The year 2020 has so far been like no other for any industry. Every business is rethinking its real estate needs, and with work-from-home arrangements becoming more viable, the COVID-19 pandemic is seen to have a profound effect on the market.
Companies will need flexibility and business continuity planning to be resilient. They will have to consider social distancing and sanitation measures. They need to consider the density, traffic flow and the safe use of common areas inside the building—all while ensuring the employees’ productivity and efficiency, and meeting their need for adequate spaces.It’s a tall order. L
ike any crisis, COVID-19 has revealed vulnerabilities that were always there such as the need for a healthy, hygienic and environmentally sustainable work place; the struggle of commute and transportation to and from the office; the need to digitize and make data driven decisions; the need to have office utilization metrics; and, the need for businesses and the real estate industry to review and optimize occupancy. We will need technology, proptech specifically, so we can have real time data to make decisions on how to handle crowd control in the office. Nothing I have mentioned is new, but now is the time to take it all seriously.
There is no real replacement for a physical space to foster workplace culture, communication and collaboration.
Human interactions
There is no real replacement for a physical space to foster workplace culture, communication and collaboration. Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and other technologies are very useful tools that fit alongside or within an office but physical space and human interaction will always be necessary. Human bonds are face to face. For me, technology sustains or maintains those bonds. Even as we adopt to new technologies like automation, robotics and AI in our offices, the “human in the loop,” physical contact, and interaction are not done away with.
In fact, they become even more important. There is nothing like face-to-face over FaceTime—we just have to find a way to do it safely.
Even as we adopt new technologies, the “human in the loop,” physical contact and interaction are not done away with.
Work-from-home solution
When the pandemic struck and the offices had emptied, KMC Solutions immediately thought of how it could pivot to meet the challenge.
It understood that a lack of human connection would make it difficult to collaborate, and do some serious harm to company culture. It saw that employees might have laptops but might be laying in their beds. Transferring data over unsafe connections was also a challenge. The company thus created a work-from-home solution called KMC CASA to address these concerns.
Basically, it wanted to provide adequate and well-designed workspace, solid internet connection, VPN and hardware if needed as well as access to the flexible office spaces that it has all over the Philippines. Collaborative space, training rooms, boardrooms are accessible. It’s in line with its hub-and-spoke model that allows for a distributed workforce. It’s something it sees as necessary as transportation is an issue in the transition back to work.
KMC Solutions is always listening hard for what clients need and trying to address that need in a creative way.
We will see a lot of changes in the next coming months, and likely a lot of volatility before we find some stability. I enjoy the convenience of working from home but I’ve always thought that you need a place to work that inspires you even if that is just aesthetically. It should be aspirational.