Successful hybrid work requires the integration of four categories: office space design, policy, technology, and communication and feedback. All four areas need to support both your in-person and remote employees for you to have an engaged, productive, and innovative workforce in the hybrid work era. See what your score means and how you can improve your hybrid work strategy today.
Advanced (80-100)- Impressive use of various office neighborhoods to support new ways of hybrid working. Consider updating ways of tracking office space use to adapt to changing needs and optimizing space.
Intermediate (60-79) - Nice work designing office spaces that support a variety of work styles and needs. Consider optimizing your space with space management software for more robust space tracking.
Beginner (less than 60) - You’re making progress designing office spaces fit for hybrid work. For more productive and engaging designs, try creating office neighborhoods that meet a range of work styles and needs.
Turn your office building into a high-quality building. That means providing more space types (game rooms, innovation hubs, libraries) and amenities (coffee shops, restaurants, outdoor spaces) for your employees to choose from. High-performing workplaces are twice as likely to be in a high-quality building (Gensler). Not only do high-quality buildings help improve performance, they also act as a magnate for employees to want to come to the office. 86% of younger workers said they would be willing to come into the office more often for amenity-rich neighborhoods that provided their ideal mix of experiences (Gensler).
Create office neighborhoods so employees can always find the space they need to do their best work. Office neighborhoods can be dedicated to particular departments, job functions, project needs, or equipment requirements. In 2023, offices designed for activity-based working were most common and had the highest utilization rates (CBRE). These are spaces that promote hot desking and office neighborhoods with functions that directly support the work performed in that space (e.g., copy rooms, labs, and server closets) and a variety of meeting spaces.
Make sure that your office design meets new office space demands and hybrid working patterns. In a survey of 14,000 office workers across nine countries and ten industries, Gensler research found there are four categories of spaces essential for office workers: spaces for individual work, creative group work, reflecting and restoring, and connecting and recharging. Most (90%) office workers have easy access to at least one of these spaces, yet only 47% have access to all four spaces. That may mean repurposing underutilized spaces to a space type that fits your hybrid workforce’s needs.
At a time when organizations are reducing real estate to control costs and meet sustainability goals, space use optimization is increasingly becoming critical. Organizations need a good way to track space usage so they can make informed decisions on how to best meet their employees’ needs while staying productive and meeting business goals. Leverage space management software with insights and analytics to track space usage and make informed decisions on how to optimize your office layout. For instance, you can reduce the number of individual desks if you see that most are not being used on a regular basis.
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Advanced (80-100) - Great job implementing a hybrid work policy that empowers employees to do their best work. Keep supporting work flexibility and intentionally planning in-office days.
Intermediate (60-79) - Good work implementing a hybrid work policy that empowers employees to do their best work. Consider giving your teams more opportunities to decide when and how to plan for in-office days.
Beginner (less than 60) - You’re off to a great start in implementing a better hybrid work policy. Empower teams to decide on their hybrid work schedules to work better both in and outside the office.
Empower your teams to make their own hybrid work schedules that give purpose to in-person days. Team-decided hybrid models yield a 13% boost in joy over top-down mandates. Employees who enjoy their work are 49% less likely to say they would consider taking a new job than employees who don’t enjoy their work (BCG). Larger companies may provide some guardrails in terms of how many days to be in the office per week or month for better coordination, but teams should have the majority of the say.
Intentionally plan your office days for in-person collaboration and relationship-building. In-office days should be for work that’s more challenging to do in a virtual setting, such as mentoring, creative brainstorming, and resolving conflicts. By planning some days in the office intentionally, 83% of companies say collaboration on new projects is as good or better than before the pandemic when everyone was on-site full-time (Statista). While emphasizing in-office days, organizations should still allow for some work schedule flexibility dependent on individual, team, and business needs.
Lastly, organizations should clearly outline expectations, guidelines, and procedures in your hybrid work policy for both remote and on-site work. That includes setting core work hours, expectations around availability and response time, and communication methods for varying urgency. According to CBRE, organizations with successful hybrid programs have documented workplace policies and guidelines. Additionally, organizations that have clearly communicated leadership expectations are most likely to see the desired behaviors from employees.
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Advanced (80-100) - Amazing job providing your employees with a variety of reliable tech tools to help them effectively work no matter their location. Remember to continually evaluate and update your tech stack to adapt to hybrid work changes.
Intermediate (60-79) - Commendable work using technology to optimize office space and to help employees work regardless of location. Take it one step further by leveraging a mix of synchronous and asynchronous tech tools for more productivity and efficiency.
Beginner (less than 60) - You’re on the right track with leveraging technology to improve hybrid working. Consider using new tools like space management software to make space and resource bookings easier for all employees.
Organizations are increasingly using tech to be more efficient and productive, especially when working with distributed teams. 83% of employees said that good technology was an important factor in their work—only behind pay equity, a supportive manager, and health benefits (Owl Labs). In its Future of Work Study 2022, Accenture emphasizes that “what separates those workers who are productive from those who are disconnected and frustrated is not stress, but whether they have the right resources on an individual and organizational level to help them be productive anywhere.”
With technology being the main way to connect distributed teams, losing time throughout the workday because of tech issues is significant and should be resolved. According to Unisys, nearly half (49%) of employees lose between one to five hours of productivity per week dealing with tech issues; 23% lose six hours or more. Upgrading your organization’s tech stack and providing training for troubleshooting tech issues are good areas to start.
Ensure that your hybrid work tech stack incorporates both synchronous and asynchronous tools. In a hybrid environment, employees may find themselves in back-to-back meetings that leave them no time to focus on heads down, independent work. Leveraging a good balance of both kinds of work can help employees be more productive. Save synchronous work like in-person meetings and video conferences for work requiring immediate reciprocal interactions and responses. For non-urgent matters that employees can attend to on their own time, use asynchronous tech like pre-recorded videos and project management tools.
Consider refitting conference rooms with the right tech tools to empower hybrid collaboration. That may mean leveraging a conference room scheduler to coordinate hybrid meetings, including reserving meeting rooms and sending out meeting invitations. Incorporate collaboration tools like whiteboards that allow remote participants to demonstrate their ideas in real time for everyone to see. Use the chat features while on a video conference to encourage more participation by allowing for non-disruptive questions and comments. Tech tools can and should be used to ensure that in-person and remote participants can equally participate in the discussion regardless of location.
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Advanced (80-100) - Bravo on fostering clear communication and feedback loops among your employees. Having a pulse on how your hybrid work strategy is faring will help you successfully adapt to hybrid work changes.
Intermediate (60-79) - You’re on your way to improving your hybrid work strategy with better communication. Try to regularly solicit feedback from employees to understand their experiences with the hybrid work model to make improvements.
Beginner (less than 60) - Your efforts in improving your hybrid work strategy are noticeable. Consider multiple ways of communicating and collecting feedback to evaluate the success of your hybrid work approach.
Clear and consistent communication is crucial to implementing a successful hybrid work strategy. Organizations should use multiple communication channels to ensure that all employees receive the messages. Messages should be clear, concise, and aligned with organizational objectives and employee needs. Additionally, communication should not be a one-way street. Encourage employees to provide feedback, ask questions, and share their experiences throughout the entire process.
Collect feedback from all your stakeholders—and collect it regularly. Oftentimes, asking for feedback during the exit survey is too late. Use data and 'measure what matters.' That includes your hybrid work strategy’s impact on productivity, talent acquisition and retention, and employee satisfaction. Companies can build trust throughout their organization by sharing the data and taking action on the feedback.
Leveraging multiple ways to gain insights into how to better your hybrid work experience will be key to ensuring your hybrid work strategy adapts to the changes. Here are some examples:
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