Where will you work from?

There have been many articles about where we will all work after the pandemic lock down is over.

And very many organisations have already declared that flexible working will be the norm. Others have gone as far to say that they won’t have an office or that employees never need to go to the office
No one argument is right for all, as the circumstances of every organisation is very different, especially how they deal with their customers.

These are my observations, particularly from a marketing agency perspective.

Working from home suits many but not all and has many obvious benefits to the workforce and the employer.

  1. It saves commute time

  2. It allows flexible start and / or finishing times

  3. Fits around work / life balance

  4. Attracts those who like this level of flexibility

  5. It could be that companies can expand, keeping the same office footprint or even reduce it.

  6. It may be that hot-desking / laptops become the norm

However, working from home needs routine and discipline - just the same as in an office and has challenges

  1. Can you build a team culture over Zoom - will employee loyalty suffer?

  2. Will the homeworker be as effective or efficient?

  3. How do you measure effectiveness and efficiency even if you wanted to?

  4. How will you bring on and mentor the younger generation who need more support?

  5. How do you keep team communications going and relevant?

  6. How do you support those that are struggling with their mental health or other?

  7. Everyone will have very different work-from-home circumstances. Some may have a dedicated office, others the kitchen table.

  8. It’s even easier to move companies as the location of the employee’s home office doesn’t move

  9. What are the H&S implications for home workers?

You now need to weigh up what’s right for you and your organisation.

I’ve started to vision this in bands of team members often based around what they do.

  1. The core management - operations, account management, quality of output and strategic direction. Plus their support team - This is the core team that runs the business and makes it tick.These need to be in the office more often than not as they need to closely interact together.

  2. The skill people - These can be remote or at least use the office from time to time - effectively acting like fully employed contractors. Although I stress there must be extra provision and time given to nurturing the younger members of the team. This has to be formalised and documented.

  3. The peripheral workers / often project based who need little instruction or direction other than ad-hoc or scheduled briefings

If I had my active agency-managing life again and with the modern technologies and SAAS systems available I would have adopted a hybrid system. I would have canvassed all the staff both collectively and individually without pressure or being overly influencing. Once I had found the mood I would have structured it in such a way that everyone knew what their core responsibilities were and where they should / could be based.

I would them ask all to stick to a tight routine so that all knew their roles in the company and expectations.

But, if you want all the team back in the office then I’d not disagree either - it’s totally up to you what you do - after all it’s your business and no decision is wrong providing you’ve thought it through.

Jonathan Leafe