Ghost offices and lifeless business districts appeared around the globe as a consequence of compulsory home office. What about all those square meters left behind empty?

Let’s Take One Step Back. In the past years, many companies, not only startups, have joined the remodeling vibe. We have created cool office floors from hipster to sophisticated high-tech interior designs. This movement has created some incredibly looking work environments with a range of ”I don’t wanna go home” perks.

And here comes the controversy: If we are provided with morning-to-night treats and we feel productive and creative in our office, the line between our working and private lives are blurred. Now, the blurred lines moved to our homes. Leaving behind all the designer spaces with the fringe benefits and tech, we are using home office space. The COVID-19 pandemic has ignited changes in office space management that seem to be lasting. Deciding what to do with the office space, the companies are calculating very carefully.

The Re-opening of the Economy Is Stirring Two Possible Directions

1. Strict guidelines are requiring social distance between the desks. This is asking for expanded office space as the desks eat up more square meters and more fixed costs budget.

2. Another scenario is dictated by such giants as Twitter, Facebook, Google, Shopify, who are talking about possibly working from home forever.  In these cases, the office space could be significantly reduced with extremely high savings on the side of the fixed costs. A clever way to turn the negative world event to an advantage.

The concept in point 2. triggers the review and evaluation of processes in yet another area. HR leaders suddenly care for employees scattered in tens of hundreds of individual homes. They can’t afford to have paper-based or lame systems. An Anytime Anywhere Time and Attendance Tool is becoming crucial. New work culture asks for a unified, complex, yet user-friendly system.

Ok, Home Office Is a New Normal. How do We Manage the Time Tracking?

One specific task is managing time and absence records and data. How are the leaders going to monitor productivity, effectivity, office desk rotation, flexibleand days of partially working in the office and from home? Various vendors have already developed tools which support a home office and hot desk rotation work style. For example, Time Tracking Mobile Application serves as a virtual terminal. Practically, your people carry it everywhere in their smartphone. 

1. Start and Stop buttons to record the work time is a basic function.

2. Project Time Tracking function is a must for many types of business and consultancies.

3. Location Monitoring module is now in higher demand. Not as much to micromanage or harass your employees. Rather, for better planning and efficient project management, the team leaders need a real-time overview of who is at the home office and who is in the office. With a simple flag system, some apps allow you to categorize various working locations.

Such applications have proven to give an add-on aspect. The Project Time Tracking function can be used as a communication tool to keep the project work under control from all corners of the extended offices. Predefined activities and tasks for each team give an excellent overview of what has been done, by whom, and when. This lightweight type of management system incorporated directly into the time and attendance system could be exactly the right setup for the home office culture.

How many CEOs and Business owners will turn such changes to their advantage? At XperienceHR we are keeping an eye on successful case studies and trends. More food for thought coming soon!