There finally seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel; after two full years of many of us working remotely the world is – apparently – easing its COVID restrictions. But are we getting back to normal? Or has the hybrid workplace become the ‘new’ normal?
Personally, I believe we will be seeing a permanent change in the way we work, albeit mainly within medium and larger firms. I think that for smaller companies, due to their size it remains an important factor to keep on working at the office. However, for medium and larger businesses, hybrid working will become the norm from now on. This means that businesses will make their employees shift between working from home and at the office. As employees will no longer be required to spend their entire workweek on site but instead work partly from home, the use of offices will change. The traditional office will make way for the office of the future, which will see its use differ greatly. From a workplace, I believe offices will now transition to a place designed for meetings and for social engagement with co-workers. I think technology like a digital signage display will get to play a major role in shaping these new hybrid offices.

Beyond hybrid working, the easing of COVID restrictions also again makes it possible to meet up with larger crowds. Like many of us, I am very much looking forward to these larger social gatherings, such as the EuroCIS and ISE scheduled for May of this year. Whether we will be meeting up as usual, or if some kind of social distancing will be in place at that time remains to be seen.

What live events are you looking forward to this year? Let me know next time we talk and hopefully I can drop by 😉.