Post-Covid Workplace Models: Share Your Experience

Cathy Fanning

Hi Everyone,

I'm starting a discussion on the transition of the Work Place Model and how it has changed over the years. Specifically in relation to the COVID pandemic and how this forced business and companies to not only rethink their practices but also how and where their staff work.

Have business and companies gone back to their old ways? or have they embraced the opportunity of change and moved forward in a new direction?

Please comment and join in with not only your own story but fellow colleagues. Now that the Meister community is spreading to different corners of the globe the stories and comments will be very interesting. How have different countries dealt with these changes?

Feel free to comment etc.. and also fill out a very short quiz on your own experience.

https://forms.gle/eac9vPTsbwvanxbQ7

Looking forward to all the comments.

Cheers.

Miša Hennin

Hey @Cathy Fanning,

Thanks for starting this interesting discussion - I've just submitted my responses to the questionnaire.

Will you share the results with us?

Best,

Miša

Cathy Fanning

Hi @Miša

Responses are starting to come in now.

Will definitely be sharing the results.

Cheers for now.

Rooster McNugget

Hi @Cathy Fanning

I like this quiz. Gave my answers now. I'm looking forward to see the results!

Have a good one!

Andrew Lapidus

Thanks for sharing, Cathy — a very interesting topic!

I'm someone who really can't live without some in-person office time. During the depths of the pandemic when we were all thrust into a mandatory home office situation, I really struggled to separate my work and personal life. Living in a big city where apartments are generally quite small, I found it to be quite mentally taxing to work literally a few steps away from where I slept!

That being said, I would now never want to surrender the work flexibility that many employers now feel compelled to provide! The ability to work from home allows me freedom to travel and spend time with family, which is of course one of the greatest gifts of all! As Jörg would say, it's all about balance :)

Cathy Fanning

Hi Everyone,

I will leave sharing the answers of the quiz for a couple of days to give everyone a chance to contribute.

Miša Hennin

Hi,

@Andres D'Andrea, @Olaf Roeb, @Jörg Koper, @Rvitaris, @Tatiana Torres, @Michael Heil - Not sure if you've already seen this but wanted to tag you here because you might have some thoughts to share!

Joerg Koper

Hey @Miša, thanks for the reminder 👋😉

Emily

Hey!

It's not exactly the remote/ office debate but I saw this yesterday and thought it would be worth referencing here.

Basically the results of the widespread 4-day working week trial were incredibly positive: Employee happiness increased, stress levels decreased, hiring increased and even productivity increased, making it a win-win for employees + employers.

It seems the 4-day week is here to stay (at least for some companies).

@Cathy Fanning and others - I wonder what you think about this?

I feel it'd be such a big and positive change to the lifestyles we're very used to!

Admin BSF.company

Hello @Miša thanks for bringing this thread to my attention!

What I'm about to write could apply or not depending on the industry and type of business, but I believe the world is heading increasingly towards a scenario that looks like this:

• Give the staff their full set of goals to accomplish in a certain period
• Provide them access to coworking spaces like WeWork or anything similar
• Give them full freedom to choose the working scenario that best suits their needs.

The company should provide the staff with clear goals and all resources needed to accomplish them. Furthermore, the company should implement effective results-monitoring strategies and collaboration methods for everybody on board.

The staff should be responsible for achieving those goals, independently of their personal preferences.

"On paper", there are some industries where the current status of tech solutions allow for this.

I'm a big fan of asynchronous collaboration, and I'd surely support any initiative that promotes freedom.

@Cathy Fanning thanks for sharing this survey and its results when you're done. I just completed my submission 👍

@Emily thanks for sharing that article, interesting stuff.

Best regards.

Andres D'Andrea

Miša Hennin

Hey @Andres D'Andrea thanks for your input. The scenario you've described makes SO much sense. One of the main difficulties I see with it though is that it'd require a lot of planning from team leads to decide what they expect to be completed by X date.

Again, it depends with field and role because some positions are very project-based and it'd be fairly easy to tell a team member that this project should be completed within a certain period of time. Other positions (such as mine) are less project-based. For me it'd be really hard to decide what I should have completed within a week or month, and it'd be even harder for my lead to dictate this for me.

Aside from that, I do think it'd be really positive to move away from the "you must be working for 38/40 hours per week" model. It shouldn't be about the quantity of time you work but about the quality of what you produce! (This just seems outdated and ridiculous to me but I understand that in many places it is a legal requirement).

@Emily I saw something about this on LinkedIn - way cool! Although, personally, I think I'd prefer 5 shorter working days to 4 full working days and 3 rest days. I think with the 4:3 split, I'd just feel like I don't have enough time on either side if that makes sense? Regardless of personal preference, it's a step in the right direction!

Admin BSF.company

Agree with you @Miša, full flexibility or freedom of choice sometimes is not possible in certain scenarios.

Support and customer service positions probably will require fixed work schedules as well.

Cathy Fanning

Hi @Emily Thanks for posting the 4 day week topic and @Andres D'Andrea , @Miša for your comments.

The 4 day work week topic definitely fits in with different work models. I know that a couple of large companies and government departments have been running a trial here in Melbourne, Australia over the past couple of months. Nothing yet has been decided but according to the "Authorities" it has been a success. I can see positives and negatives for this.

I know that the Scandinavian countries are in favour of this. I think it's either Iceland or Norway who has already taken this onboard and has moved to the 4 day work week.

@Miša and @Andres D'Andrea your comments about the quality of work rather than quantity of time is absolutely spot on. This is quite typical in a lot of industries and they are generally the same companies that have abandoned the full remote or hybrid work model post COVID and have gone back to the office full time.

Thanks everyone, much food for thought.

Enjoy your day. 😀

Miša Hennin

Hey @Cathy Fanning yeah it's the same with the UK trial!

My boyfriend was recently applying to jobs and he wants to work remotely but so many places said you have to be in the office 2/3 days a week. I understand the importance of team culture and connectivity - I'm visiting the Vienna office as often and possible and notice the benefits of this! But he was frustrated at the rigidity of a job that could be performed 100% remotely and give him huge freedom in lifestyle but insisted on him working from the office for half of the week.

Why not let employees choose what suits them most rather than 'force' them to come and work in a space they don't thrive in in the name of team culture?

I guess this is another angle to consider!

Cathy Fanning

Hi Everyone, Results are in from the quiz. Thanks everyone for your participation and input.

Enjoy your day.

https://forms.gle/RM4KUrgVNMA4D8HQ6

Emily

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on that @Cathy Fanning !