With the digital age, the company can now more easily consider the implementation of flex-office within the organization. Employees are demanding more flexibility and offices are changing. This is the concept of the flex-office, modifying the workspace according to the needs of the employees. Today there is no longer any doubt about the benefits of the flex-office, but questions remain about how to ensure this transition.
How can this transition be successful while guaranteeing the well-being of employees and the company’s performance?
This is the question that Bureaux à Partager and Fabernovel Institute, a change management consulting firm, have tried to answer through a recent study on corporate practices in the implementation of flex-office.
A real intention to deploy the flex-office
In search of a more flexible and flexible working environment, employees are looking for solutions that allow them to carry out their work with greater freedom. And this seems to be taken into account by companies since, according to the study by Bureaux à Partager, 77% of companies have already tested the layout of flexible offices and 39.4% have fully deployed it within the organisation. These figures therefore demonstrate a real desire on the part of companies to offer a more flexible working environment. However, the flex-office does not seem to have been deployed by all the test companies.
Lack of communication or lack of resources? So what can be the reasons for failure?
Flex-office, a concept that is still unclear
The first challenge faced by companies when switching to flex-office is the employees’ lack of knowledge of this concept. Moreover, this concept does not entirely meet with unanimous approval because it is judged too quickly as too impersonal. It is therefore necessary to inform and explain this concept, which is sometimes new to some people. In order to ensure the success of the flex-office, it is crucial to involve all employees in this project. Transparency is more necessary than ever here.
The flex-office, a new way of working
Another challenge is to change the company’s culture and the habits of its employees. Even if there is a strong demand for a more flexible work environment, it is still difficult to change habits. It is then necessary to completely rethink the relationship with space, no longer in terms of organization but in terms of uses. Thus, the employee no longer has a single assigned office but several depending on his needs and activities of the day. The phone box to call a client, the creativity room for a brainstorming session or the silence space to review a file. A need, a space!
Although this organization may seem obvious, for some people it can be disruptive. It is then necessary to dialogue and involve employees in order to understand their needs. The goal is not to disrupt their work environment or risk not making a successful transition. Their involvement upstream will therefore allow them to take ownership of the change rather than being subjected to it.
A lack of flex-office management tools
According to the study of shared offices, among companies that use flex-office, a total of 94% of companies do not offer employees the possibility of reserving a workstation. This therefore represents a real obstacle to the adoption of the flex-office. Indeed, it may be that at the beginning of the deployment, employees may feel lost in the morning when choosing a workstation. A workstation reservation tool can then limit the obstacles to the adoption of flex-office. In addition, implementing a solution that makes it easier to set up the flex-office helps to strengthen the company’s sense of belonging.
The solution: support
Whether it involves dialogue, a change in the company’s culture or the implementation of tools, support is then necessary to ensure the deployment of the flex-office.
With cowork.io, the workspace management solution, make sure that flex-office is adopted within your organization. Employees can easily and quickly book a workspace according to their needs and benefit from services to make work easier. They can express their ideas, raise requests and dialogue with the community. This is the guarantee to offer your employees a stimulating and collaborative work environment.
