The COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten our way of life, our livelihoods and for some people their very existence. The majority of us have lived in a state of lockdown, with those of us that can working from home.
Now that the government is encouraging a cautious return to our offices, do we really need to?
One positive thing the lockdown has done has made people more aware that some forms of work can be done just as effectively outside of the office as it can inside. Previously I felt that having a dedicated office is absolutely necessary on the ground that it adds some form of validity to a company when scrutinized by prospective clients. What this terrible event has done, however, is opened everyone’s eyes to the fact that you do not always need an office to be effective at what you do providing you have an adequate IT infrastructure, good communication tools and the ability to communicate when necessary.
We are quite used to the idea of “freelancers” working in this mode, especially those in digital marketing / design. So why not engineering designers?
WDS’s clients are spread all around the country. We have established relationships with clients from Edinburgh to Southampton and from Bristol to Diss in Norfolk. When those clients communicate with me by email, telephone or by video conferencing I’m sure they consider my location to be irrelevant, provided I am available when they need me and as a team we are able to operate with full effectiveness.
Perhaps going forwards, we will see more acceptance of de-centralised consultancies? It will be interesting to see what happens to the market place for small business premises. Perhaps we will see more of a leaning towards managed offices that generally require a lesser commitment than leased premises, and with it a fall in the cost of leasing office space?
To find out more about our mechanical design and engineering services, call us now on Tel: +44 (0)1277 261066 or email us at info@warleydesign.co.uk