Love Your Workplace

A Quarter’s heartbeat is its community and a crucial part of that are the area’s workers. When you come into the area, even though it isn’t business as usual you can be forgiven for thinking it is, as it feels busy and lively with the hospitality sector’s doors open and plenty of people walking up and down Baker Street and beyond.

We’ve been busy putting measures in place to support the area and its workers including additional cleaning, queue markers and working with our partners to install additional cycle parking and outdoor dining spaces. Alongside virtual events and training that can be utilised from the workspace or from home. You can find out more about what we have been doing to support you here.

For many of us our working practices have changed, with many of us now working exclusively from home. In a recent article about working from the office, Nick Leslau of Property Week said the trend of not returning to the workplace was “something huge missing from our lives”. His sentiments were echoed by columnists Luke Johnson and Oliver Shah in The Sunday Times, both raising interesting points about the impact the decline in office working was having on London and the merits of doing business face-to-face.

Below are some key advantages of working in the workplace from Property Week and The Sunday Times alongside feedback we’ve received from conversations with our members and team.

1. Getting out and about is good for physical and mental health. It’s also good for separating work from home; to be able to leave the physical working day behind so you can meaningfully focus on friends and family when you get home.
2. Connecting with employees and staff is better in person, whether that’s interviewing new starters, giving appraisals or socialising after work. Plus, coaching the next generation of the workforce is now more important than ever with learning among colleagues in a real work environment key to development.
3. Problem solving, innovation and creative thinking can happen over Zoom; but in person the flow of conversation is easier. If you are all looking at a visual plan it is better to see it together, around a (socially distanced) table.
4. Accidently overhearing conversations in the workplace can spark new ideas, inform the direction of a project or create ties and links that you might not have thought of if working at home.
5. Existing business relationships can be maintained via the internet or phone, but in person you are able to discuss less formal matters and enjoy the more social aspects of business, for example, nipping out for a coffee or meal together which builds bonds. When you meet someone in person there is more space to find commonality and ways of working together.

We’d love to see more of you back in the Quarter at a time that’s right for you, although we realise this might not be for a few more months. You give the area an energy that makes it an attractive place for businesses to invest in, which leads to improved facilities, attractions and infrastructure alongside a thriving hospitality and cultural scene.

Whether you are in the workplace or working from home you can take part in our online workshops, training courses and Smarter Giving programmes to help you feel connected to the Quarter’s community, as well ordering online from our many shops, bars and restaurants.