The traditional office is dead say leaders

Business has always been told it deserves offices, and that the traditional office with its lack of privacy, constant distractions and interruptions is actually good for everyone. That it boosts productivity, happiness and facilitates the sharing of ideas and reaching business goals.

But what if the traditional office isn’t the answer?

The question of whether flexible working is good for business is one that receives a wide variety of answers – depending on who you ask of course. Especially as many leaders continue to worry about the impact flexible working could have on company culture and control.

With this in mind we sought to find out what leaders really thought of the traditional office. A recent study, conducted with 100 leaders of small UK tech startups and creative agencies, found that on the whole they believe the demise of the traditional office is happening.

When we asked if they thought everyone doesn’t need to be together all the time to work together, 87 per cent of respondents said they agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. This figure suggests that leaders are more comfortable with the idea of giving employees more freedom thanks to technology enabling fragmented teams to work seamlessly together. Our survey also unveiled the fact that virtual team working has given 67 per cent of organisations’ the competitive edge in the market.

This is something Simon Bracken, co-founder and managing director of automated coffee machine company, Scanomat, relates to: “We don’t have an office at all as it went out of necessity three years ago when we found ourselves becoming a really efficient business without it. For us, an office is a distraction that takes us away from our customers. We aren’t tied to an infrastructure, we’re very nimble, and for us that works.”

To read about the other findings from the survey, download our report: Why leaders are crying out for a 4th Office.