Does an office still figure in your life?

The inevitable question that arose with the evolution of our online-and everywhere networked digital world was: Do we still need an office for all of this?

Enthusiasts swiftly embraced the liberating possibilities, logging on from the spare bedroom, the kitchen table and the beach house. The wider business world followed more tentatively. But clearly the traditional office way of life is being superseded.

The Dentons board has long supported a flexible approach to working – fluid start and finish times, part-time, nine-day fortnights, structuring days flexibly – and in 2019 the company undertook a wide-angle review of those arrangements, asking how they might sit with the future of work.

Flexibility in work arrangements was a key consideration, both for candidates looking to join and for people already on board.

With that in mind at the beginning of 2020, just before Covid-19 hit, two new policies, Flexible Work and Remote Working, open to all staff regardless of role, were introduced.

The outbreak then became a pandemic, offering the biggest possible field trial and putting the potential for adoption of new arrangements into high gear. The board and management believed the company was in a strong position with the necessary technology to support its workforce, wherever they were locked down.

Sure enough, the return to the office after the first lockdown saw a huge uplift in flexible and remote working arrangements. It had a significant impact on work practices. Like everyone, we were not returning to the same workplace we left.

Hybrid working will suit some people and not others – some work remotely all of the time, some are in the office all of the time and others come in a couple of days a week. Policies were amended after looking at it in the light of lived experience rather than theory.

A large number of individual, flexible and remote working arrangements are in place. People are able to decide on the most effective working arrangement in discussion with their partner/manager.

An ongoing challenge to providing flexibility is ensuring consistency of approach across the business.

A large focus has been on the ability to manage, engage and build a positive culture, regardless of team members’ physical locations.

There is no question that collaboration technologies have played a big part in making this run smoothly. When you are managing hybrid teams, connection and inclusivity really matter. Partners and managers have been given additional training to help support them to manage their hybrid arrangements.

Not only has the past two years changed where people work, but also how they work. Teams and team members are being more purposeful in making the most of the opportunities when coming into the office, including social engagement and collaboration with their team.

Overall, the hybrid work arrangement has been a positive evolution. Dilemmas remain, however:

1. Learning and development can be impeded

For junior solicitors, access and accessibility to senior members of their team is very important. The office setting provides the ability to learn by osmosis, easily ask questions, hear informal discussions and connect with the team in a way that a remote connection cannot.

2. Collaboration may become stilted in certain settings

It can be difficult to manage meetings when there is a mix of in-person and remote attendance. Meeting leaders with sufficient skill and flexibility will be able to take this in their stride, but some adaptation can be required. Key to this is collaboration, leaders communicating, sharing insights and learning off each other’s experiences.

3. A blurred boundary can be bad for your wellbeing

Although the flexibility and choice that remote working can offer around your routine and how you manage their work can be highly beneficial, it can equally harm wellbeing if the line between work and home life is not effectively managed and becomes blurred.

Over the past two years there has been a real focus on providing mental health support and information to our workforce. We have also increased our focus on wellbeing programmes and initiatives.

CEO Charles Spillane has stressed the importance of keeping an open mind.

He says it is difficult to know what the workplace will look like over the next few years; that we know hybrid work is fast becoming a new expectation of the workforce; and we will keep assessing the landscape to help inform our approach to flexible and remote working.

It is important for directors and boards to remember that the world is still emerging from a transformational period, and that they could be helping management to think critically about the development and execution of their return-to-work plans.

That starts with understanding the workforce challenges, in a post pandemic world, so they can ask the right questions and act as a sounding board. That will help determine what approach to take to flexible and remote working and what systems, procedures and policies need to be in place to support the approach.

For some businesses, this may be a greater investment in technology, reconsidering office layouts or updating processes and operating procedures to reflect a hybrid workforce.

Meanwhile, the firm’s overall productivity over the past two years has increased. And management is enthusiastic to see what else can be achieved in a remote-but-still connected world.