PR & Communication Specialist at Morphoza & Trust2work
During the lockdown, most companies temporarily shut their offices and adopted the work-from-home policy. But, for most of them, this period was a major step back. Two of the main reasons for that are:
- adapting to this new way of working took a long time and a lot of effort, because they did not have the proper infrastructure or the flexibility to support remote working;
- after the accomodation period and when things finally started functioning, the employees realised that work-from-home actually works pretty well for them and they don’t see the need to come back to the office, since they can perform efficiently from the comfort and safety of their homes.
We hear a lot the phrase ”Technology is the future”. And, looking back on how our world has evolved in the last, let’s say, decade, we can see that indeed the technology has played a major role in this transformation. And it will continue to impact our lives more and more in the years to come.
But what role will technology play in restarting our businesses after the latest crisis?
Since social distancing and remote working might become the new normal, offices will need to reshape their approach, work styles and, last but not least, their office spaces.
While most of the companies have already started implementing smart office technologies in their workspaces, mainly for keeping up to date with the business world, in the post-Covid era the smart technologies will be given a new purpose – efficient tools for improving the health, safety and wellbeing of the employees, analyzing and optimizing the space and speeding up the company’s recovery after the lockdown period.
Space utilization and optimization technologies, for instance, will be an important asset in monitoring the level of occupancy of a certain space and the working habits of the employees, with the objective to optimize the office for the comfort of its occupants and also for further adopting more cost-efficient strategies for organizations.
Also, in the post-lockdown period, companies will focus on creating safer workplaces for employees and visitors. Smart office technologies play an important part in this matter, since there are numerous solutions such as thermo-scanning cameras, devices that can analyze the air quality and contamination in certain spaces, contactless equipment (restroom smart systems, automated doors, vocal command equipment s.o.) that will most likely become a must for every office space in the future.
The new reality will also find us alternating between working-from-home and working-from-the-office, therefore smart digital solutions could be our best ally in keeping us connected at all times. Technology is what drives most businesses today and every modern office should have the right digital solutions in order to enable and facilitate real-time collaboration: TV screens featuring HDMI ports and connectivity options for video conferencing, projectors or technology that allows to work across device types through wireless connections s.o. Remember there is nothing more time consuming and annoying than non-functioning technology, so high quality equipment can save us a lot of touble.
