What Does the Hybrid Working Office Look Like?
Hybrid working has presented a great way for businesses to transition back into working in the office. Rather than plunging everyone back to the workplace full time, a hybrid working model offers employees the opportunity to split their time between working in the office and working remotely, and it’s likely to continue long after employees ease back into office life.
But how exactly can businesses support the hybrid working model, and shape an office environment to suit?
We’ve broken the hybrid working office down into 5 important components:
Collaboration spaces
Technology integrations
Focus spaces
Meeting rooms
Acoustic solutions
All five of these factors act as a framework for a successful hybrid working office. Let’s break them down further…
Collaboration Spaces
For a hybrid workforce splitting time between working remotely and working in the office, a key motivation to choose the office will be for collaboration purposes. Employees will want to come to the office to experience the scenarios and situations that they simply cannot achieve to the same extent at home.
The hybrid working office needs to cater to this by offering various collaboration spaces suited to different numbers and tasks.
Technology Integrations
For the hybrid working model to work successfully, those working in the office need to be able to virtually and efficiently communicate with those working from home, and vice versa. The key to this lies with technology, and different areas within the office should provide an opportunity to communicate with others outside of it.
This includes conferencing technology that allows workers to share their screens with ease, in addition to making sure employees can plug and play in different areas of the office with opportunities to connect and charge their technology - including breakout areas!
Focus Spaces
On balance to increased opportunities for collaboration, quiet focus and concentration spaces are just as important - if not more so, given that increased collaboration can lead to increased distraction for those elsewhere in the office!
Focus spaces provide an area of calm for those who need it, which also helps to make sure an office space is catering to the different personalities within it. The hustle and bustle of the office doesn’t bring out the best in everyone!
Enclosed seating booths, dedicated quiet rooms and single-person telephone booths can all help to provide acoustical privacy for those looking to crack down away from distraction.
Meeting Spaces
Having space for meetings is an important office design consideration, but how they need to look and function varies from business to business! Informal collaboration spaces may work when doubling up as team meeting space, whereas other companies may require acoustical and visual privacy from the rest of the office.
To help you create a hybrid workspace that suits, ask the following questions:
What proportion of meetings require acoustical privacy?
What proportion of meetings require visual privacy?
What is the maximum number of people that need to attend regular meetings?
On average, how long do meetings last?
The answers will help you to determine how big meeting rooms need to be, how many you need, the best furniture to suit, and how they should look.
Acoustic Solutions
Acoustics are extremely important in any office, but even more so for the hybrid working office promoting collaboration. There are various ways to improve the acoustics of a workspace, from the more obvious additions, such as acoustic baffles and wall panels, to biophilic design and flooring.
Acoustics shouldn’t be an afterthought, solutions should be integrated throughout your office design to ensure they are effective at helping you create a productive environment that supports the hybrid working model.
The hybrid workspace is agile, empowering and flexible. Although the same core principles remain important considerations when it comes to designing the hybrid office, hybrid looks different for all businesses.
We can help you create a hybrid workspace that is bespoke to the needs of your business and office space going forward! We’ll make your office space work harder for your team, to give your business the physical foundations it needs to excel. Fill in the form below to enquire.
RECENT PROJECTS:
