Post-pandemic offices will mimic neighborhoods

Your days of sitting in a drab cubicle inside a cold office building with assigned desks and aging technology might be numbered. 

One of the best ways to encourage people to return to the office in a post-pandemic world is to offer professionals a much more comfortable work environment. And, that’s exactly what is happening across the world as office spaces begin to feel more like neighborhoods. 

Companies around the country are beginning to offer staff a more flexible and autonomous feel to their offices. Cubicles are being replaced with seating arrangements. Closed meeting rooms with comfy couches. 

Many of us are returning to much different offices than the ones we left. 

The post-pandemic future of office spaces

Google pioneered the “hybrid” office concept long ago and is well-known for its hip, swanky office spaces. The search engine giant’s office design is more than just a gimmick. 

Google realized that employees who sit together also work well together. Instead of erecting barriers in the form of cubicle walls, Google created an ultra-productive working environment centered around collaboration and community and keeping people happy at the office. 

Very similar to the way that neighborhoods work in cities. 

“When you think about a workspace from an urban planning construct, you’ve got the main plaza space that’s more communal and you’ve got smaller, more intimate type spaces,” Chicago architect Eric Gannon told Rejournals. Gannon added that a module approach to office space design helps boost productivity by giving employees a sense of autonomy and space to freely move around when at the office. 

The Covid pandemic has inadvertently spearheaded a wave of new and improved places to work around the country. 

Professional workspaces are beginning to move away from the traditional “office-like” feel of cubicles, closed-off desks, and breakrooms. More and more workspaces now offer employees the comforts of home, such as adjustable climate-controlled work areas and lighting controls for individual workstations that let staff tweak and customize their own areas. 

For instance, LinkedIn’s Chicago staff is returning to an office that looks very, very different than the one they left last year. LinkedIn now lets employees work both from home and from the office, and their Chicago office has become an open workspace built around collaboration. The LinkedIn office features restaurant-style booths and an open, yet cozy, communal area. 

Post-pandemic workplace design will shape the new look of productivity. 

New offices: Collaboration and flexibility 

“Salesforce just wrote a piece showing how they were rethinking their office to get more lounge areas and collaboration areas to make it clear that that was the reason why you were coming to the office,” NYU professor Anne-Laure Fayard told Harvard Business Review’s IdeaCast. 

Fayard stressed that new office space designs communicate an important message: You’re not returning to an office just to sit in your assigned cubicle. 

You’re in the office to communicate. Strategize. 

The best workspaces offer staff a mix of organizational features – such as meeting areas and collaboration centers, as well as physical places for individual work. “I think that the space is not enough, you have to have activities around, and also you have social norms that are continuously embedded,” she added. 

This is similar to parks, schools, homes, and communal areas found in typical neighborhoods. 

But, changes to office spaces go beyond just the layout. In a post-pandemic world, most companies are doubling down on offering staff a clean and sanitary place to work.  

“Surfaces like unfinished wood, soft stone, and stainless steel can be breeding grounds for germs and bacteria,” New York interior designer Nina Etnier told Inc. She said that offices may begin to use furniture made of antimicrobial synthetic and metals like copper and brass to help control the spread of bacteria and germs. 

She added that touch-based keypads and lighting controls can easily be replaced with apps on people’s phones. Ultraviolet light installed within office ducting can help purify the air. More space between workstations can also help improve privacy and social distancing at the office.

The post-pandemic work environment has transformed the way most of us work. 

Our work-from-home options have expanded drastically as many companies let employees regularly work from home, at least part of the time.

Traditional office spaces are transitioning into more collaborative and modular work areas. And, thorough sanitization has become a requirement for most businesses to protect their staff and encourage a presence in the office.