Back to normal after Corona epidemic? NO THANKS.
There is on-going debate about whether working hours will be the same as before the Corona epidemic. Many believe that after the government shut down, the reality we know today disappeared from one moment to the next, and in many places it will not return. Question is: Is that so bad?
Technology has proved its worth and we have been pushed almost 10 years into the future. At some companies, employees have proven to be efficient and productive. The technology makes it easy to measure the efficiency of employees.
Once you have got some decent home work places done and there is discipline and structure at work, they are found to be effective. At e.g. Coolshop has seen that it is not necessarily the one who dutifully shows up in the office five days a week that is the most effective. Therefore, in the future, they are considering expanding the staff with employees who live further away from the head office.
It is more important to have the right employee with the right attitude and behavior, who may just come by the office two or three times a month. That means that companies can recruit a lot wider and get hold of the talents.
Before the corona crisis, there might have been an idea and tradition that one would be more present if one physically attended a meeting. By holding video meetings, the meetings become much more efficient, because you skip the all the smalltalk.
From another company Good Monday, they believe that the corona crisis has made it crystal clear that all knowledge workers in the future should and will work more from home.
They will be adjusting differently in the workplaces after the corona crisis. The office will still be a meeting point where management sets the course for the company’s DNA and employees be socially and share knowledge.
Employees will start working from home much more because management during the corona crisis has discovered that they can trust that employees can be effective and productive when they are at ease working at home. I think we will see much more of this kind of trust-based management after the corona crisis.
At Good Monday, they have embraced the future and here the employees meet in the office when it makes sense. Employees should rather stay home one, two or three days a week if it makes them happier and more productive people.
The companies will use the offices to show who they are. But the idea of getting in at 8 and going home at 16 is dead!!
Labor market researcher and associate professor at Aarhus University Tobias Otterbring was behind a major research project last year that investigated how big-room offices affect employees.
The conclusion was clear:
Employees in open space offices were less happy with their work and generally thrived less than employees in smaller office communities or single-person offices.
At the same time, employees in large office space felt that they were cooperating poorly with their colleagues.
Cause: They were often disturbed and therefore retreated to stay focused.
How can we support the future. helping them getting the employees that have skills to work “alone” be effective and productive. Is that something you have come across before?
Some of the benefits we experienced during the crisis
Insurance company could report that stress-based reviews had dropped by over 60%.
CO2 in the cities has fallen drastically – you can even see and feel that the air in e.g. Copenhagen has improved.
CO2 emissions from the cars have fallen as you do not have to commute to and from work so often.
Flights have been limited and got a better CO2 account. We have discovered that we can use video conferencing more efficiently and thus save a lot of CO2, time and costs for travel etc.
What will you or can you do?
