With the hope that Coronavirus restrictions might be eased later this year, businesses are starting to turn their attention to a potential return to office life. But should the concept of rows and rows of desks with workers tapping away on computers be a thing of the past?

Here at Culture Co, we don’t believe simply going back to the way things were is the right approach. The pandemic’s given us a chance to rethink how we use our office space. Is there really any point in people commuting sometimes three hours a day to simply set up their laptop, pop their headphones in, and do exactly what they could do just as easily, and often more efficiently, at home?

Research with our clients has shown that the vast majority of workers want their employers to adopt a hybrid office/remote working approach. And they say the biggest reason to attend the office is to interact and socialise with teammates. We should be designing our future offices with a focus on allowing workers to connect and collaborate, not simply do ‘work as usual’.

Imagine if we knew what our week looked like and could prepare ourselves accordingly. Every week we might work four days at home. We wouldn’t have the misery, time, and expense of the commute into work and we’d have our home set-up sorted to minimise distractions so we’re able to crank through our list of deliverables. But once a week we go into the office with a different mindset - to connect with teammates. Perhaps we’d attend a brainstorm for the start of a project, followed by focused team and personal performance conversations. Maybe there’d be a company meeting in the afternoon, followed by a company social. Wouldn’t it be great if we decided to leave our laptop at home that day so we can fully focus on connecting with each other by having meaningful, face-to-face conversations?

Granted there will be exceptions to this type of approach. New starters will always benefit hugely from initial face-to-face interaction. Some people might not be able to work from home – either temporarily or permanently – so the office will always need to cater to them. But how much more productive, engaged, and effective could we be if we adopted this new approach to office life?