The rise of hybrid remote work has reduced office occupancy to less than half of pre-pandemic levels, raising concerns about the future of office buildings. However, it also presents a fantastic opportunity: to redesign the hybrid office and tailor it to the demands of the hybrid workforce, which still prefers office days to establish connections and mentoring, as evidenced by remote work statistics.

The modern office appears and feels different. Social spaces, Meet spaces, Focus spaces, and Balance spaces all address unique needs and serve as the foundation for purposeful office settings.

Since the outbreak, many people have been working in a dual capacity. Now, extensive study indicates that firms and employees who adopt it will reap significant long-term rewards.

Pressing ‘Go’ on a hybrid plan can boost performance metrics across the board, from increased productivity to improved employee wellness and a lower carbon footprint.

The International Workplace Group’s most recent study on the effects of hybrid working emphasizes its advantages over previous working paradigms:

• 75% of CEOS reported improved productivity from a hybrid workforce
• 74% of hybrid workers found they were more productive
• 76% said they were more motivated
• 85% reported increased  job satisfaction

The research also demonstrates that it’s becoming a deal breaker:

• 88% of employees consider hybrid working the leading benefit they will expect from a new role
• 50% of employees would only consider roles that allow them to work in a hybrid way

It’s no wonder, then, that three quarters of all CEOs expect to operate in a hybrid model five years from now.

What is Hybrid Office Design?

Hybrid office design is the strategic creation of office spaces that cater to a hybrid workforce’s needs, combining remote and in-office work. This approach capitalizes on the opportunities presented by the rise of hybrid remote work, aiming to optimize employee engagement and productivity.

Hybrid office design combines remote and in-office work to optimize employee engagement and productivity. This approach includes Social, Meet, Focus, and Balance spaces to foster community, encourage collaboration, provide concentrated work environments, and enhance employee well-being.

Diverse office spaces positively impact engagement and satisfaction. Incorporating these spaces and involving employees in the design process tailors the office environment to their needs.

How do I Build a Hybrid Office?

With the hybrid model firmly established in many areas, the challenge is to design workspaces that can best accommodate these teams. Based on years of experience and study, here are the five pillars of a hybrid workplace that will provide your team the freedom to navigate a future of flexible working.

1. Make spaces for all modes of work

The hybrid workspace should provide a variety of different spaces to support a multitude of tasks. From taking a one-on-one meeting in a booth, moving to a desk for heads-down work, and using a meeting room for a team collaboration session – all in one afternoon.

Having an ecosystem of spaces for different activities allows people to find the best setup for what they need to get done, including connecting virtually with their remote colleagues. Hybrid teams will need quiet, private spaces to conduct virtual meetings with remote workers. 

But you don’t need to knock down walls or gain more space to provide this type of environment for your workers. Products such as acoustic screens and whiteboards can be used to create boundaries around collaboration spaces. While pods and booths can provide privacy for individual work or one-on-one meetings.

If you’re choosing pods and booths to expand the range of spaces you can offer without the cost and hassle of building or demolishing walls – choose designs that can be moved easily around. If your booths and pods have lockable casters and are easy to take apart and reassemble, they can be easily deployed in other parts of your building, too.

2. Be flexible and adaptable

Spaces need to be as flexible and adaptable as possible for hybrid work. We’re likely to see pods, booths and acoustic screens being used instead of constructed enclosed spaces. As well as moveable furniture and technology, such as digital screens, that can be rolled in when needed. 

For collaborative work, spacing and partitions can be used to provide more audio and visual privacy. 

Google have experimented with privacy robots with inflating cellophane balloon walls to create flexible spaces. A gimmick? Maybe. But like everyone else, they’re testing out new ideas and seeing what works.

3. Focus on technology

The hybrid office thrives on technology. Organisations hoping to develop a hybrid working model will need to consider what technology they are currently using, if it will be adequate to support your future plans.

Depending on your organisation, it may be that you just need better video conferencing technology, or better spaces to support those video conferences. Virtual whiteboards and moveable acoustic screens are just some examples of the tools that can support these meetings.

Microsoft has introduced elaborate conference rooms with curved tables, projection equipment and specialised mics and cameras that make “in-person participants feel like everyone’s present and remote participants feel like everyone’s remote.”

Google’s ‘campfire’ conference room concept features large wall screens for those on video, so all participants are on the same footing.

Technology will also be required for organisations moving to a hot-desking, or ‘flex desking’ system. The key will be to make the journey of coming into the office and getting set up to work as easy as possible. A booking system may be adopted, where employees can log in and ‘book’ their desk for the day.

This way you won’t end up with people coming into the office and not being able to find a desk. It can also help you to limit the number of people in one space should social distancing guidelines return.

And when workers do arrive at a desk, they will need to be met with all the tools they need to work effectively. For example a monitor, mouse and keyboard, docking station for a laptop, as well as chargers and dongles.

4. Foster a sense of belonging

The trouble with hot desking is that without their own desk, workers may end up feeling disconnected and disengaged. Having space they can call their own helps workers to feel like a valued team member, rather than just a cog in the system.

To combat this, Nicola Gillen, author of Future Office: Next Generation Workplace Design, suggests workers who no longer have their own desks could instead share desks with neighbourhood desks or team pods. This way they’ll always have a home base within the workplace. They may also be given lockers or team shelving, not only to store their things, but to instil the sense of connection they may be craving.

Fostering a sense of belonging is the very essence of what the office helps to achieve. The office is a space where people can feel connected to their colleagues and to the organisation. But with individuals only spending one, two, three days in the office a week, the office needs to work harder to make them feel like they belong. 

Read Also: Employee Wellbeing in a Hybrid Work Environment

Giving workers choice over how and where they work, as well as comfortable furniture that can be adjusted for their preferences, will help them to feel that sense of belonging and value. While colours, aesthetics and artwork that are on brand and make the most of the locality, can also help people feel connected to the space.

5. Encourage interaction

The hybrid office is a space for workers to come together in person, creating a company culture based on conscious and unconscious collaboration.

The office environment needs to promote serendipitous moments; the accidental collisions that force interaction and strengthen relationships between co-workers. These moments may be down to chance, but the environment in which they occur is not. The workplace itself can provide the routes and the prompts to encourage these chance encounters and boost connections.

Etsy’s office has a central staircase designed in a unique way that encourages serendipitous encounters. The staircase has an irregular shape that forces people to zig-zag across the different flights, increasing the chances of running into colleagues from other teams.

The office also features a main street called the “Etsy Corridor” that has small meeting areas and workspaces branching off of it. This central artery increases traffic flow and chances for people to see and interact with others outside their immediate teams.

There are ways to create these opportunities within your existing workspace, too:

• Create spaces for one-on-one conversations and impromptu meetings with modular furniture or seats thoughtfully positioned for people to stumble across as they wander through the building.
• Remove coffee points in each department in order to encourage people to use the shared kitchen or breakout area.
• Include bar-style seats to support on-the-fly conversations as people drink their coffee, while comfortable seats will support deeper conversations.
• Make use of outdoor spaces where people can go to relax or unwind.

What are Examples of Social Spaces?

More remote employment leads to more isolation and loneliness. Feeling lonely while working from home is the most common fear, and the primary motivation for returning to the office is to connect with coworkers. According to research, people miss the most touch with coworkers at the actual office.

People want to have a sense of belonging at work. This not only benefits their well-being, but it also improves business outcomes. A strong sense of community is the best predictor of people’s productivity. It also has an impact on their involvement, innovation, and loyalty to the firm. Google even cited community as a key reason to continue investing in physical locations.

People assemble in many types of locations and engage in “casual collisions.” They are areas where employees gather before, during, and after work. This includes community rooms, lounges, pantries, coffee shops, outdoor areas, and entertainment venues.

Community Space:

As the most crucial category of office spaces, social spaces come in various forms. Most offices will strive to have the most prominent one, the principal community space, or the central “home” of the office, combining different functions into a lively environment, and the space itself can play many roles.

Lounges:

Next, lounges with or without touchdown spaces are also rather important. These are centrally located informal spaces for casual interactions and informal meetings.

Pantries/Kitchen: 

Then, probably the most important space in most offices, pantries and kitchens serve not just as the place for employees to get their coffee, lunch, and snacks, but act as a communal area for them to have informal conversations.

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Coffee shops:

‍We also cannot undermine the importance of integrated coffee shops, which can act as the “buffer zone” to facilitate meetings with guests just outside the area of the office. 

Garden:

Gardens are proven to support the health and well-being of the employees while improving their engagement with their work.

Play Areas:

Provide the space for fun gatherings which drive connectivity and strengthen the company culture.

Meet

In the past months, we have proven that online collaboration is possible. Still, many feel it’s usually best done at the office. 

This is because trust is a critical ingredient for successful collaboration. And trust builds easier in person. The best collaboration happens when we can walk up to someone. It’s also when we have access to the right tools and resources.  

Salesforce’s Chief People Officer shared about their post-COVID workplace earlier this year. He said:

“To start, we’ll be redesigning our workspaces over time as community hubs. This accommodates a more hybrid work-style. Gone are the days of a sea of desks. Instead, we’ll create more collaboration and breakout spaces. This is to foster the human connection that can’t be replicated remotely.” 

The best office unlock all their meeting facilities with best-in-class, user-friendly meeting room scheduling software.

Meet spaces come in five categories. They are: Share & Learn, Collaborate, Brainstorm & Innovate, Converse, and Connect. These spaces allow employees to use their office for what they can’t do (well) at home. From group training to in-person one-on-one, Meet spaces are critical in the new hybrid office.