Winnipeg | Forks Redevelopment | Parcel 4 - Rail Side Initiative | Proposals

[esquire]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Could that building still happen regardless? or does the soft office market prevent it.

I cannot imagine that anyone would be building anything on spec now given that there is a major economic contraction unfolding as we speak. We could soon find ourselves absolutely flooded with office space.

Just spitballing here, but I don't know how anyone proceeds with new projects over the next year with things evolving so quickly.

[WinCitySparky]

Ontario just shut down all construction except critical and maintenance so yeah, soon enough MB will follow and this thread will be taking a 2 year nap.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Could that building still happen regardless? or does the soft office market prevent it.

The Developer and the Construction Manager on that job have told me that they are just shelving this building for the short term and will try to market it when things improve.

[bomberjet]

I just meant in the future at some point. They did a bunch of work on a building, to a certain extent. So would think they'd try to find someone to make it work.

I don't see how this economic downturn becomes a permanent hindrance. Once things are back to somewhat normal, people will be spending a lot of money. As much as things aren't happening, things are most definitely still happening as normal in a lot of areas. My line of work for example, has shown no signs of stopping. Still working full time. Workload to carry through as normal and our clients indicate no change anticipated. While people are being more aware of the current situation. It's business as usual. Which is great for me.

[esquire]

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[trueviking]

Originally Posted by Biff

The Developer and the Construction Manager on that job have told me that they are just shelving this building for the short term and will try to market it when things improve.

I really doubt the developer has eternal rights to develop that property. That project was unique and being pushed through from above because SKIP uses computers and that has political cache. This was about keeping SKIP here, not about developing that land. There would be a pretty big outcry from other developers if they now can do whatever they want with the land. It is still owned publicly. It will likely go back into the Railside masterplan and be sold to the Forks.

[bomberjet]

Thanks for the info.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by esquire

I cannot imagine that anyone would be building anything on spec now given that there is a major economic contraction unfolding as we speak. We could soon find ourselves absolutely flooded with office space.

Just spitballing here, but I don't know how anyone proceeds with new projects over the next year with things evolving so quickly.

If this Convid-19 social distancing lasts a long time I just wonder how many companies find they can have staff work from home with no issues, and downsize the office floor space they actually need.

My company apparently has over 1000 staff working from home in Manitoba.

[plrh]

Originally Posted by cllew

If this Convid-19 social distancing lasts a long time I just wonder how many companies find they can have staff work from home with no issues, and downsize the office floor space they actually need.

My company apparently has over 1000 staff working from home in Manitoba.

I find this distressing. If the company I work for told me to work from home and offered me no money for it, I would be looking for a new job. It takes me 12 hours to get a 10 hour day in at home.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Many still enjoy going to the office, but I’ve been predicting a major shift to home office for years. Office space is less and less required. I know people that work for Ceridian and WCB that have started working from home over past 3 years.

[trueviking]

I’ve been thinking the exact opposite. This is showing me how brutal and unproductive it is to work at home. It might show all those companies thinking about saving money on office space that’s it’s not such a good idea.

[DavefromSt.Vital]

I am finding it takes me far more time to get far less done working from home than it does working from "work".

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by trueviking

I’ve been thinking the exact opposite. This is showing me how brutal and unproductive it is to work at home. It might show all those companies thinking about saving money on office space that’s it’s not such a good idea.

Yeah I think there's going to be two big key learnings from this that are kind of opposites, but play out in different ways:

1) Companies who have been reluctant to modernize and allow flexible work options or more leniency in taking a WFH day here and there will start. Like if someone is just having a bad day and wants to WFH for a day, we'll start to see that being allowed more often. Startups and more progressive offices have been doing this for a while, and these days proves for most businesses it's not that bad – better off letting someone take a "mental health day" from home and still work then other possible outcomes.

2) Businesses will realize how crucial in-person time is. There are some jobs or tasks that are just infinitely harder when your team is working remotely. Workshops, brainstorms, creativity etc. are really hard to have effectively when you're not in the same room with people. Lacks energy.


At first I thought we might see some offices downsize and go to a "hotdesk" system where they can have less desks overall, and shared ones, because people are WFH more – but I think any practices that are increasing germs spread are going to be out the window now. It will be interesting to see how shared spaces in the workforce change going forward.

There's definitely going to be a distinguishable "pre-COVID" and post-COVID line where some things will never be as they were before.

[DirtWednesday]

I love working from home. But I'm an introvert who finds office chatter distracting and actually pretty annoying. Some people seem to like it when the entire floor hears them talking about the Jets, stocks, that orange moron south of us.

I also have the discipline to use my smart tv on pertinent educational programming. My home monitors are bigger than what I have at the office. I have a gym space that's mine, where everything is put away, because I do it every time.

People are gross, and I'm happy to step away for a few months.

Not the mention the wasted time commuting. What would you do with an extra 90 minutes a day? I make damn sure I get my workout in. Dinner is made. Dogs are walked.

This is HEAVENLY!

[bomberjet]

See I find no difference in working from home. We've moved to electronic everything over the past 1-2 years. No need to print stuff. My set-up at home is the exact same I have at work. I don't need to go anywhere. My coffee breaks are spent with the family. Still getting everything done for in the same timelines and costs as if I was in the office. And in non-covid timers, if I need to go to a meeting. I can just go from home. In fact, it's proved that a lot of meeting usually done in person can be done on Skype/Teams. Does that replace the human contact outright, definitely not.

Working from home. It's pretty great actually.

[dmacc]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

See I find no difference in working from home. We've moved to electronic everything over the past 1-2 years. No need to print stuff. My set-up at home is the exact same I have at work. I don't need to go anywhere. My coffee breaks are spent with the family. Still getting everything done for in the same timelines and costs as if I was in the office. And in non-covid timers, if I need to go to a meeting. I can just go from home. In fact, it's proved that a lot of meeting usually done in person can be done on Skype/Teams. Does that replace the human contact outright, definitely not.

Working from home. It's pretty great actually.

I have to agree, I've only been WFH for a week ish as I had a week holidays that I used up. I found I could be just as productive, though my home work space is nothing close to what it was at work. Perhaps this is the perfect opportunity to prove to my wife that our current home doesn't cut it for our needs.

I want something along the lines of what DirtWednesday has, with a dedicated office, gym, maybe my new digs can have a barista.

[esquire]

Working from home would be great if my kids were in school/day care while I do it. Trying to juggle two adults working from home while two young kids are at home is a challenge to say the least.

[Biff]

Sounds like I have the same set up as you Esquire.

The problem I am finding with WFH is the meetings. Holy shit? What you could accomplish at the office with a 30 second conversation between a couple of people requires an email notification of a meeting, the logging in and setting up, the typical " hey Wendy your Mic is not on" or "I can only see your forehead Mike".....and these are just the short 10 minute types.

Too many meetings.....

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by Biff

Sounds like I have the same set up as you Esquire.

The problem I am finding with WFH is the meetings. Holy shit? What you could accomplish at the office with a 30 second conversation between a couple of people requires an email notification of a meeting, the logging in and setting up, the typical " hey Wendy your Mic is not on" or "I can only see your forehead Mike".....and these are just the short 10 minute types.

Too many meetings.....

Yeah... we're saying just pick up the phone for quick stuff. Only schedule video calls if it'd be an actual scheduled meeting at the office.

[3de14eec6a]

Originally Posted by Biff

Sounds like I have the same set up as you Esquire.

The problem I am finding with WFH is the meetings. Holy shit? What you could accomplish at the office with a 30 second conversation between a couple of people requires an email notification of a meeting, the logging in and setting up, the typical " hey Wendy your Mic is not on" or "I can only see your forehead Mike".....and these are just the short 10 minute types.

Too many meetings.....

People are getting better at online meetings. And generally, using video for them is silly. (but the microphone thing is still a hilarious problem)
And yeah, a lot of things don't need large meetings. Use email or chat services to bang out most details, and only get a conference call going if absolutely needed. Video should be reserved for showing things, not faces.
Good communication services also have conferencing built into the chat service well. So you can hit a button and everyone gets the invite, and jumps in instantly.

My team has been able to work from home when desired for years, so we have all the tools and capability. But most of us still like being in the office 2 or 3 days a week, and we're not super social types (though obviously not as introverted as DirtWednseday, lol).