5th Feb 2022

Our Predicted Office Working Trends in 2022

As is tradition, in the first quarter of a new year, we like to look ahead to the tools and trends that we believe will define the next 12 months of office working.

So, what exactly do we expect in 2022? Our creative and commercial director, Chloe, has penned her thoughts.

More Office Downsizing

Over the last few years, the work from home trend has slowly become the new norm. As a result many business owners in 2022 will question how much office space they need, and re-evaluate how their people will want to work.

According to recent research by Jabra, 53% of employees expect to work from home for one or two days a week. If you plan to make this a viable option for your people, your office could soon find itself with empty desks and more space. For many employers, especially those looking to cut office rental costs, this is a perfect opportunity.

However, while some employees may like the convenience of working from home, others may miss the social aspect of office work. It is worth reconsidering what the purpose of your office truly is… Is it simply a place for people to come in and bash on keyboards, or is it a space for collaboration, socialisation and mentoring? If you find that more people are looking for a place to collaborate, consider developing more spaces that encourage this.

The most important part, before you commit to downsizing, is to make sure you catch up with your team and see what they want their working arrangements to look like. You might find that you’re jumping the gun.

Personally driven CPD

With remote working rising, workers are becoming more distanced from their leaders, this means that individuals will need to take more ownership over their own development. Especially if they work from home and are not in front of the people who will influence their career development on a daily basis.

With this in mind, it’s likely that we’ll see a shift towards tools that will help employees focus on themselves. Online courses from sites such as Coursera and Udemy will help workers to take CPD into their own hands.

Return of In-Person Meetings

MS Teams and other video conferencing tools have proven to be a useful and productive way of conducting process meetings. However, the problem arises when people need to collaborate, innovate or meet socially to improve team bonding.

In 2022, thanks to (hopefully) relaxing Covid restrictions, WFH fatigue and, to a certain extent, office FOMO, the desire for face to face meetings will increase. We are, after all, social beings and will need these interactions to benefit our health and wellbeing.

Growth of Online Collaboration Tools

In order to complement the face to face and video interactions managers already have in place with their team. We will likely see an increased use of online tools that will help managers to develop and coordinate their remote teams

Tools such as Google Calendar, Trello and Asana will sort the week, plan and create monthly, quarterly and yearly meetups to increase team bonding and share information. While online brainstorming tools such as Miro will bring many of the same benefits that face to face brainstorming does. With the added benefit of including remote teams and individuals.

With all this in mind, it is important to remember that, especially over the last few years, nothing is for certain!

Our predictions can only take us so much of the way, but the only way to truly prepare for the future is to invest in your employees’ wellbeing and happiness. This should start with a consultative approach with your team to ask questions and gain feedback to truly discover what they need to work at their very best.

At Blueprint Interiors, we’re here to help you do just that! By designing and creating people-first office spaces that will foster strong, healthy and collaborative teams, that are ready to take on whatever the future holds.

Get in touch with us today and see how we can help you.