Office in smart working during Coronavirus time
Since 21st February Coronavirus has changed our lifestyle, including our way of working. The smart working at home has become immediately the most common measure in Italy and worldwide.
Almost 80% of the working people declare to adopt it for the first time, while almost 15% say they just change the way to do it and more than 6% states that nothing changed compared to time previous COVID19. Furthermore a quarter of the interviewed people admit to enjoy the new virtual office in this unusual period. Due to the fact that it is possible to work efficiently as before.
The possibility to work “smart “ does not mean only to do the job from home and use new technological tools. In the smart vision actually the concept of office is opening wide. To stimulate the people creativity, to create relations that are overcoming the company borders, and increase the new business and grow the productivity.
Teleworking, smart working, flexible working… what is really the Smart Working?
Let’s find out what does it mean Smart Working
The Observatory of Milan Politecnico describes it as: a new way of working, a new managerial philosophy, founded on flexibility and autonomy of the working people, in the choice of space, timings and tools to use in order to achieve a better empowerment of results. It is actually a model of organization that affects the relation between the single man and the company and that implies the smart rethinking of the professional tools even inside the company spaces. Far away from the fixed workplace, open space and single office.
We have already talked about it in occasion of the article “Reception sofas: evolution of working spaces” where we focused on the ideal guide lines for the smart office (flexibility, multifunctionality, acoustic intelligence, technology, building automation, wellness service) during Orgatec 2018.
Smart working is not only a simple initiative of work life balance, it is a process that should commit a deep path of cultural and organization change, of company models evolution. It should be studied phase by phase, following a roadmap. However, we have found ourselves in the middle of it, from a day to another, without notice. The emergency situation obliged us, in order to preserve, fairly, the health of all the working people, to work from remote.
How to deal with the needs of smart working offices?
Here are the basic steps that companies must take in order not to be unprepared for the change.
- First of all, it is essential to make a checklist to focus on the conditions that allow you to work from home. For example: with which communication tools will colleagues compare? Hangouts and Skype are among the most popular. How will they share documents: Google Drive or Dropbox? Are they all equipped with IT equipment, internet connections, headphones and webcams that allow the increasingly popular video calls with their customers and suppliers?
- Secondly, it is necessary to understand how to organize work and activities: tasks and project management. There are those who use whiteboards in the office. Well, now they have to go digital!
There must be a space for listening and solving the difficulties and – of course – full confidence in the professional skills of its collaborators.
And from the point of view of employees?
How is the new reality of office in smart working approached by individuals?
- The first obstacle to overcome is the place. Where to set up your office in smart working? It is certainly important to choose a specific space in the house and use it as an office. Distinguish it both mentally and physically from the rest of your home.
- The second is the rhythm that the day must have within one’s private life. The work must have precise timing. We must not work at all time and, opposite, we must not let ourselves be distracted by domestic life. The pauses are “scheduled”, just like the break lunch in the office.
- Also define socialization spaces. A good tip is to reduce the number of meetings to avoid spending the whole day on the call. Instead, provide for interactions between colleagues to make the work more human and efficient. For example, making your availability in the team chat.
Quale spazio per quale ufficio? Come creare nuovi ambienti di lavoro
Non tutti a casa hanno una stanza tutta per sé in cui isolarsi dai propri cari. Eppure ci sono tanti modi per allestire la propria postazione, che non necessariamente deve rispondere agli stereotipi d’ufficio ai quali siamo abituati. Il rigore e l’ordine aiutano… Ma qual è il giusto spazio per il proprio home office?
Scegli un angolo illuminato, con un tavolo sgombro sul quale porre il tuo pc e con prese elettriche a portata di mano. Se lo spazio è piccolo o non sei dotato di una vera e propria scrivania, ricordati che puoi sfruttare anche le pareti per ricorrere a lavagne con magneti e post-it oppure a mensole e cassetti dove riporre gli strumenti secondari.
Stessa cosa riguarda la seduta: se non disponi di una sedia operativa puoi anche usare una comoda poltroncina. La nostra Margarita ad esempio è molto utilizzata dai nostri collaboratori per svolgere le attività in smart working.
Si tratta di una poltroncina dalle linee moderne, ideale per sale d’attesa e riunione. Disponibile in polietilene colorato in diverse tonalità (bianco, tortora, antracite, rosso, verde e giallo), con cuscinetto accessorio imbottito, oppure totalmente rivestita. Da abbinare all’omonimo tavolino, disponibile in due varianti. La prima con basamento a 4 gambe, la seconda con basamento centrale in 3 diverse altezze. Semplici e funzionali, questi piccoli tavoli rotondi dal design estremamente essenziale e minimalista giocano un ruolo complementare alla poltroncina Margarita.
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