To return or not to return? That is the question

One thing’s for sure; it’s a hotly debated topic. Despite how strong either camp may be in their assertions, is there really one ‘right answer’? I think not.

Overall, office-based workers adapted amazingly well to working from home. It wasn’t ideal for everyone though, particularly those navigating their way through home-schooling or for anyone working from a bedroom in shared accommodation. Even so, the mass move to home working, achieved practically overnight, was a remarkable feat. Here we are, some 15 months later, with many still at home, continuing to deliver.

But, doing it forever? Well, that’s another matter and one that needs careful consideration. CIPD’s report on Working from Home highlighted the need for employers to “be aware of the differences between ‘standard’ and COVID-enforced homeworking”. There’s a big difference between the two.

Many of CPM’s people work remotely, outside of an office environment. For the most part, wherever possible, they have continued to do so throughout the pandemic, and much appreciation goes out to them. But we also have offices across seven markets, so the future of ‘office work’ has of course been a topic of some healthy discussion and debate.

Working from home has had its advantages. It’s allowed for flexibility around childcare, it’s given us an opportunity to care for parents and other dependents. It’s also provided us with a bit more time for self-care, or let’s face it, doing the chores we’d have otherwise had to fit in another time. There were many different upsides for a lot of us. Some of these were related to working from home, but some were more about having a little more flexibility in working hours.

But what about the downsides? Productivity may have increased (productivity not to be confused with creativity), but was this at the cost of taking breaks and knowing when to sign off? Were fewer distractions at home a positive (when kids were back at school, of course), or did we feel more isolated and out of touch?

What did we lose that we craved or didn’t even notice we’d missed? Perhaps it was the ‘last night’s TV chat’ before getting down to business. Maybe it was the ability to have an impromptu conversation over a desk to solve a problem, or the satisfaction of being in a meeting room with your team and a flip chart working through a new idea, or just passing someone on the stairs you’d been hoping to see. Some people simply missed a comfortable, fit for purpose space in which to work. The list goes on.