Staying Social in a Social Distanced Season

Interview with Daniel Nickerson and Katie Boes from the Social Spaces team at Haworth

Social spaces are a hot topic within the industry and world right now as COVID-19 has changed the public that we’ve known and experienced. Social Spaces at Haworth started gaining traction as we learned that people were coming into the office for collaboration and community. As technology has advanced, the office itself has changed and in the last several years, we have seen people working from their laptops remotely. With this freedom of working, offices transformed. Haworth has done significant research on social spaces, connection at work, and adapting to the cultural needs of the workplace.

In the last six months, the idea of social spaces has been flipped upside down. As communal spaces were being designed, installed, and worked in, we were rushed into working from home. Our work styles changed quickly and drastically. Working from home has affected people in many different ways. I am new to the industry and didn’t get to experience the pre-quarantine work lifestyle. Thankfully, I learned a lot from Daniel Nickerson and Katie Boes, who both work on the Social Spaces team at Haworth. They are part of a diverse, collaborative, and encouraging team of 13. I browsed through a social spaces look book in my first week in April and immediately wondered “How are social spaces affected by COVID and what will happen to them in the future?”

The goal of Social Spaces at Haworth is to provide an authentic place for people to gather, connect, and restore. The purpose behind the design is to build the foundation for people to bond. As space-builders in the industry, we need to take responsibility for those action verbs. We can be people dedicated to gathering, connecting, and restoring relationships regardless of our physical limitations. This is a powerful tool, but before we can fully practice these actions, we have to address where we are and where we hope to go in a season where we don’t have control on external situations.

Many have found that as professionals in the industry, we are trained to fix problems, find solutions, and build integrity in the workplace through doing the tasks we say we will. COVID has been an issue that is hard to fix – it is changing and foreign. There have been many instances in the last few months where we gather information and form a solution, only to have the problem change. This is a great lesson for all of us to learn – sometimes we don’t have control over our situations. There will be “human” moments throughout hard seasons where we will not be the resource with all of the answers. True leadership in a hard season doesn’t always come from the solution-giver. In real situations, it often comes from the people willing to be vulnerable and encouraging to their people. We can take this time to be authentic, to show up on the Zoom calls, and intentionally connect with people we know are struggling.

Daniel and Katie provided resources for the working population affected by COVID-19 to stay connected throughout this season. As the time we work from home lengthens, the need for human connection grows inside of us. There are studies that prove that working alone affects our brains and our functionality. Haworth has dedicated research and resources to providing our community with tools to help in this season. This is why Haworth is confident that social spaces will be needed after we return to work.

“Social spaces wont be going away, they will be re-situated.” – Daniel Nickerson

As experts in knowledge of social spaces, Katie and Daniel also had some advice and encouragement for our industry and everyone affected by working from home. Haworth has quickly adapted to this season and has increased customer-relationship and support. They launched an entire “Work at Home” Store so that people can bring ergonomic solutions into their homes (You can shop with TBI’s discount if you fill out the shopping form here). There have been a series of webinars that have been applicable and encouraging to listeners throughout COVID-19 (You can sign up and watch them freely by clicking here!)

Here are five ways to gather, connect, and restore:

1.      It is important to realize that every person in their individual roles is affected differently. As professionals, we have to adapt our advice. Many major companies have used their resources on furnishing their buildings the first time and do not have the budgets to re-furnish. For these clients, we can step in and help re-design their floorplans so that people can work in existing furniture while feeling safe. Our energy and pace can help encourage these leaders in phasing their employees back into work again.

2.      Remember the Integrated Palate that Haworth solutions offer. This is beneficial because all of our furniture lines flow seamlessly together, so adding new products into spaces to help with space division isn’t challenging (See more on the integrated palate here)

3.      It is a great time to increase your online presence and build connection through technology. With all of the virtual platforms that we have access to, our biggest weakness is the temptation to not be present. Many people have dreaded the time spent on virtual meetings, hide their face, or multi-task. We are doing ourselves harm by not being present. Katie and Daniel want to politely encourage you to turn on your camera, smile at the person you’re talking to, and soak in the time online as if you were in person.

4.      As the public begins to open again, it will be a challenge to start meeting up again. Daniel and Katie encourage you to get creative with your clients. Pack a picnic and do a distanced lunch and learn outside, go on a hike with connections in the industry, and use this time to build community.

5.      Care about the people you are designing spaces for. Read that again and let it motivate you to push through the personal hardships that have occurred in our society recently.

Thank you to Daniel Nickerson and Katie Boes for sharing on social spaces and their value. As humans, we crave connection naturally. Let us as an industry be connection-builders and resources in this season, in furniture and in life.

For additional information, check out “Why Social Spaces Will Always Be Important” by Haworth INC.