Are companies going back to the office full-time?
Many organizations consider what it would be like to return to office life. According to CNBC business, most of the employees are ready to give up benefits for hybrid or remote work. They are ready to give up benefits such as access to the organizational space (office), health care, insurance, etc. What would be a post covid 19 workplace?
As half of the USA residents got at least one shot of the vaccine, big organizations are ready to open the doors of the office to everyone. In this case, most of the organizations are thinking about the efficiency of the office work. According to the latest survey by WeWork, there is not one agreement about office or remote work. If we take a look at the latest data, we see that some of the employees are ready for remote work (entirely) and some of them want to return to the office. What’s better for organizations, having employees in the office or letting them work remotely? Hybrid work systems became more popular in the last couple months and we will discover the pros and cons of each system.
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Working from the office
CEO’s of some companies believe that working in an office is always a better idea. For instance, CNN business interviewed popular CEOs in the USA. They suggest that working from the office brings more creativity and team spirit. So, the company’s results always get better when the employees work together. Some of the CEOs believe that remote work lacks the true team spirit. Experts still believe that new post covid 19 workplace will be related mostly to the office system.
Experts believe that the biggest advantage of ‘office work’ is time management. You’ve fixed hours in every company while working from the office. So, you learn how to properly manage time and deliver finished tasks in fixed hours. As mentioned above, team spirit is very important. If the company wants to step into another level in a particular industry, then company employees must have the same inspiration and values. That’s why ‘team building’ is always important. Working from the office is always a better idea if you want to improve team spirit. Another good point for office work is getting experience. Yes, you can get experience working from home but when you have an in-person relation and work ethic with your co-workers, it automatically makes you self-confident and increases your experience tremendously. One of the giants of the tech industry, Google, wants workers to return to the office. Forbes wrote a detailed plan why Google wants employees to return to the office. Google is not an exception, there are other giant tech companies that may work from the office or offer hybrid style to the employees in 2021.
Psychologist Adam Grant talks about the scientific research. The data suggests that working from office is more beneficial
What are the pros and cons of remote work?
Pandemic was the main catalyst of remote work. More people join the movement against ‘office job’. During the first wave of global pandemic, world has seen a massive rise of interest in remote work. There were many surveys and data showing that remote work could be a new normal in post-covid era. Companies saw that people can stay at home and still be very productive and bring desirable results for the company without an office.
One of the biggest advantages of working remotely is productivity. There is no certain agreement between office/remote workers about productivity. Some people stay active and productive in the office workplace while others find it better to work from home. In general, working remotely can definitely increase productivity. You erase all the distractions that could be on the way while working from the office.
Another big advantage for remote work is ‘flexible hours’. In most cases, remote work does not ask you for scheduled time. So, you can work from a certain point (fixed time of start) but finish the task at any part of the day. Along with flexible hours, you can also save lots of time and energy. Office work needs more money from your side in transport. Sleeping schedule has to be on point also. Especially if you are not living close to the office, it may lead to a change in your sleeping schedule entirely. Waking up early in the morning and going to work could be one of the most problematic things for many, especially if you live far from the office. Unlike Google, Facebook extended the remote-work plan for everyone. Facebook wants employees to feel safe and healthy, so they can stay home and work remotely. BBC suggests that Facebook has the same plan for 2022 too.
Watch short and very interesting interview with Simon Sinek. He talks about the future of remote work.
Hybrid work is the future?
It’s believed that a hybrid style of work is the future. Since the first wave of pandemic, 90% of the companies started working remotely. After living with covid-19, companies return slowly to the old system. Experts believe that most of the companies now prefer to implement a hybrid work system. You may ask, what’s hybrid style exactly? The concept is very simple. Employees can work remotely and from the office. Employees of the company have a particular schedule when they stay at home and work from there. Along with it, they have to come to the office for a particular work-day and do the best from the office workplace. Experts suggest that hybrid style is perfect to keep the team spirit in the company. With the hybrid style, employees know their schedule exactly. So, it’s easy for them to save money, adapt to sleeping schedules when it’s needed, etc. Experts believe that hybrid work strategy is the future and new normal in the post-pandemic period. Cisco officials suggest that hybrid system could be a new normal in post covid 19 workplace space.
Watch Cisco's interesting two hours special event related to Hybrid Work.