Post the COVID-19 pandemic, the new world of work looks a lot like this. Employees are either working from home or the physical office space, to some even choosing a hybrid option altogether: working from home and coming into the office every few days. Over the last few months, the rapid changes that have taken place in Singapore have resulted in over 80% of the workforce working from home. Social distancing measures, together with the increase in remote and hybrid working options, have resulted in businesses rethinking the role of the traditional office.
Adapting to this new normal and rethinking their office design has become important for every organization. Here are some tips on how they can benefit from it.
Benefits Of De-densifying Work Spaces
Previously, office layouts were designed to fill the given space with as many people as possible to maximize the space and the cost of rent. In recent months, however, social distancing measures have brought about the need for increased spaces between desks and sitting arrangements or providing high partitions to isolate individual work areas.
The increased space required does not necessarily translate to larger office space since organizations are looking to downsize their office space because a significant part of the workforce is still working from home. Downsizing will provide businesses with substantial rental savings because they will be operating from a comparatively smaller office environment.
This de-densification of workspaces will drastically change the office layout and impact office designs of the future. The expectations are that offices will be smaller, but well spaced out to cater to the new normal at work.
Benefits Of Promoting A Collaborative Environment
With hybrid working options and changing office layouts, meeting colleagues in person can be challenging, potentially eroding company culture in the process. To prevent this from happening, office spaces should be designed consciously and serve as places that allow workers to connect and collaborate.
Meeting rooms will continue to be a mainstay in offices as both in-office and remote workers gather to discuss and collaborate on various projects.
At the same time, offices should also have individual break-out spaces or rooms that serve as a balance between collaboration and privacy. Including quiet areas where people can work alone and undisturbed, can drastically improve focus and productivity levels. These ideas should be reflected not only in the space size and overall flow of the design but also in the company culture. Since an organization's culture cannot be built in isolation, these collaborative spaces serve as the invisible hand that keeps the company culture alive.
Benefits Of A Reliable & Robust Security System
The new world of work sees various teams and team members entering and exiting the office at different timings, making it challenging to track who is coming in and leaving at any one point of time. To solve this problem, offices can use GTRIIP’s Smart Access Management solution. This provides pre-verified staff digital office keys that can be accessed via their smartphones to enter and exit the office, without making physical contact with fingerprint readers or plastic access cards.
This technology also allows the administrators to control and restrict access to certain areas of the premises, which helps keep the office more secure. Access can be checked using entry logs and advanced biometric identity verification systems, automatically alerting management if unauthorized personnel enter or leave restricted areas.
With this new normal, companies can implement GTRIIP’s office solutions to enhance and manage the security of their office premises better.
Conclusion
Additionally, to provide a safe and hygienic environment for employees in the current situation, businesses can improve the physical aspects of the office. These include installing contactless fittings in the pantries and bathrooms, automatic doors, and auto hand sanitizer stations. Changes in the layout of the office space is not something new. Office space designs have frequently been changing over the last few decades to continue to adapt with the times. With social distancing measures not going away anytime soon and the new world of work here to stay, businesses and companies should learn to change their current office spaces to remain relevant and benefit from it.
Find out about the full suite of GTRIIP's office solutions by reaching out to us via the link below. www.gtriip.com/consult-with-us/
