This time last year, the idea that working from a virtual office would soon be commonplace was probably not on many people’s radar. To put it mildly, 2020 has been full of surprises. Now that many are working from their kitchen, spare room, garage or home office (if you’re really lucky)…well, office culture seems like a distant memory.
With first-hand experience of how people use our products from wherever they have an internet connection, we’ve been in on the upsides of remote working for a while now. For employers it can mean reduced overheads, increased staff productivity, and reduced absenteeism. Employees get the benefit of more flexibility, extra focus, and a drastically shortened commute. The positives don’t stop there though. Here are six aspects of office life that we feel are better left in the past.
Office politics
Present in even the most civil of workplaces, office politics are just a fact of life. However thanks to a reduction in personal interactions and shift onto instant messaging, email, and conference calls – there’s a lot less room for negative office politics with remote working. Whilst not completely banished from the professional landscape, it seems that remote working promotes more of a ‘focus-on-the-job-at-hand’ approach to the day. And in our minds, that’s a very good thing.
Shared toilet facilities
Privacy, hygiene, and awkward interactions at the hand dryers with your boss who you’ve now got to sit in a two-hour meeting with. All issues that can and do pop up when you have to share facilities with your co-workers – thankfully this is not something you really have to deal with when working from home.
Office attire
The simple pleasure of working in whatever clothing you feel comfortable in is seriously underrated if you ask us. If you’re still doing a good job while wearing your PJs, isn’t that the same as doing a good job in conservative office attire? Of course, for those who miss the feeling of a suit and tie or pencil skirt and blazer, there’s nothing stopping you from wearing that if you prefer.
Organised ‘fun’
All too often, attempts at office culture can feel a bit forced. Team-building offsites and away days can almost contradict the sense of togetherness that they’re meant to promote. When it’s done well, office culture can thrive. When it’s not, it can feel like an awkward exercise in watching the clock waiting for it all to be over. An upside of remote working is that it leaves space for genuine interactions between people who actually want to socialise and get to know each other.
Office smalltalk
Smalltalk might be an accepted fixture of British office culture – but just how useful is it? And, is its absence really such a bad thing? Luckily for fans of genuine interaction, remote working has dealt a punishing blow to our shared knowledge of what everyone in the office did at the weekend. Again this shift points us towards having more authentic conversations with our colleagues, which can only be a good thing.
Remote working made easy
Reliable cloud communication solutions like our Contact Centre product is a good example of technology that allows its users to make the most of working from anywhere. It helps drive better customer experiences with its range of features that make collaborative working simple and straightforward. Not only that, but with omnichannel capabilities, performance, and quality management tools as well as workforce optimisation – it aims to offer benefits usually associated with face-to-face working environments, from anywhere. Not only that, with omnichannel capabilities and quality management tools it optimises workforce performance of those used to face-to-face working environments.
Originally published Dec 27, 2020, updated Jan 16, 2023
