NORDICUM
Real Estate Annual Finland
Office = Culture
Remote working keeps spreading, as more and more professionals book’ home days’ on their calendars – or, perhaps, go to an inspiring downtown café to finally write down that report that’ s over-due. The employers are no dummies: they’ ve noticed that a warm body by the desk is no guarantee of peak productivity. Instead of counting heads, smart organisations measure results – who cares where the employee sits, if he / she gets the job done in time?
The designers of the“ future office” concepts are taking notice of the workforce that is increasingly as mobile as the technology they wield – but how exactly can you compete with this trend?
It is true that the Taylorist principle of the 1920’ s still prevails in many an office – and you will see modern-day worker bees in rows, punching the keys of their type writers, sorry, computers. However, the zeitgeist is strongly favouring things like modern ergonomics and Activity Based Workplace( ABW). We are witnessing a development where more and more companies are starting to really think about their office spaces. Why do we have them? What is it that we actually DO at the office? In the wake of these questions, we start to change the role of the office.
Connectivity is the game-changer; there is no need to go to the office at all, unless it somehow benefits the work. The office – as depicted in the visions of so many experts today – is a social hub where you can connect with you colleagues: share a coffee, start a conversation and get inspired by something that you never thought of before. It may be that the office is no longer the place where you are the most productive, either. So what’ s the point of having an office?
Actually, companies big and small are already noticing that remote working comes with its drawbacks. For example, if your people are all spread out in the world, it’ s just a bunch of individuals, with no real corporate identity. Now, more than ever before, we need the office to establish, promote and maintain your company culture. It’ s the office becoming personal.
Simply put: office is a way of showing ourselves and our business partners who we are. You could even say that it’ s a window into the soul of the company. And it’ s up to us to make sure that window doesn’ t get fogged up from all the hype.
Sami J. Anteroinen Editor-at-Large
Publisher PubliCo Oy Pälkäneentie 19 A FI-00510 Helsinki Finland Phone + 358 20 162 2200 info @ publico. com www. publico. com
Editor-in-Chief Jussi Sinkko
Editorial Coordinator Liisa Hyvönen
Project Manager Paul Charpentier
Contributors Merja Kihl Ari Mononen Sami J. Anteroinen Lutz Ehrhardt
Language Editor Dialog Designs
Graphic Design Riitta Yli-Öyrä
Sales Finland Mr. Paul Charpentier Phone + 358 20 162 2220 Sweden Mr. Johan Lindberg Phone + 358 20 162 2280 Germany Mr. Lutz Ehrhardt Phone + 49 40 367 311
Cover Photo Ari Talusen
Printed by PunaMusta, January 2017
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ISSN-L 1236-3839 ISSN 1236-3839( Print) ISSN 2242-9603( Online)
www. nordicum. com
PubliCo Oy is a member of The Finnish Periodical Publisher’ s Association
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