We are in a unique moment in history. Everything we thought we knew about work, the office, and the importance of in-person coworking was flipped on its head. We now have the opportunity to shape what the future of work looks like.
领导者应该像我们的技术或产品同事一样，花时间研究和设计新体验。他们应该运用过去两年中学到的知识，并专注于前进的道路。这浮华的特权(free snacks, yoga classes, ping-pong) that once attracted and retained talent simply won’t work anymore.
那接下来会怎样？
工作的未来需要一些实验。一路上会有反复试验，因此领导者应为颠簸时期做好准备。我们所知道的是，在大流行的最后两年中，员工对灵活性和在远程环境中设计自己的体验的能力更加价值。 If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are some of the experiments and research and design strategies my team and I will implement over the next few months.
Slowly but surely increase capacity
大流行对员工办公室目的的假设提出了挑战，仅仅是独立工作并接听电话的地方。例如，年轻的员工和某些部门可能会从面对面的时间中受益，因为他们通过观察，与导师的面对面会议学习，并首次在办公室环境中进行专业开会。另一方面，一些员工是看护人或通勤时间长，并且在混合模型或完全远程模型中可能会更好地蓬勃发展。
One way to test the use of your office space is to increase office capacity incrementally. Over the past months, we have increased office capacity from 20% occupancy with assigned desks to 50% occupancy with employees reserving desks as needed. We are excited to increase our office capacity to 70%+ occupancy over the next month. The model has benefited our employees by giving them time to adjust back into an office environment after working remotely for an extended period of time.
We’re also considering how employees can engage with the hybrid model in a meaningful way. What we found is that it’s the small things that matter most.
Very few of us know for sure how we’re going to get into the rhythm of taking hybrid meetings (some people in a conference room, some on the phone from our desk, or in a phone booth), let alone how we’ll feel in a completely full office again. To help people feel a little more comfortable designing their experience, we’ve made little changes like referring to meeting rooms as spaces for “collaboration” to underline and clearly define the purpose of in-office days.
Emphasize personal preference and responsibility
Every employee has different needs and preferences, both in and outside of work. That sounds obvious, but it’s the most important thing to keep in mind when designing an approach to returning to the office. Employees also need options in order to feel like they are in control of their experience.
做到这一点的一种方法是允许员工自我选择自己的办公室承诺。在蟑螂实验室，我们将这些选择称为“工作场所分类”，但您的组织可以尝试“模型”，“工作方式”，“组”等。它使我们的团队可以选择以最适合使用的方式使用办公室他们。
我们提供三个选择：完全在办公室（主实验室），混合动力车（混合实验室）或完全远程（节点），员工可以根据他们的独特需求和专业增长来选择。他们选择了办公室的承诺，这使他们能够在同时承诺结构。
Through the decision-making process, encourage employees to consider their individual job descriptions, as well as their communication styles. Does their role often require more collaboration vs. independent work? Is there a certain piece of software or equipment that’s available to them in the office? These are important considerations that allow them to choose their working model based on their personality traits and preferences, as well as what will help them be most productive and successful in their role.
Invest in everyone
We’re going to take this one step further by tailoring financial benefits to these classifications. For example, employees who are fully in the office have dedicated desks and have access to a meal plan, while fully remote employees may receive a stipend to outfit their home office environment and a travel budget to be used once a quarter to visit an office.
这goal here is to make sure every employee, regardless of being in-the-office or remote, has a valuable experience and feels productive in their environment. This further emphasizes that you are in full support of each employee’s choice and are invested in their success.
有很多东西我们无法控制未来。而且我不能给人数足够的压力：没人知道他们在做什么。我们正处于完全未知的水域。 But not knowing is exciting. It means we can define the future. We can find out what works, give our employees options so they feel in control of the experience, and design this new world together.
Lindsay Grenawalt is the chief people officer atCockroach Labs.