New startup mimics the in-person office with ‘virtual floor plans’

Remote work may be here to stay, but employees are missing the connection and collaboration that comes from the physical workplace. A new company is making it possible to connect with coworkers without relying on Zoom or Slack.

TeamFlow launched a virtual office platform that uses spacial interfacing to bring employees together in a video bubble. Employers can create a virtual floor plan of their office space, and move around within their pod. They can pick up on conversations and communicate more easily, mimicking the feeling of walking around a physical workplace.

“People, and especially new hires, feel shy pinging co-workers on Slack just to schedule a Zoom call to introduce themselves,” says Rafael Sanches, co-founder of Anycart, which uses the platform. “On Teamflow, you see someone’s face right next to you and it’s very easy to say hi. For some of our employees, it wasn’t until we started using Teamflow that they met some of their teammates for the first time.”

While remote work has become normal for employees, the lack of in-person collaboration has been detrimental. A survey by Buffer, a social media software platform, found that 20% of employees felt collaborating and communication has been the biggest struggle during the pandemic. Twenty percent of employees reported loneliness was a big challenge while remote.

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This lack of collaboration is impacting interpersonal relationships between employees and their managers: Paychex found that more than half of managers think their relationships with their teams have worsened since the start of the pandemic.

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Employers are trying to figure out how to keep a resilient and productive workforce as remote work stretches into 2021. Thirty-five percent of workplaces do not have a firm plan for fully reopening their office, while 16% hope to reopen during Q1, according to a survey by The Conference Board.

“This crisis is going to accelerate flexible working. We have the ability to work anywhere now,” says Bryan Murphy, CEO of Breather, a private workspace provider. “Humans are social creatures and no one wants to be cooped up on their own every day, all day, not seeing other people. There’s the social aspect of work that people miss — they miss the collaboration.”

His platform helps employees to establish a hybrid model of in-person and at-home work. Users can book a room, similar to how they would an Uber, Murphy says. Rooms can be reserved from one hour to up to several months.

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“People use them just to get some quiet time away from their family when they need to be really productive or they need to do a client call, or even in-person meetings where maybe the office is shut down but they still need to meet,” Murphy says.

As companies contemplate their return-to-work plans, offering a variety of options will help employees feel like they’re still part of a vibrant and dynamic company culture. Whether in-person or remote, preserving employee morale should be top priority.

“Companies are rethinking the role of real estate — we like to think of real estate as a place to come together and collaborate and get to know each other and share stories, so I expect to have more of that, but less people sitting in endless rows of cubicles,” says Henry Albrecht, CEO of Limeade, an employee experience software company. “Communication is being radically rethought, and I like to think that what works for the employees will work for the business.”