“We’re all going back to the office!” says Goldman Sachs.
“We’re all going to work remotely!” says Spotify.
This is the false binary that frames the debate about the future of our workplaces, as it rages on producing more heat than illumination.
The truth is we’re not ALL going to be doing ANYTHING.
According to Gallup, people like to choose where they work for between 60-80% of their time. That sweet spot of autonomy delivers a spike in employee engagement and unlocks all the benefits that brings.
The worst outcome is when you make people work ALL the time in the office or ALL the time remotely.
That’s factory thinking. It hasn’t made sense for a long time and what COVID has shown us is that with the type of work we do today and the technology and physical options we have, it makes no sense at all.
We can work IN the office, AT home, OUT of the office (e.g. coffee shops, coworking spaces) and ON the move. And we can be more productive, happier and more engaged.
What’s more, it turns out that the highly educated, intelligent adults that companies seek out to join them are perfectly capable of determining which option is best for the type of work they are doing. Who’d have thought, eh?
It seems the future of our workplace is choice.