Covid-19 is likely to be the single largest disruptor of workspace and the office in a generation. The past eight months have been a lesson in creative reinvention for many, including us at Burtt-Jones and Brewer. We've assessed our skill sets and broadened our outlook, considering how we can best support our clients and our team, listening to their concerns, in a world where normal has been reset.
What did that mean for us?
Alongside the finalisation and delivery of a number of projects at the start of the pandemic, we chatted in detail to our clients about the Covid experience and the impact on their office, work, productivity and wellbeing, at a personal, pragmatic level as well as a business wide, organisational level. From these learnings, representative of over 15,000 staff, there were some key findings and takeaways which you can find here.
As the pandemic developed, alongside work completed as part of our traditional Interior and design services, we delivered a series of Covid space planning and workspace strategies, across the UK and into Europe. Our supportive strategies included space planning, signage, guidance notes and home working management guides. Some clients chose to re-organise their entire workspace, others required and desired minimal interventions. One of the most interesting pieces of feedback we received was that the lowering of density across the floor (fewer people) with the consequent improvement in acoustics and sense of privacy using space division (in this case, planting) resulted in staff liking the new workspace more than the old one. Perhaps not a surprise, but a welcome benefit.
Burtt-Jones and Brewer is a consultancy built around a flexible, employee and client centric model. We have worked in an agile way for more than a decade: Steve and I founded our business on an agile foundation, built from trust, strong communication and transparency. The way we deliver what we do changed little during the pandemic. Even the skillsets we use when we engage with clients to deliver our services and processes have changed only modestly.
What has changed, however, is the way in which we all relate, work, behave - re-discovering where we place value. The cultural change brought on by Covid, at a personal, individual level cannot be underestimated. We can all plan and strategise for a better future, carefully putting in place academic or pragmatic mechanisms that improve productivity, efficiency and effectiveness individually or collectively. But we all need to remember, however, that what we implement will need to be reflective of personal, human factors as a priority, we need to rebuild culture as much as re-consider strategies for re-deployment of space and how we work.
After all, culture eats strategy for breakfast. News of the vaccine brought relief of a potential end in sight, which in turn will also drive a programme for a Safe Return to the Office, albeit only once a vaccine programme has been rolled out. Here’s hoping that’s sooner than later.