Reimagining The Modern Office

The office of today needs to accomplish something that can’t be accomplished from home

After two years of acclimating to fully remote work, businesses face a new challenge as employees begin returning to the office in one capacity or another. 

While key aspects of operations may always demand in-person work, attracting and retaining talent amid the Great Resignation requires a flexible approach to the workplace. Caught between these realities, many business leaders are scrambling to adjust.
 

As an executive, I’ve grappled with this problem myself. What I’ve learned is that success depends on a critical shift in mindset. Attempting to replicate the traditional in-person office in a remote setting is bound to failure. Instead, business leaders should take this opportunity to reimagine the modern office as a flexible collaboration hub and a welcoming place for employees when they need it. 

Here are five questions to ask as you rethink your workplace. 

1. Is Employee Productivity Measured by Outcomes?

Monitoring employee productivity in the traditional sense isn’t possible in a remote environment. You can’t walk down the hall or strike up an impromptu discussion in the break room. 

At the same time, digital monitoring tools can feel invasive and generate undue stress. The “always-on” environment inadvertently created by instant messaging services was a leading cause of burnout early in the pandemic. 

So how do you know your employees are hard at work at any given moment? Here’s another question: do you need to? Business success isn’t measured by hours logged in the office or time spent at the computer. It’s measured by outcomes. 

Take this time to realign employee productivity metrics with tangible business goals. Start by setting your company goals for a given period, then breaking those down into the team and individual goals. Clearly communicate these goals to each employee, then schedule regular check-ins to monitor progress and make adjustments. 

2. Is There Adequate Communication Between Employees and Supervisors?

Whether your workplace is remote, in-person, or hybrid, communication is key to ensuring productivity. One-on-one meetings with supervisors are critical to empowering employee success. Perhaps your business was great at maintaining regular one-on-ones in the pre-pandemic office. But if your workplace was like most, the often hectic nature of the office interrupted these sit-downs. 

Use this transition period to reestablish and optimize these meetings. Ensure that everyone has regular touchpoints with their managers where information is shared, expectations are set, and employees can ask questions and raise concerns. Create transparent systems for monitoring employee progress and performance, then refine your approach in each meeting.

3. What Do Employees Want?

Aside from alignment with company goals, the most important factor in determining the best workplace model for your organization is to understand your employees’ needs and preferences. 

We conducted surveys over the past two years asking our people about their ideal workplace structure. Most of our team in New York—where cramped apartments aren’t ideal for long-term remote work—wanted access to an office. So we focused on providing optional office space for those employees.

We also heard that hybrid meetings can be difficult for individuals calling in remotely—key side conversations and off-screen information are lost to participants joining via Zoom. As a result, we established hybrid meeting guidelines: if one participant is remote, for example, the entire group may join remotely from their desks. 

Asking for employee feedback doesn’t just provide actionable data, it gives employees ownership in the decision-making process and fosters a positive workplace culture. People will be more willing to accept workplace changes if they feel as though leadership has taken their concerns into account.

4. Are Different Teams Collaborating with One Another?

A key part of company culture is how we collaborate with one another. Replicating the organic collaboration of an in-person office is difficult in a remote or hybrid setting. That’s just the reality. But difficult doesn’t mean impossible. We’ve focused on creating cross-functional teams to encourage people to work with other departments. These groups both increase productivity and allow employees to get to know colleagues they otherwise wouldn’t interact with. 

Think about bringing together people from departments that share goals at the company level to brainstorm and present their work. Cross-functional touchpoints provide visibility into what other teams are doing, encourage creativity, and foster a collaborative company culture. 

Also, consider bringing people together in person on a consistent schedule—perhaps quarterly strategy meetings or team retreats—so that people build stronger relationships and have the organic conversations missing from virtual interactions. If your business is spending less on office space, you may move budget toward travel and expense to foster more meaningful connections. 

5. What’s Working? What’s Not?

Finding the workplace structure that fits the unique needs of your employees and business is an ongoing, interactive process. 

Don’t be afraid to experiment! You may require a specific department to work in person two days per week instead of three. You may test the effectiveness of biweekly instead of weekly direct report meetings. Or you may find that some teams are most effective with purely remote roles (which carries the added benefit of being able to draw talent from anywhere in the country).

Create a Testing and Evaluation Workflow

• Evaluate your business goals, from company level to team level to individual level. 
• Establish workplace practices that best align with these goals—and don’t be afraid to try something new.
• Clearly communicate business goals and workplace practices with employees and regularly solicit their feedback. 
• Consistently reevaluate your practices, measuring against your business goals. 
• Continue to refine your workplace approach as needed.

Ultimately, a successful work environment is one that empowers employees to do their best work. By approaching this period of disruption as a unique opportunity to reimagine the workplace, your business can get the most out of the new normal.

Maria Aveledo is Chief Business Officer at Octane. She leads the Operations, People and Strategy departments. Maria joined Octane in 2016 to build and manage the Credit Operations function. Since that time, she has led and supported the launch of other Risk, Operations, and Servicing related initiatives at Octane. Maria also served as Chief of Staff to the CEO, where she was responsible for driving Octane’s strategic initiatives by partnering with all departments across the organization. Prior to Octane, Maria worked at JP Morgan as an investments analyst.  Connect Maria Aveledo