Creating An Inclusive Office Environment

The mass migration to remote working has proven that employees are able to maintain productivity, but it has also magnified the problem it has on our creativity and collaboration.

Now is the time for companies to make the transition from simply enduring these challenges, to becoming more resilient.

Remote work isn’t going anywhere, but organizations need to find a balance between keeping employees engaged, while supporting flexibility.

One of the main ways businesses can do this is to adopt a hybrid work model, which allows employees to reap the benefits of remote working and in-office attendance.

Hybrid working helps employees to work flexibly, decrease their commute and achieve a better work-life balance.

Workers can also come into the office parts of the week for in-person collaboration and have social interactions with their colleagues.

However, the office is expected to look much different than it did pre-pandemic. In the future, the workplace will have to be a place that emphasizes the importance of collaboration and all-hands meetings. 

Architect firm Elkus Manfredi created an engagement methodology called “co-creation” to help address the challenges that are bound to emerge from making these big changes to the office. It involves listening to everyone in the company at every level to understand what they need to do their best work.

Doing so creates a culture of inclusivity, while allowing companies to truly execute the best operational strategies that can help employees work as efficiently as possible.