Home office fuels productivity
May 27, 2020
Quocirca’s latest snapshot Home Printing Study found 75% of UK home workers stated that their productivity levels stayed the same or increased, with just under half reporting increased productivity.
As lockdown restrictions begin to be lifted, the conversation is shifting toward what the future office will look like, or indeed if staff need to return to offices at all.
According to Quocirca, a permanent transition to a hybrid work model is likely, with organisations staggering the days employees are in the office or offering more flexible levels of attendance. Consequently, many large offices will be operating below capacity.
Quocirca’s November 2019 Global Print 2025 Study shows the pandemic has accelerated what the research indicated would have been an inevitable transformation in workplaces by 2025. 42% of respondents said that they expected the physical office would only be used as an occasional meeting point by 2025, while 65% stated that flexible working would force a rethink of company culture.
The study also found that businesses were already recognising the value of collaborative technologies, with almost 60% reporting that it was likely that face-to-face meetings and interactions would decline.
For print suppliers, the transition to a hybrid working environment, with a greater proportion of home workers, offers both challenges and opportunities, Quocirca added.
Businesses will have to make substantial changes in the workplace to ensure the health and safety of their employees. Indeed, as workers start to return to the office, they will be faced with social distancing and changes to communal and breakout spaces. To limit the spread of infection, the latest UK Government guidance recommends limiting or restricting use of high-touch items and shared equipment such as printers.
There are several considerations when it comes to revaluating office printing, according to Quocirca. Will the MFP, once the central hub of the office, be behind closed doors? How can printer suppliers change to enable touch-free printing? Can vendors ensure cloud-based print management platforms, mobile printing or workflow-enhancing apps are as low touch as possible? Or, should print suppliers be conducting fresh audits, looking at whether a shift back to a distributed, as opposed to centralised, model is required and consider if personal printers are the future, at least in part?
Quocirca said that in this new normal, print vendors and their partners will need to steer their businesses forward by adjusting their products and services to address the changing printing and imaging needs of customers and the health guidelines imposed on them by governments.
Categories : Around the Industry
Tags : Home office Market Research Quocirca
