26.02.2021, 08:03
Optimising Workplaces Post-Covid-19
With the United Kingdom hastily preparing for the reopening of the economy, The Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) and Ricoh have published new guidance for on optimising workspaces.
The publication, the the seventh in a series of guidance notes under a ‘Creating better workplaces‘ partnership between the institute and Ricoh, explores what future changes in working practices could mean for the corporate workspaces most organisations inhabit – with a particular focus on offices.
Much has been written about the future of the office, with some commentators predicting the death of the office and others taking a more measured view that offices will still be needed, but perhaps for different purposes.
IWMF and Ricoh find in favour of the second viewpoint, arguing that a shift towards more distributed working creates a new role for the office and an opportunity to rethink how we use our corporate workspaces. Essentially, this guidance note is about how organisations can make optimal use of their workspaces, in service of individual and organisational performance.
They argue that although most types of corporate workspaces have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the impacts have been particularly pronounced in retail, hospitality and offices. Profound shifts in how, where and even when we work, and learnings from the good and bad of those shifts, have inspired many to want to reassess old ways of working.
Simone Fenton-Jarvis, Workplace Services Consultancy Director at the IWFM, comments:
“An optimised workspace has the power enable productivity and wellbeing alongside driving connectedness to the organisation and colleagues. With so many of our workspaces and circumstances changing throughout 2020, this guidance note allows us to reflect on what our needs truly are.”
The guidance is availailable for download from Optimising workspaces (iwfm.org.uk).
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