Welcome Back
To The Office
They were told that as a precautionary measure and in-line with their global head office’s pandemic response, that they would be ‘WFH’. Some, were excited. Some, unphased. And some, were really not enthused in the slightest. They knew their office was taken care of by the exceptional team who operate their workspace so they didn’t have to worry about that. As a flexible workspace, The Executive Centre provided them with everything they needed without a second thought. They would now have to develop a new way of working that suited them and maintained their productivity. The team from their office did what they could to support their work remotely but there were just some things that working from home couldn’t emulate. Now, it’s their first day back in the office.
The Premise
Welcome Back To The Office is a take on the work from home phenomenon and its impact on archetypal roles of the office. The films play on contemporary and familiar work norms while juxtaposing the collective pains from the global work from home phenomenon with the inimitable, irreplaceable aspects of a well-eqipped office. It highlights the gone-unnoticed, underrated or even the glaringly obvious aspects of what an office space can and should represent.
During their experience with the now ubiquitous acronym, we see vignettes of our characters struggles and triumphs while WFH – zoom call interruptions, late night phone calls, dealing with family members etcetera.
Upon our protagonists return to the office we bear witness to the key moments that typify their reclamation – unsure of whether to hug or handshake, awkwardly exchanging stories of their - shall we say – challenges.
The films are a proclamation of the modern workspace. A space and a strategy which corporates should take increasingly more ownership of to make successful. There cannot be any doubt that the office is changing. It has been a known fact and the pandemic is a catalyst among so many other factors. The way space is used by businesses is crucial and flexibility is the new normal.
The Process
While our characters are fictitious, these pain points are not obscure constructs of our marketing team’s imagination but informed by a series of surveys sent to our 1000+ global team. We asked them to share their trials and tribulations. Where they were challenged, what they missed most about the office and anecdotes which represented their experiences. This research is indicative of our investment into the wellbeing of our people, our Members who sit in our Centres as well as those still yet to benefit from a flexible workspace.
PRODUCTION DURING COVID-19
With the world is its in varying degrees of restrictions, we were acutely aware and well positioned to take every precautionary measure during the production of these films. Shooting the series in Hong Kong, where the pandemic has been monitored closely by governments and regulations observed closely by the general population, it was a matter of creating set guidelines then communicating these with the cast and crew.
Limited number of people on set, a highly-skilled skeleton crew
Surplus of hygiene materials including masks, hand sanitiser etc.
Food and beverage coordinated with a preassigned numbering system, cast and crew each had a dedicated number for the shoot which reduced contact exposure
Travel declaration forms submitted prior to the start of filming
Daily temperature checks and sanitiser stations available upon entry to each location
Consecutive days of filming to limit external exposure
A team of incredibly hard working and motivated people made this film possible. Thank you to everyone for the quality delivered and standard of execution.