Getting back to Work

This is an interactive story from the future. Probably the first one ever. About you, with you at the centre of it. You can pick the story line of your choice. Imagine yourself in the future, say 9-12 months from now, when people are slowly beginning to adjust to a new way of working. A world where most organisations allow ‘work from home’, a world where most organisations have non-dedicated seating that can be booked in advance or in real time. A world where quality is determined by an organisation’s health and safety standards. A world where tech tools bring about much-needed efficiency in work-life. A world that is a blend of the physical and the digital.

Now imagine you wake up one morning in that not-so-distant future and you have to execute a choice between working from home or working from office. Below, choose the options that sequentially follow in a timeline throughout the day, and see how that world of work will be. At the end of the storyline, you will be prompted by the in-built code if you would like to have your personalised story written by an algorithm, with you at the centre of this workday in 2023. If you want your story, you will have to write your name, gender, and email at the bottom before clicking the blue bar; and voila! The robot will customise a story with you in the centre; coffee and feelings included. Robots writing stories? Welcome to the future, fast-forwarded.

Takes less than a min to make the choices and a little longer if you read through. Give it a try.

Now imagine you wake up one morning in the future. Where would you like to work from today? *Work from homeWork from office

Work from Home

So you have decided to work from home? Good choice! Working from home is a regular experience for many these days and you have made some changes in your home recently to affect this. You have a small extra bedroom that you kept aside for guests. Now you have converted the small extra bedroom into a work area cum library, as ‘work-from-home’ is more regular than guests these days. Since you have a folding table and the bed still remains in this room, the room can still be converted to a ‘guest room’ when guests do come.

You made sure that the wifi signal is strong enough in this room by installing an additional mesh router at the entrance to this room. Additionally you also got yourself a height adjustable ergonomic chair. Your boss was kind enough to allocate a budget for this and a height adjustable table as well. The table even allows you to stand and work if you need and fold and keep it aside when you need to.

What kind of work will you do from home today?Focus workCollaborative work“Focus work” is any activity requires you to concentrate and focus at minute details. For the sake of this story, let us assume this to be work, which needs to be done on a computer. On the other hand, “collaborative work” can be meetings with colleagues, calls with clients and associates; any kind of activity that has a different person involved while it is being performed.

FOCUS WORK from home? All right. Now, you ought to make use of the new workplace app on your phone and let the system know that you will be at home. You can also input details like your availability for phone calls and meetings, and your focus-work timings (when no one disturbs you). When you put in these details, no seat will be reserved for you at your office. At the office, they have recently implemented new workplace management policies. Amongst other things, the number of seats is far less than the number of people employed, and an effective seat booking system is integrated with the workplace management tool, ensuring real estate efficiency.

COLLABORATIVE WORK from home? All right. Now, you ought to make use of the new workplace app on your phone and let the system know that you will be at home. You can also input details like your availability for phone calls and meetings, and your focus-work timings (when no one disturbs you). When you put in these details, no seat will be reserved for you at your office. At the office, they have recently implemented new workplace management policies. Amongst other things, the number of seats is far less than the number of people employed, and an effective seat booking system is integrated with the workplace management tool, ensuring real estate efficiency.

Height adjustable table & chair

TAKING A BREAK: One of the reasons you may be working from home is because you need to take care of some personal work. So when you are at home, there may be times during the day when a break (not counting the bio-breaks) may become necessary. Suppose you have to step out to pick up the kids from the bus-stop. During this 15 mins break, you may want to activate the ‘break mode’ on your workplace app. When you do so, your colleagues at work, will not call you. At their end, should they want to call you during your break time they will be alerted that you are on break mode and they will also be shown (and alerted) when you have been relieved of the break mode. Any external calls during this period are diverted to your voicemail with an appropriate welcome message. This allows you to complete your task effectively without interference. Else, you know how difficult it is to balance a phone between your shoulder and ears, while holding children’s’ bags and water bottles!

TAKING A CALL: In the morning when you put in your preferences into the workplace management app, you would have mentioned your preferred timings for calls. Colleagues will be able to see such inputs when team meetings are lined up, and meetings will be scheduled based on availability of team members. You will get real time updates of calls and meetings on your app with adequate reminders in advance. Such events on your app are synchronized with your Google calendar or whatever master calendar you follow, to ensure there is no clash. All of these brings in much required efficiency in everyone’s day-to-day work life.

Want to take a break from work? Or do you want to take a call?Take a short breakTake a callThere may be times during your day, when you want to take a break and stretch a leg. Perhaps pick up the kids from the gate or prepare lunch. Or you may also need to take a call and join a e-meeting with work colleagues.

Close for the day?YesNoWell, you are human; so at some point you have to close for the day. So, yeah, the obvious answer is Yes.

CLOSING FOR THE DAY: At some point during the day, you will need to put at end to your workday from home. When you put in your details on the workplace app in the morning, the closing hours is mentioned. The app allows you to choose your flexi work hours. When it is closing time, the app will alert you. When your hours end, your access to the cloud server is also snapped, unless you request for additional minutes. The app keeps on calculating your hours spent on a real time basis, and the relevant data is shared with HR. The app integrates HR, facilities, IT and other functions, thereby making workplace management a truly seamless experience.

Before the closure for the day, you will be prompted to decide if you will be traveling to office tomorrow or work from home. Based on your selection, you will be asked to fill in additional details like timings, the type of work, etc. With that, a desk at the office or a meeting room, etc will be reserved for you and others as requested, based on availability.

Work from Office

Going to work in the post Covid 19 era is a slightly different experience. Same, yet different. A few things have changed in the layout of the office, but a lot has changed in operations. New workplace management policies have been implemented and this encompasses HR, facilities, admin and IT. Now, first things first. You ought to make use of the new workplace app on your phone and let it know in advance that you will be in office. You can do this latest by 8 am today. However you can do that upto 1 week in advance as well. You can also input details like your availability for phone calls and meetings, and your focus-work timings (when no one disturbs you). When you put in these details, your requested desk or meeting room will be reserved for you at your office. The number of seats in the office is far less than the number of people employed, and an effective seat booking system is integrated with the workplace management tool, ensuring real estate and work efficiency.

At what time will you report to work? *

Hours

Minutes

Chose your preferred time of reporting to work. NOTE: The office premises are accessible from 6 hrs till 22 hrs on weekdays.

FLEXI TIMING: Your office now allows flexi timing. The workplace app measures the number of hours you have logged in, at work or at home. The office opens at 6 am and shuts at 10 pm, and you have the freedom to choose your hours of working. What you see here on this page (in the time picker) is just an idea; and the real app has the starting and closing hours for you to choose. Of course when you chose your working hours, you are expected to do pick the most efficient hours, based on your planned type of work for the day, your team’s availability and client requirements. All of these will be prompted and displayed on the newly developed Workplace Management app. Much needed is brought about in all aspects of your organisation’s functioning.

How will you travel to work? *Own vehiclePublic transportOffice transportCar poolYou have the above choices in 2021 to travel to work. So pick one to discover what it entails.

TRAVELING WITH YOUR OWN VEHICLE: Before departing for work, you will need to update this on your workplace app, as part of the new health and safety norms. The good thing about the app is that you can also reserve your parking spot through the app and be guided to the exact spot by the GPS. The app also allows you to convert your ride into a car-pool/bike-pool and pick up colleagues from your office or from the same neighbourhood where your office is situated. This works like Uber Pool and also allows you to be reimbursed and cover your fuel costs. Opting to pool will however require you to stringently follow the new health & safety standards.

TAKING PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Before departing for work, you will need to update this on your workplace app, as part of the new health and safety norms. The app is also integrated with public transport related information, and displays which modes you can take and how much time it will take for you to reach office and how much it will cost. It will also show modes and connections that are ‘ health & safety certified’ by your organization, for which the payments are done online and debited from your salary.

TAKING OFFICE TRANSPORT: Your office provides bus transport on certain routes across the city. This has been done in association with two transport contractors. Your workplace management app allows you to see if you real time position of these buses and proximity to your home. Although these buses are meant for regular users, they usually have a few seats vacant for non-regular users too. The app allows you to see if seats are vacant. You can block your seat and route in advance or in real time. All payments are linked at the organizational level and debited on a pay-per-use basis.

CAR POOL: The workplace app allows car-pooling and bike pooling amongst colleagues and also with participating organisations from within the same complex. You can check to see if any vehicle is schedule to pass by in your direction at your preferred time and hitch a ride if convenient. The bookings can be made in advance or in real time through the app. The app also shows you details of the vehicle owner, health & safety standards of the vehicle and ratings by others.

What kind of work will you do from office? *Focus workCollaborative work“Focus work” is any activity requires you to concentrate and focus at minute details. For the sake of this story, let us assume this to be work, which needs to be done on a computer. On the other hand, “collaborative work” can be meetings with colleagues, calls with clients and associates; any kind of activity that has a different person involved while it is being performed.

FOCUS WORK AT OFFICE: Traditionally the office never really allowed one to ‘focus at work’. Every time you focused, someone would pop by and go “Do you have the report ready?” or “Catch up at lunch today?”. The trouble with this is that once your train of thought is broken, it takes about 20 mins to bring it back on track. So, what should take 30 mins if you could really focus, could end up taking 2 hours with these interruptions. Workplaces have really never been designed for focus work. But good news, your retrofitted office is.

COLLABORATIVE WORK AT OFFICE: In the pre Covid 19 era, Collaborative work was mostly imagined to be happening in the break out zones, in common areas and in some non-dedicated seating areas. In most organisations the percentage of space dedicated to such activities would be around 20-30%. But now things have changed, especially with the new understading and acceptance that people do not really ‘go to work’ so much for work (or rather focus work). They go for the social benefits of going to work, which is what collaboration work is built around.

The office layout

The new office has sections marked out for focus work. Once you have assigned yourself for focus work for a certain number of hours, and you select your desk, you get a completely distraction free environment. With newly incorporated social distancing norms dictating the furniture layout, these dedicated spots also block out all calls and visitors during your focus work time. Colleagues working in the zone are sensitized to the importance of not interfering others. This is not a big ask, as everyone who gets a taste of the new focus work zone, becomes quickly aware of the benefits of the same. Phone calls are bared and emails are blocked (except those marked urgent) during your focus time. The quality of work improves, it has fewer mistakes, and guess what, it takes much less time than before.

In the new office, all work, which is not ‘focus work’, are clubbed under collaborative work, and a majority percentage of real estate allocation is dedicated towards this. Focus work is all that work which requires you to concentrate and not have any interruptions by colleagues or phone calls or emails. The collaborative work section envelops the office around its perimeter and is a combination of walkways encouraging ‘walk and talk meetings’, meeting spots, resting zones, play areas and eating spots. All of these are designed and maintained with the new health and safety standards rolled out post the pandemic.

Some changes can be seen in the post Covid 19 era office. Select to see the highlights of these changes.Touchless corridorsFurniture, fixtures and layoutHealth & safetyThrough company newsletters, you have been informed of these changes and sensitized towards the need to do so.

TOUCHLESS CORRIDORS: The journey from your transport parking (in case of your own vehicle or office transport or carpool) to your selected place of work is now a touch-less corridor. All doors open and close with the help of sensors, and lift doors are operated through your cellphones or lift operators wearing gloves. Proximity access cards and retina scanners have replaced all touch access options. This follows even within the office area as you traverse between different sections.

HEALTH and SAFETY: The new norm for quality is ‘health and safety’ across the globe. Although your company may have had good health and safety standards, they are now being followed strictly and a few new norms have been added. The new workplace app on your phone, when combined with a smart watch, allows you to keep track of your health parameters. Some parameters are shared with HR and some are optional. The shared parameters are integrated into the all-new wellness program, and also allow employees to work from home when not feeling well.

The housekeeping team cleans the office premises twice a day now, instead of once before. Immediate after use cleaning is encouraged. Antimicrobial surfaces have replaced earlier surfaces on the furniture & fixtures. Hand sanitizers are placed at all ingress and egress points. A HEPA filtration system has been installed. HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air. HEPA filtration systems are extremely effective at capturing and removing airborne particles, microorganisms and other contaminants from a facility's indoor air.

Walk and Talk meetings along the walking corridor

FURNITURE, FIXTURES and LAYOUT: No one wanted to spend a lot of money in furniture, fixtures and real estate in the wake of the pandemic. A blueprint for future facilities was set up. The implementation of the new Workplace Management app allowed for efficiencies to be built into existing spaces. Multiple office locations within the same city meant for different businesses were re-purposed to act as satellite offices for all businesses. You could select the office of your choice (mostly closest to your home) and work from their on certain days even if a large majority of your team members were in another office. On another day, you could decide to work from another location, if it is close to a client location or for any other reason.

Where possible, surfaces were replaced with antimicrobial surfaces. Where retrofitting was required, the collaboration area was done up to include newer spaces as per the new guidelines. In newer offices it was decided to build the focus work zones as independent 100% no-disturb zones, requiring upgrades in the IT networks to enable this. Visitors to the office, however important they may be, are not allowed entry beyond the visitor zone. This zone is designed to be self sufficient with lounges, coffee, toilets and meeting spots. In the collaborative zone, employees are encouraged to do walk and talk meetings, which not only gives them the required exercise, but also makes unnecessary meets redundant. This area is designed with adequate and well-spaced walkways. Maximum sunlight is introduced to the insides of the office through light reflectors on the ceiling. Sunlight, when it hits the skin, helps release nitric oxide into the bloodstream, which is a natural blood thinner. This reduces blood pressure and stress.

Feel like taking a break? *Coffee/Snack break?Walk/Bio break?Lunch break?Signages across the office encourage you to take an occasional break, especially if you are sitting; to stretch your legs, get some fresh air or to hydrate yourself.

COFFEE/SNACK BREAK: Several coffee and snack dispensers have been installed at ‘Coffee Points’ across the collaboration work zone. These are no-touch dispensers and can be used with one’s mobile phone. These coffee points have furniture and fixtures with antimicrobial surfaces. Coffee or snacks dispensed at this points need to be consumed at these areas, that also provide for small meetings. Food and drinks are not allowed to be consumed in other parts of the office.

WALK/BIO BREAK: A visit to the restroom is facilitated via a contactless corridor. Toilet fixtures too have sensors that require minimum contact. The collaborative work zone has been designed as an envelop along the perimeter of the office, creating walking avenues and employees are encouraged to take a walk occasionally. Employees are also encouraged to do walk and talk meetings, over face-to-face meetings.

LUNCH BREAK: Lunch is no more allowed to be had at any work area. Irrespective of whether you get your lunch from home or get something at the cafeteria, it needs to be taken at the Cafeteria or in one of the ‘coffee points’. The cafeteria and the coffee points have furniture and fixtures with antimicrobial surfaces. Contactless coffee and snack dispensers have been installed. For lunch, ‘buffet’ meals are out. Only pre-packed meals and snacks with disposable trays and packaging are made available.

Now, let's say you have a meeting. With whom? *With a colleagueWith a visitorIn the post Covid 19 era, colleague-meeting spots are segregated from visitor meeting spots. They are managed differently as well.

MEETING WITH COLLEAGUES: Large meetings are few and far between and not encouraged. A lot happens over phone and video conferencing these days. Meetings of small groups are facilitated in small meeting rooms that can be booked in advance through the workplace management apps. The access to these meeting rooms, placed across the collaborative work zone, is through contactless access through mobile phones. These meeting rooms are cleaned at regular intervals throughout the day, the frequency being decided by the algorithm of the app, based on health and safety standards. Housekeeping teams are alerted about upcoming cleaning schedules through the alerts on their app.

MEETING WITH VISITORS: Small meeting rooms and meeting spots are part of the Visitor zone at the entrance. Visitors are not permitted to venture beyond this zone. The zone is well serviced by way of contactless snacks and coffee dispensers and restrooms. The furniture and fixtures in this zone are with antimicrobial surfaces. The zone is cleaned at regular intervals throughout the day, the frequency being decided by the algorithm of the app. The algorithm is based on health and safety standards as well as the number of visitors per hour. Housekeeping teams are alerted about upcoming cleaning schedules through the alerts on their app. Hand sanitizers and placed at ingress and ingress points to this zone.

Contactless Coffee

Close for the day? *YesNoWell, you are human; so at some point you have to close for the day. So, yeah, the obvious answer is Yes.

CLOSING FOR THE DAY: When your predetermined closing hour approaches, you will receive alerts on your phone. At close, your seat/space will be shown as released on the system, and certain benefits will be withdrawn unless you extend your timing or chose an alternate working area. The app keeps on calculating your hours spent on a real time basis, and the relevant data is shared with HR. The app integrates HR, facilities, IT and other functions, thereby making workplace management a truly seamless experience.

Before the closure for the day, you will be prompted to decide if you will be traveling to office tomorrow or work from home. Based on your selection, you will be asked to fill in additional details like timings, the type of work, etc. With that, a desk at the office or meeting room, etc will be reserved for you and others as requested, based on availability. As you prepare to leave for the day, you will also be alerted about your transport details for the journey back home.

Block your work desk or meeting room in advance

The above is very much within the realm of possibility, and encapsulates only part of what is possible. It also throws light on only a sprinkling of what the total universe of things likely to happen. We would like to hear from you and with your suggestions improve this storyline. Please write here a)other possible situations at home and work b)suggestions if any. We would love to incorporate them in this ‘work-in-progress’ story.Please write within the box.

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Getting back to Work

Work from Home

Work from Office

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