DECEMBER 2021CIOAPPLICATIONSEUROPE.COM9The days of the massive corner office as a status symbol had long ago given way to cubicle farms. The challenge was to layer in a combination of simple but practical technology to make the space work for everyonetechnology) may have led to an accumulation of excess square footage. That's why I jumped at the chance to help reimagine our office space when I got Stephen's call. A central challenge of the project is to compress an existing 7,000 sq. ft. office into 3,000 sq. ft. I knew technology would have to play an essential role. But the culture around real estate had to change, too. I knew Stephen was committed to making sweeping changes when he told me, "No one will have a dedicated office in the new space -- not even me." It was certainly bold. Not only would the technology need to help our professionals adapt to a smaller space, we would need to make convincing cultural shifts in the way lawyers thought about office space. The days of the massive corner office as a status symbol had long ago given way to cubicle farms. The challenge was to layer in a combination of simple but practical technology to make the space work for everyone. Luckily, many of those changes had already begun to take place on an ad hoc basis even before the pandemic struck. Over the summer of 2019, I visited several of our firm's larger offices. As I strolled the hallways, it struck me that many private offices on the window line were empty. To be sure, our attorneys are a busy lot and while they weren't sitting at their desks, I knew they were out taking depositions, arguing motions in front of trial judges or prospecting for new clients at lunch meetings. Still, those offices stood empty. That's because law firms had long ago benefited from an infusion of technology which enabled knowledge workers to work remotely. The truth is they had to work remotely: our clients told the legal industry for decades that they didn't care where work got done -- just that it got done. And, at least up until Covid, our attorneys were constantly on the road. They had to be equipped with technology that enabled them to travel and be productive. The problem was office space designs lagged behind this massive shift. The result was an abundance of unused office space.Still, I couldn't wait to put into practice some of the ideas I had collected over the course of my more than 30 year career helping law firms use technology. Lawyers are inherently a conservative bunch. It makes sense that this would be the case. Attorneys spend their time helping their clients avoid (or manage) risk. But, this risk aversion made large law firms slow to embrace the seismic shift from on-premise technology to cloud services. In part, clients' security restrictions impeded the rapid adoption of cloud services. But, as law firms and their clients alike understood how difficult it was to achieve the same operational efficiency of large cloud service providers like Google, Amazon or Microsoft, they were forced to adapt. Luckily, this change was well underway by the time Covid challenged law firm leaders like Stephen to rethink their workflows to keep workers safe.To be sure, the threat posed by Covid will be ameliorated soon enough as promising new vaccines reach the marketplace. But, Covid will continue to impact our lives and businesses throughout 2021 (and maybe forever). It will be hard to unlearn the new efficiencies we've cultivated during this unique moment. In the meantime, what should smart businesses be doing? When Stephen told me he'd be willing to give up a private office as part of a firm-wide experiment, I knew we'd reached an inflection point. Stephen was right: it was time to give up private offices. Behind personnel expenses, real estate is typically one of the most significant fixed expenses for professional service firms. To be sure, there is an absolute need to maintain a modicum of office space to meet clients, prepare for cases and collaborate with colleagues. In some cases, like conference space, that need will increase to respect social-distancing requirements. But, dedicated office space may no longer be essential when a considerable part of the workforce is remote. Instead, consider the concept of "hoteling." As leases come due, consider reducing your real estate footprint by treating private offices like they were "hotel rooms" to be "checked out" or booked the way you would a hotel room for a set period. Sure, you'll lose the comfort of artwork or pictures from your last vacation, but most of those are on your phone anyway. And, if you're able to reduce the amount of square footage you need to lease by 30% (or more), this seems like a worthwhile thought exercise. Here's how we are considering the use technology to support the business need to shrink our real estate footprint:1. Use a reservation system. When an attorney needs a private office; we are exploring a reservation system that will allow them to book a private office or conference room right from Outlook. We're also considering ways to tie the system to display panels (akin to small iPads) affixed to office doorways and conference room entries. An attorney visiting from
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