“The flex office will be relevant if it is combined with teleworking”

The flex office, these offices where employees no longer have an assigned workstation, is gaining momentum, in particular with the increase in teleworking during the Covid-19 health crisis. Author of the book “Companies in the time of flex office” (Ed. L’Harmattan, 88 p., 12 euros), published in September, Delphine Minchella, teacher and researcher at EM Normandie, business and management, believes that this organizational model requires support from employees.

Should we be afraid of the flex office?

DELPHINE MINCHELLA. The transition can be dangerous because it has a bad reputation employees are wary of. We know that resistance to change is strong. Who says flex office, says loss of his personal office. The fear of losing one’s own space can be experienced as a distancing. Companies must think of a benevolent and supportive change management.

How do you get used to no longer having a dedicated office?

We have to appropriate the spaces in another way. I saw in a company a huge board, where you take your coffee, on which all the employees had been invited to put a picture of them, baby. Everyone was trying to guess who was who. You could see the DG with a pacifier… There were human traces that erased the sanitized side of the flex office.

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Why choose this mode of organization?

The economic argument matters. Between meetings outside, RTT, vacations, teleworking… you are not at your office five days a week. What is the use of maintaining, heating and paying for a space that remains vacant several days a month?

Are flex office and teleworking linked?

The flex office will be relevant if it is paired with teleworking. Employees can in this case find an interest in losing their personal office but gain in quality of life, with new perspectives such as moving away from Paris and living in larger and cheaper spaces.