How The Pandemic Has Changed Workplaces

To say that the workplace, as we’ve known it, has evolved into a brand new beast would be an understatement. Offices and workspaces being shut down for public health emergencies forced companies to find alternative ways to keep business chugging along. As workers settled into their new home offices, a new trend has emerged: BYOE, Bring Your Own Environment.

BYOE is a spin-off of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), a workplace trend that has existed in the cultural zeitgeist for a little over ten years now. The idea is that rather than just bringing your laptop to work, you bring your own personal environment with you as a means of increasing production. Being forced to work remotely allowed people to create what they consider to be a motivational space. 

A “motivational space,” could be a mini-office on the kitchen counter as the kids run amok, sprawled out on the family dining table, or a set up in the backyard shed with the intoxicating smell of dirt (outdoorsy folks will know what I mean). Whatever it was, the stay-at-home mandates gave workers an opportunity to make their workspaces their own. 

Rather than bringing silly little tchotchkes and knick-knacks to the office (Nobody thinks your Harry Potter-themed Funko dolls are cute, Karen), workers bring speakers, gaming systems, even LEGO sets to their workspace to make their office seem less… office-y… for lack of a better word. 

We may find in the coming years that the more successful businesses were not the ones racing to get everyone back in the office but rather reimagined how they operated. If workers are happier and more productive in an environment other than the office, why would an employer stop them? 

A happy employee is a productive employee. An unhappy employee…well… might be adding a “B” to that BYOE (if you’re picking up what I’m throwing down). 

There’s also much to suggest that this is the way we will operate in the future. Thanks to the internet, we can connect with someone on the other end of the planet in a moment. With that level of convenience, it’s less necessary than ever to work in an office setting. If someone in London can collaborate with another in Ho Chi Minh City in a moment, why can’t Jeff and Susie work on emails from the comfort of their homes? 

There are, of course, practical considerations to keep in mind. Security, for instance, needs to adapt to these various environments. It won’t be enough for IT teams to secure a worker’s personal device from malware, they will have to consider home security systems, baby monitors, and whatever their kid is doing on their devices (we see you, Billy, get off Fortnite). But these are simple adaptations that can be implemented over time. 

As long as employees are able to connect, and as our technology evolves even further, we will probably see an entirely new method of working. We’ve already made significant changes over the years in terms of office culture. Collaborative workspaces, such as WeWork, have set the tone for a new kind of office. Gone are the days of Office Space and all that cubicle crap. No need to pin that “Hang In There” kitty on your wall. Workers have had a taste of freedom and we love it. 

In short, don’t just bring your own device, bring your own environment! BYOE, baby!

What began as a forced situation has evolved into an innovative theory on the workplace as we know it. Opportunity is what you make of it. It’s a total cliche, but, when life gives you lemons… make lemonade. In this chaotic case of pandemic lemons, we’ve made workspace lemonade. 

And it tastes so, so sweet.