FortyTwo Studio – Apple or Orange?

What next?

As I was preparing a follow up to my recent blog on how 'reflection' will play its part as we move forward, something struck me. An obvious maybe but still important question:

What does a mix of home and studio working life actually mean?

There are those who believe that the majority of our time can be spent outwith a specific office space and set office hours. Conversely, there are those who are advocates of a collaborative space being central to a business's success? We all accept the reality will be within the extremes of this spectrum but what and how do we ensure it's the best fit for all?

There is a tendency in these situations to grab the middle ground - 2/3 days in/out of the studio seems to be a common theme among businesses - ours included? But for too long we've been force-fed simplistic views on what people want and what businesses demand - the truth is everyone you work with has different needs when it comes to work/life balance, there is no collective view.

Some like the flexibility of working from home and having the ability to get the work down outwith prescriptive working hours.

Whereas others prefer that work be set within certain parameters in their life - set times, set locations, where home life is entirely separate from their work commitments.

Ask a recent graduate, stuck working in their bedroom for months about the 'flexibility of working from home' - no amount of remote support from a team can replace all human interaction - an off the cuff kind word, a quick chat over the kettle, or catching the creative directors eye when in need of some inspiration.

However, for others, there are fewer distractions and far less commuting involved when you don't have to travel to work. I for one have been able to balance time with my family better now that I don't have to leave early or come home late - I am there, in the mess of it all.

This is about real people, with all our differences and idiosyncrasies - not merely avatars of 'workers' in the modern age.

Horses for courses.

Apples and oranges.

Can we leave it to the individual to decide how they find this balance? That would be a good start but when you are so reliant on teams working together, how does one individual's work/life decision affect others in the group? Some people work well within a team remotely, others need more human contact - such is the way of life. How do we address this as a team, reliant on each other's skills, commitments and interactions?

There is not one simple outcome, there is still so much to be learned and until we get on with it, we will not know the true impact this new way of working will have.

As a business owner, there are two simple things I have committed to:

• Talk to everyone in my team about what they need in this 'new normal' and treat them as an individual.
• Related to the above - I will rule nothing out. No preconceptions, no broad brushstrokes.

How we work has changed forever and none of our entrenched opinions are valid anymore. The future of our working life will be made by all of us - individual, demanding, resourceful, committed and flexible 'real' people. Apples AND oranges.