While the world is trying to get back to normal whatever that may be, a very important step is returning to the office, also whatever that may be. And that’s really a huge question…what does the office experience of the future look like? Many financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan have one definite idea and those such as UBS have other ideas.
Tech firms such as Facebook, Google and Amazon are certainly offering a wide gamut of options and there is not very much information available on tracking small businesses and what are their approaches to returning to the office should they decide to keep them.
And whether you’re working from home where offices have taken on many different definitions and styles, a local coffee shop, a parking lot or an actual office building it really comes down to the fact that you’re actually working. And that’s the good news. In other words, the definition of working has not changed, it’s just how it looks in terms of proximity to the “mothership” and its satellites have.
To illustrate this change and one I’ve observed over the past year is that of the signature portion on emails which are showing fewer and fewer office addresses whether for the headquarters or a satellite location. They’re simply not as prominent as they once were. This may seem like a subtle change, but it’s quite profound.
Offices are the mainstay of businesses and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. However, how we define ourselves in relation to the actual locations of our employers and where they’re located has definitely changed.