With so much upheaval to office life and working practices over the past year, one thing has been a constant - the need to remain flexible. 

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, both firms and their staff had no time to think as they hurriedly transitioned to working from home and social distancing within the office. What has become clear is that this massive home working experiment has worked much better than many companies initially expected.

As an end to the pandemic is now hopefully in sight, firms now have more time to reflect and consider planning the future of their office, and how to create the right blend in order to make onsite and remote locations work seamlessly in tandem.

What is now the role of the office? 

Many companies are planning to retain elements of working from home in the future and, as a consequence, the role of the office is changing. Rather than just utilising a singular site for business, working has now gone plural, consisting of a mix of office attendance and remote working.

Accompanying this change, the office now needs to adapt and become more flexible. It has to move from the concept of a site where each employee has their own desk, to become a space where people meet and gather to exchange ideas, launch projects and collaborate in both formal and informal ways. By doing so, firms will be able to increase the happiness and productivity of their teams, and at the same time make the most effective use of the office floorspace that they rent.

For those businesses who are already advanced in their thinking, there are a number of simple and cost-effective solutions to create a blended office approach, which we outlined in our earlier blog 5 Ways to bring back the buzz to your COVID-secure office.

But for many firms, how to take this next step may not be so clear; they need help formulating their plans and the team at Cityspace is currently working with clients to do this.

How Cityspace can help

Creating your new blended office does not begin with moving walls and designing floor plans. It starts with an approach and plan that is tailor made for your organisation to ensure the best outcomes. 

Here is how the Cityspace space team can help:

• Creating evidence based standards for workplace organisational fitness - our workplace and change management expert, Dr Linda Seward, will gladly talk you through our approach, ideas and outcomes based on experiences with other clients.

• Understanding your staff’s issues and concerns - we can show you how your teams really feel by conducting staff surveys, in conjunction with our specialist research partner, Baker Stuart, one of only 10 companies in the world who are accredited for the WELL building standard.  

• Meeting your duty of care as an employer - under the law, companies are responsible for the equipment their staff use, irrespective of where they are using it. We can help you meet your duty of care by conducting home working DSE assessments through our partner DSE Assessments Ltd, which are comprehensive in identifying risk and recommending actions for improvement.

• Bringing you the best homeworking packages suitable for full time work - through our sister company, Homespace, we have assessed and selected from across the entire market the best designs, functionality and value for money homeworking products. Please visit www.homespaceoffice.co.uk.

• Refocusing, reconfiguring or redesigning your existing office space - we believe one size does not fit all, so we work differently to others with a truly consultative approach to deliver the blended office that is right for you.

If you would like any help, advice or further information, please give us a call on 0207 638 4250 or email info@cityspacemanagement.co.uk.