How to Design a Hybrid Workplace

Hybrid working, which sees employees split their time between the office and working remotely, has become the working model of choice, with 41% of employers planning to adopt it by 2023. But with all the benefits hybrid working offers, it isn’t without its challenges. Chief among them is designing a working environment that meets the needs of employers and employees alike.

In this guide, we’ll take a look at the pros and cons of the hybrid working model. We’ll then discuss the practical steps you can take to create hybrid offices that put people at the heart of your business.

Understanding the Reasons for Hybrid Working

The pandemic certainly accelerated the shift to more flexible working practices, but people were already dissatisfied with their working environments long before Covid came along. Offices were increasingly open plan and higher density, creating noisy, distracting and unhealthy spaces that were impeding happiness and performance.

At home, people can control their lighting, temperature, noise level and privacy, allowing them to create an environment that’s comfortable in a way that they can be most productive. However, while there are undoubted benefits of remote working, it’s not a cut and dried case.

A study of 61,000 Microsoft employees found that remote work causes employees to spend less time collaborating and socialising with colleagues outside of their usual network, which hampers creativity. Remote workers can also feel isolated and lose control of their work-life balance.

Somewhere between the privacy and comfort of homeworking and the collaboration and structure of office working, there’s a balance to be struck, and that sweet spot is called hybrid working.

The Pros and Cons of a Hybrid Working Environment

Hybrid working combines elements of both remote and office work to give people more flexibility and help them live happier and more fulfilling lives. The benefits include:

• Reduced stress - Hybrid work can reduce stress and improve mental health. The added variety ensures that everyday stresses, such as the work commute, no longer happen every day.
• A better work-life balance - No one wants to have to choose between having breakfast with your kids or going to work. But in a hybrid workplace, you can do both.
• More productivity - 80% of workers say they are the same or more productive since adopting a hybrid working model.

But hybrid working is not always a seamless switch between the office and the home. No working model is perfect and there can be some downsides, such as:

• Difficulty keeping up with hybrid schedules - With more variation in your team’s schedules, it can be difficult to arrange in-person meetings and get everyone in the office at the same time
• Overworking - According to the Office of National Statistics, employees who spend more time working from home are less likely to receive a promotion. Trying to overcome that presence bias can lead to overworking.
• Loneliness - 55% of hybrid employees feel lonelier at work than they did when they worked full-time in the office, which could be attributed to the fact that work-based friendships naturally suffer due to the remote working model.

Thankfully, these are all challenges that you can overcome, and your hybrid office design has a very important part to play.

Designing a Hybrid Working Environment for Success

If hybrid working is going to be successful for your business, your office layout may need to change or you may need to relocate to a serviced office space, giving you the flexibility you need to host remote and in-office workers.

You need to create a space that allows for collaboration, knowledge sharing and unplanned encounters, but that also lets employees get their heads down and work privately. Here are a few of the most important design elements of a well-thought-out hybrid office design.

Create spaces for one-on-one conversations

With a large proportion of your employees working from home, conversations between office-based and remote workers will become a regular occurrence. Investing in an effective video conferencing system and creating specific zones, such as soundproof booths and huddle spaces, where in-office workers can speak privately to their remote counterparts is key.

Include social zones

The hybrid working model is all about blurring the lines between work and play. Bringing a sense of fun to the office with social areas like cafes, bars and breakout spaces will spark conversations, help people reconnect and attract them back into the office. It can also strengthen the sense of community and increase the likelihood of chance encounters and cross-functional connections.

When incorporating social spaces into your hybrid working environment, go beyond the aesthetics and think about the vibe you want to create. As an example, floor and ceiling sound absorbers can control noise levels in relaxed zones while gentle soundscapes can encourage connections in social settings.

Make comfort a priority

With employees getting used to the comfort of working from home, make it a priority to bring homely elements into your hybrid office to help create a warm and welcoming environment. Comfortable furniture, ambient lighting, plants, rugs and lots of soft furnishings can all help to put your employees at ease and help them reach their potential. Forget rows of desks - instead, focus on comfortable and fluid spaces that let the creativity flow.

Incorporate cloud-based booking systems

One of the more difficult aspects of hybrid office design is creating a space that can accommodate different numbers of employees from one day to the next. This can be solved by reconfiguring the space to include hot-desking areas and investing in a cloud-based desk booking system. This allows workers at home and in the office to book both workspaces and meeting rooms in advance. Meanwhile, employees who are strictly in the office can have their own set desk space.

Having a clear booking system can reduce any waiting times for meeting rooms and remove the risk of employees travelling to work only to find that no desks are available.

Create spaces that don’t look like work at all

The best hybrid offices often don’t look like workspaces at all. Instead, they prioritise choice, with lots of different zones, from comfy, cafe-style areas to laid back lobbies where employees can grab a seat and work in a way that suits them. Using modular office furniture to create collaborative and private spaces should provide something for everyone.

We’re Here to Help You Find Your Perfect Office Space

Interested in a bespoke consultation? Get in touch with the Knight Frank team, who will be able to directly assist with your specific needs, and help find the best way to accommodate them.

The Role of Management and HR in Hybrid Work Environments

Creating new ways for people to work together is not just a job for your office design team. Management and HR must also put the processes and framework in place to smooth the transition to a hybrid working model. This all starts with open and honest conversations with all employees about the changes you’re planning to make and why.

There’s no one-size-fits-all hybrid working practice for organisations, but thinking about some of the following questions can help you put a workable solution in place:

• How can you make sure remote workers receive enough feedback?
• How will performance for remote and in-office workers be measured and managed?
• How and when will you check on the well-being of hybrid workers?
• How can you design mentoring and advocacy to fit a hybrid model?
• What steps can you take to make the hybrid arrangement an inclusive decision-making process and put the power in the hands of your teams?
• Can you create a template that each team can use to decide how they will apply hybrid working amongst themselves?
  What technology do you need to make hybrid working efficient and practicable in your business?

Creating Harmony, Wherever Your Teams Are Located

The design of your office space is central to the success of your move to a hybrid model. Whether you choose to redesign your current office space or downsize and look for a new hybrid working environment depends on the needs of your team.

At Knight Frank, we can help you find your perfect hybrid office space to rent and our service is entirely free. Just drop us a line to find a great space at the best price.

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