- Fernando Vallejo, bicg's General Director
“New? I would say evolved rather than new. After all, reinventing the wheel has never really worked, right?
The main idea on which we can all agree is the following: ‘Humanity as a whole has come together to question whether the conventional workspace for professionals from the knowledge field is still the traditional office after a massive experiment with remote work.’ And a whole lot has been written about this. We won’t dwell on the same conclusions or give ambiguous messages. With this article, our intention is to summarise what, in our experience, will differentiate workplace strategies in the coming years.
Ready?
Your workspace needs to compete with your employees’ home.
In recent years, we have made significant life decisions: seeking larger houses in different neighbourhoods or cities, equipping them with all the necessary means to work comfortably… So how can a white, minimalist, and cold space be more enticing and attractive than my own warm, comfortable, and colourful home? Companies must design offices as pleasant and appealing environments where you feel almost better than in your own home.
80-20, but reversed.
Traditionally, offices were characterised by having 80% of the space dedicated to individual work, with the remaining 20% allocated to collaboration (through meeting rooms). While this ratio has been shifting over the past decade to around 60-40%, the current demand for going to the office is primarily to collaborate and socialise with co-workers. Therefore, the ratios have completely flipped. Allocate 80% of your office space to collaboration, meetings, and socialisation, and reserve 20% for individual work.
Since I’m going… What else can you offer me?
Once we have convinced professionals that the office is a pleasant space where they can collaborate as needed… how about making them fall in love with their workplace by providing them with value-added services that make their lives easier and compensate for the time spent commuting? And you might say, “But we already have a dining area, a cafeteria, an auditorium, and even a gym on our premises…” …” Yes, but it’s not just about what you offer anymore; it’s about how you offer it. These services, just like the workplace strategy, should be hybrid, agile, sustainable, experiential, and above all, create an open dialogue with our employees to truly understand what brings them value.
Creating a story, a unique experience, is key to the concept.
In addition to everything mentioned above, it’s important to bring the office to life. Considering the space in a sterile way is a mistake. Unlike before when employees had no alternative to the office and just went there and used it, now you need to make it come alive. It should be a space where things happen actively, and the experience is aligned with the organisation’s culture.
Mixing purposes.
And finally… does the office have to be just an office? Do we need a private space with a single purpose? Just like in cities where spaces have multiple uses, and hotels are no longer just hotels but also restaurants, clubs, terraces, and summer pools… Why can’t we do the same with offices? What if a sports club and an office coexist in the same space? Or a co-living and coworking space? Or an event venue? And what if there’s a bar?
I won’t reveal any more. If you want to discover how a bar coexists within an office, we invite you to visit ours… Come visit us at The Club, by bicg.”
