Missing Office Life? Here Are Things To Look Forward To

In the wake of the pandemic and the recent surge of COVID-19 cases, employees in the Philippines are mandated to remain in their remote work environments. Many people have grown to love working from home – the flexibility, comfort, and elimination of travel being big perks. 

While there are undeniable benefits of working from home, there are several pre-pandemic things that are also missed. Greeting your colleagues a cheerful good morning, quick pantry chats, intense huddles and brainstorming sessions, and just a general sense of doing your daily routine and feeling productive about it.

With the COVID-19 cases slowly lowering down and more people get fully-vaccinated, there will come a day when employees will return to the office. And that may be a good thing!  

In fact, there are many evidence-backed reasons why you can look forward to returning to the office once the government deems it safe to do so.  

Here are 6 benefits to working from an office you may have taken for granted before: 

Team building & Work Culture  

An organization is a collective entity, and team spirit and work culture are the two defining characteristics of every company. While not outright impossible, working remotely poses challenges to team building. Brainstorming sessions yield better outcomes when employees can interact and collaborate face-to-face; mimicking a productive white-boarding meeting online can be difficult. Productive meetings where lots of ideas are generated boost team spirit and create a sense of belonging. 

It is also easier for employees to absorb the company culture if they are physically present in an office. Work parties and culture-building activities are both more accessible and more enjoyable in an in-person environment. 

Improved Work-Life Balance 

Working from home can post serious threats to work-life balance because the line between work environments and your personal life is often blurred. Commuting to and from a separate office building helps to form boundaries between rest and work. This can also increase productivity because there are designated hours to work hard, relax well, and prevent working too late or taking too many breaks. 

While we are still on remote office setup, it’s important to learn how to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

In-Person Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer 

When employees are in the office, some of the best collaboration and knowledge transfer often occurs throughout many short, informal conversations – i.e., popping into a colleague’s office or seeing someone in the break room. But working from home requires that every interaction is scheduled or takes place over instant messenger, making people less likely to ask quick questions or share something they just learned informally.  

Additionally, working from the office enables moments of uncertainty that can help move projects along. For example, you might run into a colleague while thinking about a problem and ask a question that leads to a new and surprising solution. Or you notice a colleague struggling with a task and provide tips that save a lot of time. We may not miss those moments when they’re not happening, but they can have a significant positive impact on our individual success and the company’s success. 

Increased Sense of Purpose 

Spending time with colleagues in the office reinforces the joint mission that everyone shares as part of the company. Goal contagion is a phenomenon wherein observing other people’s actions, you often adopt the same goals (Markman, 2021). Being around a group of people working toward a common mission reinforces that shared goal, and when people feel connected to the mission of their organization, it improves overall satisfaction with their work. 

Even during the pandemic, you can still instill a sense of purpose in your career path.

Socialization 

Loneliness is a huge drawback of working from home. Prior to the pandemic, the office was more than a place to work — it was where relationships were formed. A LinkedIn study on working relationships shows that 46% of professionals worldwide believe that work friends are integral to their overall happiness, thus helping to boost productivity and engagement levels (Feldman, 2021). For now, co-workers must do their best to stay connected through Zoom meetings and virtual happy hours, but many look forward to forming closer bonds in the office once again. 

As the pandemic continues to pose serious threats to our society as a whole, enjoying the benefits of work-from-home is a way to remain positive and stay sane.  

However, one day work-from-home will no longer be mandated – and there are real reasons to be excited to return to the office.