Video: Where does the office sit in the hybrid future?

Remote working has revolutionised how people interact with their jobs, but does the office still have a place?

Alexandra Foster, director of financial services, manufacturing and digital industries at BT, believes it does.

"We've all seen that people have enjoyed the ability to have that work-life balance, in terms of home working. When we have team calls now it's lovely to hear about people being able to take their kids to school, being able to say 'I didn't have to take a day's holiday to be able to go and see my son play the drums for 10 minutes'. Previously, I'd done that! I think that means quite a lot.

"Technology has its part to play in that, and hybrid working is absolutely here to stay. When we talk to customers, it's absolutely on their agendas - but we shouldn't underestimate the ability to learn from other people. Over the last few weeks when we have been back in the office - as I have been gearing up my team - there's nothing better [for that] than being in an office, sat next to somebody."

In line with many other companies, BT has a policy around 'smart working'. Instead of forcing everyone to return to the office, it is focused on outcomes. As long as the work is done and both team and customer are happy, staff are largely free to work where they want. But the office is still the heart of the company, and Foster acknowledges its importance when it comes to training and preparing new starters for their work.

"We've got a responsibility to help the next generation learn. Some of it absolutely can be learned at home, but there's quite a lot you can get learning directly from your teams, just by hearing the conversation in the office... Just like I talked about with the shared environment for cybersecurity and threats, that shared environment for learning is very important as well."

This is part of a series of videos with Alexandra around endpoint management. Watch Computing for the rest, coming soon.