Does work need a home?
Many of us have come to know and appreciate the advantages of virtual working models – sometimes due to the necessity of external circumstances: independence of location, flexibility, savings on long journeys, productivity in a quiet atmosphere and a better work-life balance.
Companies are also currently working intensively on new spatial concepts and hybrid working models (keyword 2/3 or 50/50). Many have significantly changed their office space, reduced areas, developed new space concepts (e.g. with shared space, hoteling systems and open office concepts. Many companies are already working 100% remotely, i.e. employees are permanently working from home. A trend that has come to stay.
But do we also face the risks that we take by focusing heavily on remote work?
How is the corporate culture, employee loyalty to the company and the team structure changing? Let’s remember what many of us have missed or still miss in times of increased remote working:
#1 A campfire
People are social beings. Digitalization and networking or not, at the end of the day we long for human contact and communicative exchange. This need hardly distinguishes us from our ancestors, who gathered around the campfire and shared stories or simply familiarity. If we simply exclude this fact and pretend that we no longer need our ‘campfire’ – places and opportunities for social exchange – we run the risk of denying our own nature. Of course, you can also set up ‘campfires’ online: Break-out rooms, conscious team times and much more. Whether this can be an actual replacement remains to be seen.
#2 Our ‘Tribe’
Our ‘tribe’ in the company: These are colleagues, superiors, business partners and other people with whom we come together and work together. In short, we are talking about our social contacts. Together, these contacts form a network for us. A network that allows us to seek out suitable contacts for a wide range of concerns and to become an open ear for others ourselves. Informal exchanges during chance encounters, togetherness in the company building, brief conversations in the coffee kitchen – communication with our Tribe. Here, too, the question arises: are we missing the long-term benefits of virtual collaboration? How is the culture, the team structure changing?
#3 A sense of identification
People have always identified with their profession, their job and their skills. This identification with a company can be based on various aspects: the corporate culture, the purpose of the company’s existence or the team. However, identification also often takes place locally – via our workplace. This also contributes immensely to loyalty and identification with the employer. The architecture of a company building can become a symbol of how a company sees itself, wants to present itself and is perceived. Who doesn’t know it? We enter a building and soak up all the impressions – according to the motto “Aha, that’s how it is here…”. The design of buildings and spaces becomes a statement. A statement that both employees and other stakeholders can identify with and, often subconsciously, want to identify with.
Can we really manage to counteract all these risks and get the kit? Does work need a home?
We believe yes! Of course, depending on the company and management strategy, it can also work wonderfully differently. However, the question always remains: How do we ensure that the people in our company feel that they belong to their ‘tribe’, that there is a ‘campfire’ available and that they can identify with the company in all its aspects?