & Company in August 2020 which surveyed 278 executives, it was found that on average, they planned to reduce office space by 30 percent.
We witnessed many companies announcing to their employees that they should work from home, and office spaces became quieter overnight.
However, since the pandemic, we have seen huge demand for employees to work remotely and many are seeking out new and flexible workspace solutions as a result.
In fact, as a side note, where recruitment is concerned, candidates are openly asking questions about the remote working opportunity for the job vacancy advertised.
How have you changed your working-week habits?
Does your week involve one or two days in the office or are you fully remote or back in the office full time?
We have found as a business that whereas our serviced office facilities are still busy, the demand for flexible work space has increased.
Workers seem to have adopted a pattern which feels comfortable for them, and many access our spaces across our sites two to three times a week.
There has, of course, been questions surrounding productivity. In our view, each business organisation has a different set of needs and a different set of pressures.
Certain studies have shown that remote working doesn’t negatively impact productivity, however, it is industry specific and how you manage your teams who are working remotely is going to be tailored to your organisation.
We are aware of companies setting SMART targets, holding regular calls and checking in on their team on a daily basis.
It's not all good news however. According to a ‘Springboard report’, the impact of remote working has had a permanent scarring on the larger high street chains as employees are now working more from home.
Nonetheless, further studies show a switch to remote working has meant that smaller market towns and cities were not as badly affected, which is good news, as workers instead patronised local shops and cafés.
Three of our business centres have onsite cafes which means that whether you have taken serviced office space or are a Home-Flexi member there is always great food and drink available without having to leave the building.
Being social animals, we believe that we do need that human contact which is why our Home-Flexi Package has been very popular.
We’d be interested to learn from you If you have been able to organise your teams successfully working through a hybrid model without losing productivity.
Let us know if you are already a Mantle member, or if you would like to try one of our flexible work-space options.
mantlespace.co.uk
The Priory, Thremhall Park, Start Hill, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts, CM22 7WE
0333 00 66 330
hello@mantlespace.co.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here