The Challenges of Hybrid Working

The Corona pandemic created a new normal in the world of work that is now already considered outdated. It led to a significant amount of the workforce working from home and cultivated a low office presence. Today, companies are asked to establish a new form of “intelligent” working, which seeks balanced and meaningful concepts for both remote and office work. Hybrid work is the buzzword of the hour: how can office-based and flexibly variable work also be designed outside the office, in order to let flourish a new work culture, in which companies make sure to include in-office and remote teams simultaneously?

Whether hybrid, in presence or digital: Modern working environments require effective room concepts

On the occasion of the already fourth edition of the New Office Summit 2021, designfunktion, Germany’s leading consulting, planning and furnishing company for working environments,  discussed a wide range of sustainable and modern hybrid working models. The format of the event was hybrid as well: experts discussed new work and modern working topics both on stage and from home. The aim was to show innovative ways in which companies can develop their full potential in hybrid work and best meet the current modern workspace transformation. After all, the challenge today is to embrace a new – more modern – work mentality. Taking into account effectiveness and healthy condition of both company and employees, the challenge is to find the right mix of physical and virtual space for each employee.

Hybrid work is also a mindset: about productivity in physical and virtual places

In the context of hybrid working, new ways of thinking are coming to the fore: it’s no longer a question of whether we embrace the transformation of our office spaces – as bestselling author Lasse Rheingans makes clear – but how we are going to do it. Intelligently designed working spaces create the ideal environment for any specific task – and this is not about employees having assigned desks. Hybrid Work takes place where interactions, exchanges and ideas can be. In fact: “innovation and inspiration can only be done at home to a limited extent,” as Vitra trend scout Raphael Gielgen explains. Hybrid work spaces also contribute to more creativity and more trust in the team right away. They are much more than just a place: They create a good atmosphere at work and have a positive effect on emotions and (mental) health.

Hybrid work spaces are expression of the changing work culture

Different characters often come together in workspaces: While some employees prefer direct face-to-face exchanges, others prefer to communicate via e-mail or message chat. Which is the most effective mix? “It’s all a question of corporate culture,” says psychologist and behavioral therapist Nora Dietrich. The question to be answered is not “How do we work on site” but rather “How do we feel on site”. Teams need diversity above all else, so modern work environments with hybrid work models are called upon to enable authenticity. Nora Dietrich sees mental health as the crucial focus: “Hybrid work and healthy working environments can be designed from the inside out.” That’s why it’s so important, she says, to make our work concepts as flexible as possible so that employees can find themselves in them in the context of their respective tasks. What conclusions can be drawn from these findings for the design of our offices?

What will the office of the future look like?

Mirja Telzerow, Director of HR and Operations at consulting firm Kearney, defines the field of necessary transformations in the context of hybrid working as follows: “Employees expect flexible working solutions; this applies to the type and time dimension of the activity as well as the spatial dimension”. In collaboration with designfunktion, the consulting firm set up its own home office store that offers agile and flexible working solutions for all employees. Kearney succeeded in creating a tight bond with the company even while employees were out of office, working together almost purely in a digital way. “Employees benefit in many ways, as they can productively complete their daily work routine at the level to which they are accustomed. We successed in creating a completely new type of identification process with the company. In terms of “corporate culture” and “employer branding,” the physical office in particular offers decisive added value,” Telzerow continues. The Kearney case shows once again how employers can lead the way with intelligent office solutions as “pulse generators” to actively help to better shape the identification process – both in the home office, but above all also in the context of office-based work in the company. Because, as the statistics clearly show, employees want to “go back” to (hybrid) work.

Remote work was yesterday: IT sector rediscovers hybrid work

Home office and remote work are not new work concepts for technology companies. Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, Tech-units had to deal with digitalization and its challenges: Online meetings, online time management tools just like “Slack” chats have been common practice for the IT-sector for a long time. “We really missed a real meeting place where employees could live and intensify social contacts,” Onapsi’s CIO Victor Montero recognized in the Corona pandemic the unique opportunity to realize the vision of a modern hybrid work space for his employees. In uncertain times of crisis, he took the bold step of planning the relocation of his cyber security unicorn to the German headquarters at Heidelberg’s “Innovation Park”. His goal was to allow each employee to choose his or her work location under self-determined conditions, in line with the motto “less space, more efficient use”. The idea was not to provide employees with fewer workstations: “We knew that the “New Normal” would have meant much more than home office,” he explained on stage at the designfunktion New Office Summit. So Onapsis deliberately decided against open spaces and desk sharing. Every employee should find a variety of different workstations in the office and be able to choose the best option for him or her. For this purpose, designfunktion conceived various fixed “sectors“ that promote teamwork and create a positive working atmosphere for more creativity and innovation in team. With such an identity-defining space concept it could be possible to strike a harmonious balance between Onapsis’ Brand Identity and the principles of “New Work”.

In conclusion: hybrid working requires not only a corresponding work culture and mindset, but also the innovatively designed, creative space. The New Office Summit 2021 provided important impulses and orientation for introducing agile processes and strengthening productivity in an increasingly dynamic working world.

Interested in New Work? Read also our article on the office of the future for agile working.