Over the past decade we’ve witnessed the rise of co-working and a proliferation of flexible office environments, however, during lockdown a whole range of new workspace models has begun to emerge to satisfy post-COVID office needs. We’ve seen new models introduced around safety and convenience, such as lower density workspaces and occupancy sensors that accurately track the density in given areas in real-time, plus businesses providing dedicated workspaces for teams to get together on one-two days a week and then dissipate to work remotely.

Cast your mind back across your career and you can probably identify a series of seminal moments that were key to your success, whether that was receiving words of advice from a wise colleague; watching an inspiring leader in action; or having a chance conversation at the water cooler that opened a door to the future.

One of the biggest challenges in the shift to remote working is the ability to mentor employees. Employees are no longer able to learn by observing peers and seniors in the physical workplace, and tens of thousands of people have started new jobs or changed roles during lockdown having never met their work colleagues. Whilst induction and training programmes can be carried out successfully online, there is no substitute for the physical workplace to build relationships, mentor talent and enable employees to learn from their peers.

When your office is at home and your team is dotted all over the place, it does make it more challenging to demonstrate successful leadership. The rudiments of leadership, from setting and communicating a strategy, to motivating your team to perform and deliver on that strategy, and measuring success, are being tested and reworked.

Lockdown has given us all time to reflect on what the keys to workplace success might be in the post-COVID world and which qualities we need as leaders to navigate the crisis. According to a recent survey conducted by Hall & Partners in collaboration with the Global Thinkers Forum, Saïd Business School and the Women of the Future programme the answer to those questions is one and the same thing: kindness.

When looking to host a meeting in London there are so many choices. What location is best? Does it have good transport links? What facilities are on offer? Are the rooms adequately sized? These are just some of the important factors to consider. So where do you start? 

We have put together our guide to choosing the best meeting rooms in London.

News of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine this week has brought a wave of optimism and hopes that in 2021 we will see a return to the office on either a permanent or hybrid basis. Attitudes to working from home may have been positive in the first lockdown, with McKinsey reporting at the start of June that 80% of people were enjoying it, but now we have come into the second lockdown, how are levels of job satisfaction faring for home workers?

The day office offers a back to work opportunity that is safe & private. But how does it compare with a dedicated desk?

A virtual office provides you with a business address without the physical office. What are the benefits of this?

Innovation in the physical workspace is something we are all familiar with. Get the right mix of people in the right environment with the right process and big ideas begin to flow. But how well does innovation work in the digital workplace? With the start of the second lockdown this is a key question for us all.

No doubt your CFO is delighted at the reduction in energy, telecom and office fit-out bills during lockdown. McKinsey cites real estate as ‘the largest cost category outside of compensation’ and estimates that its costs could be significantly reduced in a post-COVID world, with those moving to a fully virtual model nearly eradicating them entirely.