How to design a workspace that works for your team whilst hybrid working

Hybrid working is a concept that has been accepted by employers since they realised that teams can work just as effectively remotely as they can in the office after we had to work from home to adapt to the covid-19 pandemic.

Now that everyone has been given the green light to return to office working, many employers have offered hybrid working as an option and employees are all for this, so what does this mean for the office workspace layout? 

To ensure teams can work effectively wherever they are based it is important to start with the design of your office and make sure it supports your new hybrid teams. This could mean removing aspects of the office that once worked well for the team and incorporating new factors to adjust to post-covid working methods. 

Paul Dawson, Director at Meridian Interiors, has provided his tips and suggestions on how employers can transform their workspaces to adapt to hybrid working.

Introduce ‘hot-desking’

Due to the work from home and office split, the need for an allocated office desk is no longer necessary. Introducing more of a hot-desking environment is much more effective, by creating office space with a setup that allows you to simply plug in your laptop and make use of the fixed screens. This means the team can work at various desks with different colleagues without having any difficulties.

Zoom Rooms and phone booths

Flexible working has meant that zoom calls are not entirely a thing of the past as we once thought they might be. Video calls still play a vital role in keeping the team connected and will be needed often for office workers and home workers to collaborate effectively. Having rooms to privately take calls is a great way to incorporate this new way of working and it means that employees can take themselves into a quiet room where they can focus and not distract others in the office too. 

Include resimercial design

Resimercial design brings elements from the home office into the work office space by creating an environment and a place we have become used to in our time working from home. This is a great way to ease employees back into the office working after months at home. Offices are including features such as sofas, floor lamps & bookcases that can bring elements of people’s homes to the office.

Create multiple breakout spaces

With many people used to spending lunch breaks at home catching up with chores or watching TV, socialising with colleagues again may feel strange and take some getting used to. Creating a breakout room where employees can go to clear their heads, grab a bite to eat and socialise in a place where you can still social distance if needed is a great way to bring people together again. Providing comfortable seating and tables is advised to help your employees relax and feel at home. Having a great sociable space to enjoy lunches and seeing colleagues also makes people appreciate the balance of office working and realise its importance. 

It is important to make changes that benefit your team specifically and help improve the quality of everyone’s working environment. With hybrid working here to stay it is best to adapt to these new ways of working as soon as possible to ensure your team’s productivity remains high.