Why is office environment important even though WFH is successful?

In March 2020, the government of India imposed a complete lockdown when the coronavirus pandemic started to wreak havoc in the country. Since then, schools and business organizations have shifted to remote work and most have surprisingly adopted to the new way at a quick pace. After a year and half, now that economy is starting to open slowly with relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions, things are creeping back to normalcy again.

Remote work does have its own share of benefits. Flexible work hours, no travel cost or time, an opportunity to be with family and many more. However, work from home doesn’t offer the genuine connection that we, humans, crave for within a team.

We are social animals and being connected to one another is important for us to be productive. Though technology has us connected round the clock, here are some reasons why it is important to go back to office spaces

Office spaces helps to increase employee productivity by focusing better

As soon as we enter an office environment, we tend to focus more on work and spend every hour in a productive way. Unlike the flexible working hours of work from home, in an office our work hours are limited and this pushes us to spend every moment carefully towards completing a goal we set for ourselves. With flexible working hours, work from home for most employees mean working too much or too little without the need to restrict work to specific hours, thus ruining the work-life balance.

A feeling of connection between employees that leverages teamwork

Working in offices creates an opportunity to network with different people, those who interact daily and those who don’t. Offices have seen spontaneous conversations over coffee or even before an important meeting starts! These instances create a sense of connection between employees and develops a sense of belonging towards the company. Though technology connects employees in a remote working environment, conversations mostly pertain to work related discussions.

Benefit from the culture of your organization

A good organization culture boosts the performance of not just employees but also accelerates overall growth of the business. A positive organizational culture like employee personality development, team outings and growth opportunities help promote the well being of employees thereby helping them benefit from the organization’s culture. No matter how much we try to do the same with a work from home setup, it is rather impossible to reap the benefits of the culture of our organization virtually.

Final thoughts

For social beings like us, phone calls and faces on screens can never replace the joy of being in office and working together with like-minded people towards attaining a common goal.

Within the walls of the office, real conversations take place. We are able to read expressions and communicate non-verbally too. From potluck to decorating the office on special occasions, office spaces create a different sense of belonging towards one’s company. Ten good minutes of hearty laugh or a group photo on an ethnic wear day, the time is now to realize that office spaces instill a happiness that screens can’t.