Design of workspaces in the post covid era – hybrid mode
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught companies and employees a lot about how
they work and the future of work. Employees have become accustomed to the
work-life balance, flexibility, and freedom. It seems that the hybrid model is not
only here to stay, but in many of cases, it is being welcomed with open arms.
To realize this environment, four work models must be considered: focus,
collaboration, learning, and socializing.
In a hybrid workforce scenario, where individuals only spend part of their time in
the office, the importance of focused work is sometimes underestimated. Despite
the emphasis on collaboration and connection during office hours, statistics
reveal that 45% of employees’ time is still dedicated to focused work.
To initiate the hybrid workplace design solution, the first essential step is to
engage in a conversation with your team. The workforce is currently
experiencing a sense of uncertainty.
Numerous employees have either departed or opted not to return to the
workplace in any capacity following the pandemic. Those who remain are
grappling with the challenges of being understaffed and overworked. Now is the
opportune moment to assess which workplace arrangements would enhance
their job satisfaction.
While some employees eagerly anticipated a return, others did not.
The first option involves some employees exclusively working from home, while
others exclusively work in the office. The second option entails all employees
working from home on certain days and in the office on others. The third and
most flexible option allows for a blend of both working arrangements.
Considering factors such as projects that require full team collaboration, space
constraints necessitating remote work, and individual team members’
preferences for remote or office work.
When crafting a hybrid office layout, prioritizing collaboration is key.
According to a recent Microsoft study, the primary reason people return
to the office is to connect with their coworkers. A significant majority of
employees express a heightened motivation to come to the office when they can
engage with colleagues, including “work friends” and direct team members.
Given that collaboration is a top priority for your team in the office, it should be
the primary focus of your design.
Most hybrid in-office activities involve collaboration. While conference
rooms are commonly used for this purpose, they often face high demand when
serving as the sole collaborative space.
A well-conceived hybrid office design should incorporate multiple areas
dedicated to group work, catering to varying numbers of participants and the
specific nature of interactions.
Exceptional designs not only welcome workers into the space but also encourage
collaborative efforts. These areas often feature lounge seating, bringing a touch
of homliness to the office environment. Crucial to accommodating the hybrid
workforce is flexibility, with movable partitions facilitating the creation of spaces
for smaller groups that can be easily reconfigured to accommodate larger
meetings.
Designing Intentional Spaces
The required number of personal workspaces is often contingent on the
frequency of in-office days and whether work schedules are staggered. When
employees operate outside of the office, they typically enjoy the autonomy to
create a private and personal workspace. It is essential to ensure that workers
have the same level of privacy and personal space when they come into the
office. Providing ample desk space in an environment with minimal distractions
and limited disruptions is crucial for tasks that require detailed focus.
Hybrid Zones
The hybrid zones encompass various distinct areas, each serving a specific
purpose, akin to designated zones. Organizing these individual areas into zones
throughout the office can enhance efficiency and productivity. Within a hybrid
workspace, incorporating focus zones, collaborative zones, training zones, and
workstations allows team members to seamlessly transition between these
spaces. The requirements of hybrid workers fluctuate based on the composition
of the in-office team and the daily work priorities. Therefore, having designated
zones for each type of work accommodates their evolving needs. Regardless of
the hybrid office you’re designing, a well-thought-out strategy is important to the
success of a space. Establishing a cohesive space structured by use contributes
to reducing distractions and enhancing overall workplace efficiency.
Nourishment counts: We need light, air, access to views, and coffee. A
thoughtfully planned and stocked pantry or lounge not only encourages healthy
eating habits, but also provides opportunities for informal interactions among
colleagues. Details matter. Planning and design that gives people a way to
control their temperature, light, and sound are important. Being able to simply
stare out the window from time to time supports brain health and cognitive
processing.
Pre-pandemic, most businesses saw the office as a place where
individuals could get work done. Post-pandemic, the office will only
secondarily be a place to carry out tasks or engage in routine meetings,
especially for knowledge workers. They will be able to do much of that from
home, thanks to the growing functionality of information and communication
technologies. As a result, employees will increasingly be working in what we call
the hybrid office—moving between a home work space and a traditional
office building. The latter will become primarily a culture
space, providing workers with a social anchor, facilitating connections,
enabling learning, and fostering unscripted, innovative collaboration.
Creating the Office of Tomorrow
Widely available technology is not only facilitating remote work but also
progressively automating much of the routine work that traditionally defined
people’s jobs. Together these two developments are fundamentally redefining
the meaning of work and the role of an employee in the organization.
Increasingly, what companies need from people is their creativity—and as we’ve
seen, people are more creative when they’re together and can share human
moments. That’s why we need the office. But tomorrow’s offices will have to be
very different from what we’re used to, and three features will define them. They
will be:
Designed for human moments.
Low-cost open-plan designs and cramped seating—which researchers have
consistently found to be detrimental to morale, collaboration, and productivity—
are ubiquitous, but some companies have moved beyond that model. Their new
approach strikes a balance between openness and privacy, incorporating design
elements that enable social interactions of many types—from a quick chat at the
corner of an open stairway to low-voiced gossip by the kitchen counter or the
coffee machine. Among these elements might be an alcove where a few people
can polish a presentation or a high table where two people can stand for an
impromptu meeting and be joined by a junior employee who passes by,
overhears them, and stops to ask a question.
Customized by technology.
Technology has helped us take home the work we can do more efficiently on our
own. It can also help us better understand how we operate socially, and that
understanding can lead to more-effective design and use of social spaces.
Silverstein Properties, a real estate development and management firm in New
York City, provides a case in point. The company has created an AI-based
platform called Dojo, which tracks the movement of people to feed a data-driven
scoring system that generates office layouts and seating charts to maximize the
likelihood of serendipitous informal interactions.
Managed to encourage connections.
For their part, managers need to ensure that when people come to the office,
they feel they have permission to socialize and connect with their colleagues. In
addition to explicitly stating this, leaders should reinforce it by spending time
themselves in the common areas and participating in social events.
