In a telephone conversation recently I was asked if, after the pandemic is over and things return back to normal, what will normal look like? This is after I just confessed that while I have been the only one coming into the office (everyone else is working remotely) I have slowly expanded across everyone else’s workstations with sketches (yes, I still draw on paper too) material and product samples for active projects. With a chuckle, I said I guess I will have to clean up before everyone comes back. When asked if I would have everyone come back, my reply was yes, but not exactly as before. We were already familiar with the technology that allows staff to work remotely; we have several long-time associates who had moved away from the LA area and have remained part of our office thanks to the technology available. As a result, the transition to an almost 100% virtual office was pretty seamless.

Starting off, we thought like many people that a completely virtual practice would represent a bit of a compromise, and for sure, there are some things that are not quite as good when they are remote. Adjusting to the technology is a little more a of a challenge for some folks (really, mostly me—remember, the sketch on paper guy). Somewhat surprising had been the realization that some things are a little better as a result of the technology.

We have a small office (less than a dozen) so we decided right from the get-go to include everyone in a daily Skype meeting. We would touch on the big goals for the week, longer term efforts, and check in with teams to discuss progress and/or challenges of current work. What I found was that we got a higher level of participation from everyone, more than we did when we were all in the same space, having an in-person staff meeting. I think partly because we have these meetings more often than we did in person. But people did become more aware of the projects that they were not working on and tended to have generally helpful comments, where as before, we either didn’t have the meeting (and there was not as much eavesdropping  on other project teams as I had thought) or participation in the meeting filled a need to be part of the larger group that wasn’t so apparent when everyone was in the office already. Several projects definitely benefited from the greater engagement that came with the virtual meetings.

Of course, collaborating with our consulting partners has long been accomplished remotely. Software has been evolving to make that more efficient and effective for some time now. The truth is that the current conditions gave everyone perhaps a much needed push to both utilize that software and demand better performance from it, something to which the software developers have responded. Another benefit has been that it is easier to schedule virtual meetings with the individuals comprising very busy and ever more complex client groups.

For our staff, staying at home endlessly, sharing workspace and access to the internet with working spouses and kids in school has certainly been a challenge, but it has had some benefits as well. Not commuting is of course a highlight for many. And let’s not overlook the reduction in our carbon footprint as a result.

One thing of which we have become aware is that everyone’s circumstances are unique to some degree, and the impact of working remotely affects people in different ways. When we return to normal (whatever that is), it will probably acknowledge those differences more than the old paradigm of everyone coming to the office everyday, even if it was to work independently at your desk all day and then go home. It is likely that we will take advantage of the technology to allow people who thrive working remotely to do so, at least part of the time, and also have a place for people who do better in the studio environment. We may never buy another desktop computer but instead issue laptops to everyone that they can dock at an office workstation a couple days a week when they come in and at home when they are working there.

I think the office will become more of a support resource for both inhouse and remote work. Our product library will still live here, along with layout space to assemble sample boards, physical models (yes we do that too), as will meeting and space for project teams and office staff when we need it. For me, I have found that the combination of current software and being at what has become command central, has allowed me to participate in and maintain a close watch on the progress of the work. As architects, we are of course biased toward the benefits of place and the positive impact that has on community building and esprit de corps, but just because we are biased doesn’t mean we are not correct about that. And we are also not blind to the obvious, and sometimes unexpected benefits technology and software can provide. A hybrid model actually seems as if it will be an improvement in both the accomplishment of the work and the quality of life for many of our colleagues. So maybe the pandemic has had a little bit of a silver lining after all.