Today’s Office Space And Hybrid Working

In some sense, we believe in the power of place; this speaks to the idea that space, especially office space, can do more than fulfil functional needs.

The global pandemic has hit everyone as well as businesses hard. We have had to adapt to new ways of living, including social distancing measures, working from home and other social restrictions. For some, it has been more accessible than others. However, the office space helps to convey values, bring people together and empower a sense of cohesion and belonging.

There have been many offices empty over the past year, with more and more encouraged to work from home. Although government guidance tells us to stay at home where we can and work from home, if possible, it leaves the office culture behind. What is more, people become a part of space and a cultural manifest of an organisation.

So, whilst the past year has shown us that we can physically and positively embrace remote working, we are confident that group and organisation activities rely on an in-person sense of connection. Encouraging employees to come back into the office will continue to thrive in the built environment whilst visually and tactically co-working.

It is essential for business owners to understand the balance between a fully remote and hybrid mode of working forever. Hybrid working is flexible working that allows employees to split their time between attending the workplace and working remotely, typically from home.

Regardless of long-term strategic decisions about flexible, hybrid working, whilst social distancing remains necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19, many workspaces will need to think about or adopt a hybrid approach.

There are ways you can incorporate hybrid modes of working into your office space, which helps encourage employees to come back into the office, break away from home and look at collaboration with others on personal levels.

Hot desking is one concept that has been taking off in hybrid and flexible working. Hot desking allows organisations to take a more fluid approach to their space needed, better addressing the evolving nature of work. It allows employees to sit and work from their laptops seamlessly, allowing those taking the blended approach to have somewhere to work from in the office space without it being solely designated to them.

Adapted technology becomes another challenge within today’s office environment. Due to government guidance and the encouragement of hybrid working, many of us spend our days meeting via teams or zoom calls. Technology allows people to seamlessly collaborate on projects whenever or wherever they happen to be virtual. Hybrid working will enable employees who adopt the blended approach to utilise appropriate technology, helping those to connect with others inside the office in a large, open, yet quiet space. Large conferencing rooms with technology installed open for social distanced calls address the concerns over working from home, unlocking new well-being and productivity levels.

Redesigning your workspace into an open-plan space makes a more modular and flexible workspace solution. For example, incorporating zoning, booths and pods to ample office spaces, automatically forms sections to allow people to work simultaneously, safely in one space.

For more information on how you can incorporate Hybrid models into your workspace, get in touch.