Zoom Meetings are Great but We’re Not Throwing in the Towel on our Dream Office Space

by Planit Canada President, Peter Mate

I’ve always been an optimist. During these crazy times, it’s no different. I’m right in the middle of the permit process in order to break ground on our dream office space. Am I crazy? I don’t think so. There’s one thing I know for sure… We as humans will always perform better, together. Sure, video conferencing, calls, chats and all other forms of remote collaboration work, but I believe that humans are meant to be together. From the day we are born, we seek physical interaction. We continue to seek it for the rest of our lives. With the people we love the most, we get together to celebrate, to mourn, to love, to laugh and to console. It’s how we’re wired.

Work is no different. We perform our best work when we are together, and I don’t see this changing. Sure, right now, we are on pause. This part will change. There will be a day at some point where we will be able to get back together. When that day comes, we will have an amazing office space to do what we do best: collaborate.

Right now, our team is working from home. We are not forcing anyone back to the office, but when the time is right and we all feel comfortable, getting back together will feel good. The impromptu chats by the coffee machine, the Monday morning weekend storytelling, the group lunches will all come back.

When that time comes, our new office space will have many awesome features for our team to live their best professional lives. We’ll have a bike rack with a small fleet of bikes that will encourage our team to go for a bike ride or take that meeting to the local park on a sunny afternoon. We’ll have a space to workout, cutting the need to travel to an alternate location to get some exercise in our busy schedules. There will be an inviting green space to have a seat on a bench and let our imagination be free to come up with the best ideas for our business. From the mezzanine, we’ll walk out to a breathtaking view on our new rooftop patio. Summer lunches will be huge treat in this space. There will be numerous inviting spaces for us to collaborate.

I believe it’s important to get ready for the other side of this pandemic. We walk the talk. We’re re-tooling some of our major systems. We’re going ahead with the new office. We’re sourcing the majority of our goods from local woodworkers/businesses for the new office building. We’re doing our part to help keep the economy moving. I’m not throwing in the towel… We will get through this together and we will celebrate on the other side in a beautiful new space.