In the years we’ve been open and hosting remote workers and small business owners at our Bentonville locations, we’ve experienced some seismic shifts in work habits. Some brought on by Covid, some made necessary by Walmart, and some are specific to each individual. That said, there’s also a lot that hasn’t changed. Following, some of our observations from around NWA Workplaces.
Most people stick to their old work habits.
A great majority of workers today had a more traditional office experience before COVID, one that hadn’t changed in decades. And despite the disruptions to “the way we’ve always done it”, once things settled down, they found themselves structuring their workflow and habits much the same as they always had, but with a few optimizations. For instance, whereas in the past, life stopped immediately to reply to emails, now we're noticing “disclaimers” in the auto-signature. Things like “This email was sent when it was convenient for me. Please respond at your own convenience”, and frankly, we’re here for it.
Most are traditionalists when it comes to the clock.
Most Members come in at 8 or 9. Based on the beeps coming from the microwave, most stop for lunch at noon. And by 5:00, this place is a ghost town.
Today’s office would still be easily recognizable to someone from 20+ years ago:
Computer? Check.
Printer: Check.
File Sorter or In-Out box? Check.
File Cabinet? Check
Desk and Chair? Check
Paper Planner? Check
Of course there are some variances to these: Desks may be standing now, making chairs obsolete. The computer is more often than not a laptop with one or two extra monitors.
It takes a while to go through a ream of paper.
Some fields use more than others, namely Law and Real Estate.
Three-day weekends abound.
We’re noticing that while most members stick to a traditional work day when they’re here, when they’re not, the time away from work is longer.
Vacations are longer.
And not just 5 days bookended by two weekends, either. It’s two full work-weeks, and sometimes 3. A month in the summer? The Europeans do it and things still get done. Lock up from Thanksgiving until the new year? One local HQ did that at Frontage, and when they returned, the whole team was refreshed and ready to attack the New Year.
What changes have you noticed in your own workplace? We’d love to hear about it!
As a reminder, we have meeting rooms, phone pods, small individual offices, larger team offices, cubicles, and open-area desks suitable for sole-proprietors, remote teams, local HQs, and WFH folks who need something more structured. Use the button to hit us up anytime!