One year on, how are people thinking about a return to the office?

Photo by Laura Davidson on Unsplash

Hardly a day goes by without one news outlet or another talking about the enduring shift this pandemic will have on the state of work — more specifically, whether or not the concept of the office is truly a thing of the past. It’s a subject I dig into more than most, because proptech is one of my key investment areas. I have conversations about the ins and outs of a ‘return to the office’ every day. And it’s my job to bet on the future of this stuff.

In May 2020, after many discussions with tech companies, landlords and brokers, I decided to create a matrix to start mapping the different solutions required to build out the new healthy and safe office, as we believed it would evolve back then.

Eight months later, it is safe to say that how (or if!) we return to offices is still very top of mind. In this post I will look at the hybrid work model (which has emerged as the most likely longer term scenario), the evolution of the home office, and how companies could be thinking about enticing employees back into physical spaces when health restrictions allow for it.

There are things people DO miss about being in an office

I polled my network to ask what people miss the most about the office, if anything at all. Over 80% said they missed the opportunity for social interaction and collaboration. Less popular responses included live learning opportunities, the physical workspace/desk, and amenities (ping pong and lunches). When asked if people had to pick between the office and remote on LinkedIn, the responses were split.

I am no longer contemplating whether we will emerge from the pandemic with a new approach to work — I am pretty confident there will be enduring shifts as a result of the forced wholesale move to remote working — but rather what role technology will play.

Here are the four key conclusions I’ve come to in February 2021:

1. Hybrid is hard and will not work for most early stage companies

The current leading assumption is that the future of the office will be a hybrid model. I disagree. A world where a company gives employees full flexibility between an office and being fully remote may work now, but it is not a sustainable strategy for most growing businesses, due to the cost of supporting both and the cultural implications. The tech giants like Google and Facebook may be able to sustain this model, but the many lean startups will need to make a choice. Are you office first or remote first? This will directly impact how you attract talent and your hiring strategy. My definition of each is below:

• Office first: flexible work from home policy, but go into the office a few days a week
• Remote first: no main office, you get a co-working membership or work from home and congregate with your team monthly or quarterly at an off-site

I would like to be proven wrong here, and welcome feedback. I’m particularly curious to hear from companies who have found more innovative models than those I listed above.

2. Home office is really flex office

The flex office means something different to everyone –the couch, a kitchen table, separate office space, Airbnb, a parent’s house in childhood bedroom, basement, an RV. Wherever it may be, for many of those fortunate to have continued to work throughout the pandemic, we have had the opportunity to invest in things that make the work from home set up a little more comfortable. Some of us are getting so comfortable, that we have started to question the need to be in the office, to do a daily commute and to throw ourselves back into a working world filled with the distractions we may not have at home. Startups are playing a role here to make the home an extension of the office and to maximize productivity. Companies such as Branch and Firstbase are examples of companies focused on furnishing the home office.

3. Enticing employees back to the office isn’t clear-cut

In addition to the questions around what the best hybrid model could look like, there are clearly bosses all over the country wondering, ‘if we do reopen the office, how on earth do we make it worth an employee’s time to come back in?’. A few clear themes have emerged from the conversations I’m having on this topic:

• People — socializing and collaboration are still really important and will be a major draw to go back to the office. This really starts at the top and what leadership teams are doing to make the time valuable and useful. Dean Hopkins, the COO of Oxford, believes that “people leaders will play a major role in inspiring their teams to make the journey to the office by making that investment of time worthwhile. Initially, this may take the form of planned events to remind team members of the value of spending time together, and will quickly evolve as we re-learn to congregate.”
• Alternative amenities using space — with the additional space being freed up by employees working flexibly, there are ways to get creative and offer something unique. Instead of standard ‘communal’ spaces, why not offer pop-up services including health care, dental, massages, or childcare to make those office trips more efficient? You could also include a gym/personal training in the building, or an office speakeasy or pop-up restaurant. I’d personally love to see Tia or Silofit show up near my office.
• Natural light — one of the top amenities that many people looking for office space were interested in prior to the pandemic was simply natural light. Based on the different office setups going on, we forget how lighting played such a big role in our environment. With behavioural health top of mind for many, this simple feature could be more valuable than people think. Jean Koeppel, founder of Shimmer Industries, sees the value of interactive lighting when it comes to the office where “light will automatically sync with the weather, time of day and temperature conditions.”

If you are contemplating something unique in how you use your office space I’d love to hear from you.

4. The office 2.0 is still TBD

Culture drives change. According to Elisa Konik, Managing Director at Cushman & Wakefield, “culture is a key driver for how companies think about reimagining space and openness to change.” Who knows what the future might hold? In a co-working 2.0 world, maybe you’ll be sitting with your friends despite the fact that you all work at different companies. Maybe office spaces will mean more comfy couches, fewer walls, more collaboration spaces (think Hogwarts library style). Maybe offices will mean collaborative time and home will mean dedicated, focused work time. For those remote-first employees (who have only ever worked that way), the space of the future means digital space resulting in technology emerging to provide the virtual HQ such as Teamflow and Branch.

Undoubtedly, we will maintain dedicated space to be connected digitally — video calls, virtual reality, etc. Maybe a solution will emerge that lets us connect visually but will reduce zoom fatigue.

“As we imagine the office of the future, who are we designing for? We often discuss the impact of Millennials in the new world order, but here comes Gen Z — our digital natives — how do we build for them?” asks Konik. This generation (aka the “zoomers”) is entering the workforce now. For a generation that grew up in the digital world, maybe real office space will be a novelty. Will we come full circle? Or is the future of work Ready Player One style?

There are still so many unanswered questions. But the one thing I know for sure is people miss human interaction. Whether we get that fix at the office or outside, that is TBD.