Hybrid harmony – how can workspaces support?

Yesterday, we visited The Workplace Event 2024 and we were rewarded by some fantastic speaker panels. Key themes for the day were creating hybrid harmony, building flexibility into workplace strategies whilst positioned to adapt and evolve, and ensuring accessibility and functionality to provide a truly inclusive environment.

A very harmonious panel, featuring Hannah Wilson, Senior Lecturer & DBA Programme Manager, Liverpool John Moores University, and Monica Parker, Founder of Hatch Analytics and author of, The Power of Wonder, looked at how a truly successful hybrid working model starts with positive leadership and culture. The fundamental principal relies on giving autonomy to employees, and organising new work structures when it comes to teams. But what key take outs were there for a workspace design and fit out specialist, such as us, and how might this effect changes to the physical workspace or office? Well, the panel was asked this question. Ensuring flexibility and building a space that is designed for evolution was the key take out. To be more precise, no fixed stuff or cellularization, hold back budget to invest in subsequent change i.e. plan for development and change over time, and think about the location of your workplace. The data supports that the number 1 reason people don’t/ don’t want to go into the office every day is because of their commute. If this frames the issue, when thinking about encouraging workers into the office, a ‘foodie’ orientated coffee shop/ cafe, or a pool table with some nice squishy sofas are unlikely to be the compelling factors to overcome the problem. Secondly, it is felt that you can get more work done at home.

These insights certainly start to re-focus the brief for the future physical workspace, with its role to support new work structures that enable the kind of activities that are far less successful at home such as brainstorms, training, appraisals, team shared learning forums such as post project reviews and forward planning strategy sessions. Of course, all of which will be brilliantly prepared for, by the couple of days at home with clear headspace and minimal distractions. Which leads me to the last key take out. Taking the time to understand what we’ve learnt about work behaviours pre, during and post pandemic, will surely affect the most optimal workspace of the future. Beyond that, we have to understand individual complexity when it comes to designing tomorrow’s workspace, ensuring that individuals needs are catered for and that the home of your business is inclusive to all.

Further to our key take outs, we’ve compiled a brief summary of this speaker panel below:

Various aspects of hybrid work and its impact on organisations and individuals, was discussed. The panellists’ addressed both the opportunities and challenges presented by hybrid work and how it has evolved over time.

Key Learnings:

Adapting to Hybrid Work:

Hybrid work isn’t new; it has been a topic of discussion since the 1970s and has been adopted within small and specific cases. However, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated its adoption and scale, across industries, leading to a broad range of experiences and perspectives.

Employee Autonomy and Productivity:

Providing employees with autonomy and flexibility can lead to better performance and productivity. However, organisations must strike a balance between individual preferences and organisational needs.

Challenges with Mandates:

Mandating attendance within the office or succumbing to presentism is recognised to have a negative effect on workers motivation and performance, by the nature of removing their autonomy and calling into question the organisations trust in them.

Evolving Management and Leadership Styles:

Hybrid work requires a shift in management and leadership styles. Leaders must adapt to managing virtual teams and focus on outcomes rather than surveillance.

Cultural Considerations:

Organisational culture plays a significant role in determining the success of hybrid work. Toxic cultures and microaggressions can negatively impact employees’ willingness to engage in the wider organisation or any motivation to come into the office.

Data-Driven Decisions:

While data is essential for making informed decisions, organisations must first define the questions they want to answer and gather relevant data from their employees.

Flexibility and Inclusion:

Hybrid work can increase opportunities for diversity and inclusion, particularly for women, minority groups and neurodiverse individuals. Organisations need to understand and accommodate the diverse needs of their workforce.

Innovative Approaches:

Organisations must find innovative ways to engage their employees and create collaborative environments that cater to hybrid work. Simply offering in-office amenities may not be sufficient to encourage employees to return. Furthermore, developing a sense of community is critically important to enable productive collaboration, high performing teams and reduce issues such as workplace loneliness.

Balancing Third Spaces:

Hybrid work includes not only working from home and the office but also utilising third spaces, which can offer additional flexibility and convenience. This, however, is not an option to all organisations where information security measures mitigate against working on open Wi-Fi.

The panel emphasised that successful hybrid work requires organisations to reevaluate their approaches to management, culture, and employee engagement while being flexible and open to new ways of working.