The checklist for making it attractive to come to the office

Based on the challenges of the home office, here's the checklist for creating a physical workplace that employees love.

In our article "Does the office not measure up to the home office?" we laid the foundation for thinking of the office as a holistic experience that facilitates great results and contributes to job satisfaction - especially in light of the fact that the office has a "competitor": the home office.

The checklist for creating a great workplace

The most successful companies manage to address and stage the potential negative consequences of working from home. Simply because the open dialog contributes to the employees themselves coming up with good input on how the office experience and the home office can be improved.

• The brain doesn't know whether to work or take time off. The human brain associates activities with the place where they are performed. If you work from the couch, the brain will have trouble relaxing on sofas as it remains in work mode. This is one of the reasons why it's best to avoid working from bed, and this also applies if you have emails on your phone.

• Lack of variety in everyday life is often cited as one of the downsides of working from home. In a caricature, the employee gets out of bed in the morning, walks ten steps to "the office" and at the end of the day, another ten steps to the couch. Home doesn't offer the randomness and dynamism of the office. As a result, one day is likely to look like the next.

• Eating in front of the computer is the new lunch break. This is a huge problem as the brain doesn't get the much-needed break it needs to perform optimally when working. In addition, lunch is one of the office activities that helps to bond and build relationships. 'Catching up' is important for bonding, and a healthy and varied diet from the office canteen or lunch program is often healthier than quick fixes at home or on the go.

• The home office lacks perks. Some companies are good at providing employees with perks to take home. But these are often only companies that prioritize working from home. And that's still a far cry from the level of service a world-class office can deliver to its employees. For example, where is the good coffee, the always varied snacks, the cake of the week, the fitness room, the Tuesday masseuse or the table tennis table (and the one to play with) if you're working from home?

• It's hard to celebrate anything from the home office. Whether it's a successful project delivery, a sale, or high employee satisfaction to celebrate, it's hard to create a great atmosphere over Zoom or Teams. The office common areas and a beer crate to stand on are just better for creating a team spirit.

• The social dimension of the home workplace lags behind. We are social creatures and we need connection and affirmation. Despite the abundance of digital meetings, the social dimension of the home office can still feel lonely. The brain simply lacks the social stimuli that a cool office provides.

• For many, working from home offers longer effective working hours than office days. However, team dynamics are limited to the possibilities of digital tools. So in the long run, sitting at home is not optimal. But if tasks require full focus and concentration, it can be good once in a while.

• No distractions is often an argument for working from home, but not everyone agrees with that argument. It may very well be that no one stops by the site from time to time with questions. But sometimes it's nice to be disturbed a little. And besides, you're unlikely to be disturbed no matter where you're sitting, now they just come in the form of Teams or Slack messages. And families with children also have kids coming home from school etc.

• Everyday life without random clashes over coffee or chats around the lunch table damages the network across departments. When all meetings are digital and controlled by a calendar, it's positive that everything is purpose-driven. On the other hand, employees lose some of the communication between meetings. It's usually the small talk at the coffee machine where you really get to know people.

• The home workplace is often not optimal. This is not necessarily because the employee doesn't have a height adjustable desk, but because they don't always use their home office. The kitchen, the bed and the couch are tempting, and unfortunately they win more often than you think.

• Lack of breaks or fresh air. Studies show that the home office unfortunately has a rather negative impact on how good we are at taking necessary breaks and getting some fresh air.

• The home office is usually quite cozy, but the flip side can be that home chores "look" at you while you work - and that stresses you either consciously or unconsciously.

Informing employees about the importance of having a dedicated workstation free from stressors like the laundry basket or dust bunnies on the floor also makes them aware of all the things they don't have to think about while working in the office.

Starting with the negative aspects of the home office, the best companies have made the following efforts to make the office competitive with the home office.

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Attractive initiatives

• Create a goal and strategy for the office and a policy and guide on working from home (find inspiration at Zapier). Share it with employees and make a big deal about "why" the policy is the way it is. Be open about why and when presence in the office is preferred. Put it into perspective on how presence affects the community and makes it easier for new employees to build relationships.

• Free lunch. Everyone who is actively signed up for today's lunch gets it for free. Those who have forgotten to sign up still get lunch, just not for free. Make sure you choose aflexible lunch program with a digital app for sign-ups and registrations.

• Provide the option of take-home food at a favorable price. Working from home saves time spent on transportation, so let the office save time on shopping and cooking.

• Introduce meeting boxes. One benefit of the home office is peace and focus. This can also be created in the office with plenty of places like meeting or phone booths. meeting boxes or phone booths where you can work in peace and quiet.

• Give noise canceling headsets to everyone who says they come to the office more than twice a week and introduce a "headset = do not disturb" policy.

• Make something of your celebrations. Let an event agency organize the monthly Friday bar or the next product launch. It's cheaper than you think and the effect on employee satisfaction is often underestimated.

Excellent efforts

• Execute on employee input. Introduce a "service desk" for employee requests for the office. Communicate every time something has been fixed. Drop emails. You can't analyze or collaborate on them. Instead, use e.g. trello or an office management platform.

• Make sure there's a reason to get up from your seat so there's a chance to mingle. Have a fruit, snack or beverage scheme. It may seem trivial, but the walk from your desk to where the fruit or healthy snacks are can be a nice break. Plus, it's healthy.

• Create common areas that invite for breaks or mini meetings. For example. Two high-backed "meeting sofas" by the coffee machine accompanied by some healthy snacks.

• Upgrade the office with a plant service. It benefits the indoor climate enormously, creates calm and (it is said) reduces stress.

Fundamental efforts

• Make sure your office is clean and keeps up with demand. Get a 2nd opinion on your cleaning plan from Officeguru.

• Zero tolerance for eye poop. Boards that are not hung up and other small items that are broken must be eradicated. Make a to-do list and hire ahandyman.

• Never compromise on a good indoor climate. Order an indoor climate check and post a sign with the office's results so everyone knows the focus is on it.

• Remove wires under desks. You'll be surprised how much better it looks to get the wires out from under the worktops.

• Fix the workstations with brackets. Yes, I personally have a bit of OCD in this area, but it's so inviting when the tables aren't stacked up.