Rethinking Space

You’ve seen a lot of stories on COVID and the workplace in your feed. You’re probably wondering, how many of them do I actually need to read? Here’s the good news. We read them so you don’t have to.

We’ve all spent a lot of time in the last few weeks looking at surfaces in a new way. Can I touch that handle? Who’s been using this table? Is any of it going to put me at risk? All valid questions. It’s why being thoughtful about the materials we use to construct our spaces is more important than ever.

Expectations have changed. We don’t just want beautiful design and ergonomics from our workspace. We want crisis-level preparedness. Medical-grade materials? Cleaning and sanitization protocols? Yes. All of it. We want the assurance our physical health isn’t being jeopardized by returning to a shared space.

We want to stay connected and we’re using the internet to do it. Organizations have to find a way to nurture that connection. In most cases, this means a robust network infrastructure. According to Cisco, by 2022, 82% of all global internet traffic will be video. And if you look at how many webinars and virtual meetings we’ve attended in the last few months, you can see we’re well on our way to that target.

Most of us haven’t lived through a time that has put such a collective strain on our physical and mental health. Every decision matters. There doesn’t seem to be any easy choices. Just a long list of workable scenarios.

COVID-19 has splintered the workplace. Many of us have moved from vibrant, productive, culture-building hubs to home offices, kitchen tables, and basements to get the job done. Some of us are still right where we were before this whole thing started. At work. One thing is for sure. We’re not all together anymore. This is the new distributed workplace. 

Everything is changing. All the time. How do you survive? You adapt to adversity. You constantly reconfigure to whatever your new reality requires.