Following the UK Government’s Roadmap for getting back to work, The Momentum Group believes the modern office will be more important than ever and has a vital role to play post lockdown, says Chris Renshaw, Co-Founder and Director at The Momentum Group, which is predicting that many people are Zoomed out and will be glad to get back to work in, what many have called, the UK’s Friendliest City where people prefer social interaction to social isolation.
Chris says, “We’ve been talking to clients and in short, reports about the ‘death of the office’ are a little premature, particularly across the Liverpool City Region, where the office is seen as a place to build relationships as well as to get work done.
Therapist Karl Rollison agrees “video conferencing tools like Zoom have been great, but there is no substitute for casual encounters in the hallway or by the coffee maker from a psychological perspective.
Working from home can make it hard to build a culture and employees tend to feel more productive when they feel a sense of purpose and belonging which fosters a culture of pride.” There is also the issue of work/life separation and many prefer home to be the place where they relax.
The Momentum Group is a family of businesses and prides itself on working in close partnership with clients and fostering a collaborative culture. One client the Momentum Group works closely with is Gill Taylor, Chief Transformation Officer of the Appreciate Group which is committed to creating moments of joy for customers, partners and colleagues as part of its company purpose.
Gill explains, “face to face working is great for strengthening relationships and building rapport. We worked with The Momentum Group to create a new office environment in Chapel Street, Liverpool, creating an open design where colleagues can feel connected to each other. We were delighted to win the “Best working environment and workplace Design” at the 2020 Business Culture Awards showcasing the efforts we made in ensuring the best workplace for our colleagues and one we know they will want to come back to post lockdown”
Both The Appreciate Group and The Momentum Group encouraged colleagues to communicate and collaborate with others outside their immediate job functions which have helped drive collaborative working that can be more challenging when people work remotely.
Momentum also shares the same philosophy about a physical space. In spite of the pandemic, they pressed on with an investment in new physical office space in Liverpool City Centre. They too transformed the workplace into an area of break out places, informal meeting areas and catering facilities where clients and colleagues can interact and enjoy social time rather than being isolated at home. To reassure everyone the office has also been future proofed providing 2m social distancing markers on the custom-made carpet. You can view our office build here.
Chris Renshaw concludes, “we know our City, we know our colleagues and we know our clients and we’re confident they will enjoy collaborating safely face to face again in the future and enjoying the new space we have invested in.”