Numerous studies have now been published on hybrid working and its impact or consequences.
While some aspects are “intramural” to the company, such as
• Changes in the way people work together,
• Changes to the design of workspaces,
• Management style,
seem obvious to most people in the business world, others are less directly perceptible. Several studies by Stamford University show these other aspects, such as the impact on commuting, places of work and residence, and so on.
One of these studies, published in March 2023, shows that the creation of start-ups has been facilitated and the number of people playing golf in the middle of the week has doubled!
Let’s go back over a few points to develop them a little further:
• Being at work must be rewarding, enriching and with motivated colleagues to be worthwhile, otherwise teleworking is just fine.
• No one dreams of travelling just to be present, and even superiors are taking liberties with this.
• Banning the processing and/or sending of e-mails between 10pm and 6am is well-intentioned, but it no longer meets the wishes of a large proportion of employees, who prefer to spend time with family and friends in the evening and ‘get back to work’ perhaps 1-2 hours later.
• Workspaces need to be hyper-attractive and have special facilities (concierge services) to encourage employees to move around.
• Business cities” are changing in favour of places where people live. Major urban centres, including New York, London, Paris, etc., are being depopulated in favour of smaller “provincial” towns. Whole sectors of activity are being called into question, starting with shops and restaurants.
• Leisure, sporting, and recreational activities are being developed “during the week and during the day”. People are prepared to interrupt their professional activities during the day for 1-2 hours at the swimming pool or a bike ride with the family, even if it means working later in the evening. This calls for a rethink of leisure platforms.
• The political authorities need to rethink the way they deliver services to the public, including transport services, to respond to these much more mobile and even… demanding ‘customers’.
The point here is not to glorify one point or another, but simply to mention this new post-COVID reality. Whether we like it or not, this pandemic has totally accelerated a movement that was initiated more than 10 years ago.
If “leadership is foresight”, then all the players involved need to act quickly to regain a degree of professional serenity.
Whole swathes of society will continue to evolve, the difficulty being to know how quickly and in what proportions, with opposing and/or ‘anti’ movements appearing just about everywhere. Whether this is simply a case of self-preservation or clairvoyance, no one can say at this stage.
Good thoughts, happy weeks and see you soon.