Three Casualties of #workanywhere
Art by Brandon Hicks
The physical office is not dead - but it will be different.
The concept of #workanywhere has completely shifted the culture, and it will continue to create potential for companies to rethink Brand, Mission, Talent Acquisition, Geographic Markets, Work Flow, Team collaboration and Client Engagement.
As with any significant change, however, there will be casualties. This isn't a bad thing. Thankfully, we can relegate the following three business staples to the history books.
Cubicle Farms
You know what we mean - row after row of crappy little 6' by 6' boxes where people spend the majority of their professional lives, looking at nothing but the drab grey or beige fabric of the cubical panels and their monitor (two walls, if they're lucky). There the person sits, their back to the entrance, trying to cover up their screen whenever they're doing something personal (or, just as often, procrastinating instead of taking a break when they aren't feeling engaged). Once in a while, they may get a reward of a slightly bigger cube upon a promotion or if a colleague leaves the company. If you're really fortunate, it might even be a choice location beside a real, honest-to-goodness window! And the "big" reward, of course, is to get floor to ceiling walls, and a door on your cubicle.
How's that for upward mobility? Doesn't sound all that desirable when put like that, does it?
Mercifully, both employees and employers are waking up to this fact, and we're already seeing a major shift. Offices are getting radical re-designs with flexible, purpose-driven spaces decorated to reflect the culture and essence of their brand. This is significantly more effective goal than simply housing the most amount of people possible, most of whom don't want to be there in the first place.
Jammed Commuter Highways
The days of parking your vehicle on the middle of the highway with thousands of others, moving a head one inch at a time are over.
Suburbs will survive, cities will survive, the choked arteries from 6am-9am and 4pm-7pm will long be a thing of the past.
City dwellers will walk, bike or bus to office locations when needed. Suburbanites will do the same in their communities or down the stairs from bedroom to home office. When required, a group might make the journey to a common geographic location, however this can be scheduled and done at a low traffic time.
The ongoing impact this will have on people's quality of life is significant. That's not even to mention the huge benefits to the environment.
The worst parts of Taylorism Theory of Management
Taylors time has come and gone. In the late 1800's, it served the purpose. However the elements of it that remain in today's management style and techniques...being in the office, mindlessly fulfilling your bosses objectives and tasks, time and motion studies of efficient accomplishment of tasks, etc. Time has passed them all by.
Many of these principles have no place in a work anywhere culture, and managers have to adopt new approaches to leading teams, engaging team members and getting the best results.
Managers have been taught these techniques and reaping the rewards for years. Consequently, these tenants have become quite entrenched. There are actually companies that have started up during the pandemic to try and replicate many of those antiquated management techniques through the use of electronic monitoring of employees in their home or employing endless video conferencing and meetings. Hopefully those startups will also be casualties soon.
