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Hybrid Workspaces

Hybrid Working. Why Should You Adapt Your Office?

Hybrid working is a flexible working pattern where an individual splits their working time between different locations, for example, home and the office. While it doesn’t suit every company and individual, it’s now become an accepted norm.

It shares similarities with activity-based working, which operates on the principle that people need different spaces to perform different activities. This encourages staff to choose a working arrangement that best supports their activities. 

Fast forward to the present day and that’s exactly what we have. The key difference is that hybrid working includes spaces that are away from the office.

Why Should You Adapt Your Office?

Today’s organizations struggle to make the best use of their offices. Many have filled their square feet up with large, cumbersome desks and storage cabinets that haven’t been opened in years. Only a handful of staff makes use of each area.

COVID-19 can no longer be used as an excuse for a dysfunctional office. The fight for talent is making it harder to retain staff and attract fresh faces – especially as younger candidates are looking to work for flexible and values-based organizations.

These factors combined suggest that hybrid office design can help you support and empower employees to do their best work, letting your business maximize productivity in your office.

Put it this way, you’re not reading this from a desktop computer that’s 15 years old. The present workplace has reached functional obsolescence in the same way that IT and other business commodities do.

The Opportunities of Hybrid Office Design

Your workplace can be a tool to change how your teams work. But it requires a shift in thinking. The phrase “I am going to work”, referring to the office, demonstrates how our brains are hardwired to think that if we’re not in the office, we’re not working. And this couldn’t be more wrong – as proven by home working in the last two years.

How can embracing hybrid office design benefit your business?

Make Your Office Useful

Think about what your teams use your office for. We all agree that some things are best conducted face to face, for example, meetings, innovating, problem-solving, and socializing. But how else can you make use of your office?

A people and place study lets you dig deep into the DNA of your organization to get a better understanding of how your people work best, and what the current constraints are in your office. Then, your office design consultants can develop an evidence-based, hybrid office design that answers employee needs using the study data.

Improve Quality of Life

Hybrid office design can improve the quality of working life by delivering the right blend of shared space. There might be more spaces for different activities, such as collaboration, focus time, conferences, and socializing.

And physical creation of a hybrid office design is only one part of the process. The other part is equally as important – working with your team to show them how a hybrid office design can improve their environment. For example, by strengthening culture and belonging.

Learn More About the Benefits of Hybrid Office Design

With both of these factors combined, your office design can be both aesthetically stunning and incredibly practical.

Urban Spaces builds spaces where employees thrive. We’re a team of passionate specialists, committed to providing exceptional working environments that meet both commercial and employee needs, boost productivity, attract the best talent, and improve communication within teams. Talk to us today.