Hybrid Workplace Design Ideas to Consider

Recovery from the pandemic resulted in a host of remote solutions being invented or perfected. These not only helped in keeping businesses running but also created new modes of working. The most popular term being used in business today is hybrid workplace design or hybrid office design. This mode ensures long-term business continuity and keeps employees connected.  

The hybrid office model is one where some workers work at home and others in the office. The setup is enabled with technology: video calls, document sharing, online meetings, and other collaboration apps that bring distributed teams closer. In the scramble to deploy these solutions, new challenges were discovered. The hybrid workplace design needs to be more flexible. If you find your workspace in a similar fix, consider these considerations when smoothing things out.   

More flexibility

The IT tools you use determine the flexibility of your hybrid workforce. It might even make you rethink your entire hybrid work model design as well. That’s a good thing because some of your hardware might not be suitable for some platforms. As more employees take up remote working, spruce up your LAN connections, remote connectivity software, and the systems that use these two things. At the same time, choose a premium security enhancement that ensures the safety of your data and employee privacy.    

Employee comfort

Fit your hybrid workplace layout with all of the latest desks, chairs, fit boards, and any other equipment you think is necessary. When your employee is comfortable, they enjoy a better experience. This experience can only be delivered when they find that their spot is comfortable, ergonomic, and conducive to productivity.

This should be the case for employees at home as well. Ensure that all home-based employees have the same flexible workspace too. Provide the same tools for productivity and collaboration. They might even need additional devices like microphones, headsets, displays, and seating or desking arrangements.   

Additional training

Upgraded technology for your hybrid workplace design may be smooth and fast, but it leads to one more issue: using it. Some team members might not know how to use it, and this could hamper productivity. Instead, add a technology adoption or training program to your hybrid work model. This gives everyone an idea of an ideal platform or tool utilization.

If you have an IT team or stretched thin personnel while aiding remote and on-site teams, try one more thing. Ask them to develop pre-recorded or online sessions on tools in use in your office. Upload these videos onto your office intranet network.   

Ensuring better communication

Keep all tools ready for use so you can reach out to individuals at any time with information. You do need to be mindful of work hours and communicate work-related messages during that time only. In the rare case, you may have to reach out to someone outside work hours. Building a community outside the office setup may help with this.    

Hoteling desks system

Some hybrid workplace designs have adopted the hoteling desks as a hybrid workplace. Here, they might pre book several desks in a shared office space. This concept is where smaller offices in remote working can access space for a smaller amount of time.

It helps them meet up to collaborate, and they invest a minimal amount of capital – usually, they pay for the amount of time they use those desks. Shared office spaces typically have a concierge system where you need to reserve a desk beforehand and then check-in. If you already have your office, you walk in and claim the first open space you see.

Think about keeping such a hoteling office space ready for use. Should employees need it? This may turn out to be a cost-effective hybrid working solution for acquiring office space on the fly. This saves on the time lost when waiting for a desk or space to be made available.  

Revising work metrics

Keeping track of the number of hours worked, how faster employees work, or assessing their engagement based on their chat responses won’t work. Work metrics are more flexible, focusing more on the quality of a completed task than the number of hours clocked.

The hybrid working model should be based on aligning objectives first to make this happen. Next, relay all expectations regarding productivity clearly and concisely. Finally, trust in your employees to carry out a task till completion without calling or pinging too frequently.   

Adding the Autonomous Hybrid digital solution to your Hybrid work model

It would be really nice if you could make your hybrid workplace designs more flexible. What would be even better is if you could automate how flexible your workplace could be! Intrigued? What exactly does that mean? Starting up a hybrid layout is easy only when you have some ways to manage it. In the IT era, there are several software or apps that can help you do that.  

Software can now be used to manage how you work. The Hybrid from Autonomous is one solution that’s made for the digital era. It’s a tool that connects team members as they work from home or office, making each desk or space in your office more flexible.

Productivity is increased tenfold, as the Autonomous Hybrid lets your employees book the desk of their choice. Deploying hot-desking has all the benefits of the modern workplace. The solution is perfect for ensuring safety via social distancing, as employees book workstations when available. The Autonomous Hybrid can work on all PCs and mobiles so employees can get a hot desk in a matter of minutes.

No waiting list saves them time. With an easy-to-use desk booking system in place, you could reduce office space and overhead costs. Autonomous Hybrid gives you a complete visual of your flexible office layout, so you can plan how things will be. All employees have access to this visual and are aware of when each resource is available.  

You can manage all your desks and assign available desks when required to streamline your new hybrid pattern. Employees can even use the platform to manage desk timings and availability better.

If you feel that specific desk layouts in your hybrid workplace design aren’t working, use the Autonomous Hybrid to optimize booking schedules and resources. You can keep on adjusting till you get the right fit, adding or removing desks as you need.