So, I went into the office...

It’s been six months since I received the fateful message that we would be working from home for a while. And, until Friday, I hadn’t been back - there was little reason to do so, as I’ve been as productive at home as I would be in an open-plan office and the restrictions on travel made it unnecessarily complex to try to get there.

But we’re due to move offices soon, and in order to ease the move, we’ve been asked to empty our personal lockers until the move is complete. And so, in order to get it over with, Ros and I set  off towards Ipswich on Friday morning.

I’d completed a risk assessment, confirmed that I didn’t feel as though I’d be forced to go back in, and had brought something to carry my possessions.

Our regular security guard was on duty, which was strangely reassuring, and asked how I was and how long I’d be in, before explaining some of the basic COVID-19 compliance rules for the building. And, with that, I set off to the lift lobby. Only one person is allowed in a lift at a time, as social distancing isn’t possible due to their size, but I didn’t have to wait.

It’s amazing the things that you forget when you’ve been away for a while - doorcodes being the most obvious one. Given that my memory is fuzzy if I’ve been away for a fortnight, six months was a bit challenging, but I was able to get onto my floor, which was empty of life.

I emptied my locker of a lifetime supply of pens, tea, coffee, stationery and all of the other stuff you accumulate over time - the model of a Melbourne tram is now sitting on my home office windowsill - before setting to work on organising the work records that I’ve got, putting it all in folders for ease of storage.

Surprisingly quickly, everything was done, and it was time to get out. It was, I have to admit, a slightly odd experience - you do become a bit institutionalised if you’ve been in the same building long enough - but I can’t say that I miss it particularly. There’s no doubt that there are a few things that are easier done in the office, but not that many, and open-plan offices do not necessarily aid concentration or, for that matter, encourage original thinking.

And so, we await news on what one might call “the future of work”. The pandemic has massively accelerated thinking in terms of where we need to be and when in order to deliver our responsibilities and management are probably running to keep up. How do you manage staff if you’re not able to physically oversee them? How do you ensure that your staff stay up to date? These, and many other questions require thought and sensitivity, and time is short.

Much to think about, I suspect...