How can the home office be integrated into the company?

The home office remains
The home office - most people know it from pandemic times. Some love it, others hate it. Although the pandemic no longer affects everyday working life, the home office has remained to some extent. Other companies are now trying to reintegrate it into everyday working life. But how can everyone get used to the new circumstances and avoid dissatisfaction among employees?

Why is working from home worthwhile at all?
Working from home has one main advantage for the employer: less office space is required. This means that you can either move to a smaller office or sublet part of the space. This saves a lot of money every month, which can be invested in other things. These could include new operating systems, further training or new laptops. Overall, working from home can therefore lead to progress and better working conditions, as more money is available.

Use helpful software
For the home office to work, you need good collaboration software in the company. This guarantees that everyone can work well together without having to exchange information in person. There are many different types of software that are primarily intended to regulate internal communication, project management and document management. It is important that work is transparent and that everyone involved has access to important documents and results. The best way to start is to try several softwares and see which one is best suited to your own company. It can then be helpful to book a course or workshop for employees to teach them how to use the new programs. Otherwise, if they are alone with all the new functions in the home office, this can quickly lead to frustration and excessive demands.

Pay attention to the consent of employees
An important point is that you are in contact with your employees and do not decide everything without listening to their opinions. Opinions can be obtained in large companies through surveys. In smaller companies, the issue can be discussed in a face-to-face meeting where everyone is allowed to share their opinion openly.
Employees' opinions are particularly important when it comes to the question of how often and when to work from home. Some may be prepared to work from home for long periods of time, while others are less able to imagine it. A system can be developed together. If the whole thing does not work well in practice, there should be scope to adapt the system to the needs and experiences of the employees.

Personal contact must not be completely eliminated
Not every employee finds it easy to motivate themselves to work from home - and social contacts can also be lacking. To strengthen cohesion despite this, you should integrate regular personal contact via video into your daily routine. For example, there can be a short meeting every morning in which everyone talks about how they are doing and what they have planned for the day.
Team spirit within the company is also important to ensure that everyone sticks together. To ensure this, regular events or workshops can be attended together. Christmas parties also strengthen the team and ensure personal contact despite working from home.