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Back to the office! But how? Here’s why we need to rethink hybrid working
Collaboration in a shared workplace is more important than ever before—and this was evident even before the pandemic hit. Now that we are back in the office, and have been for a while now, there are still almost one in three people working from home at least part of the time. A study by the management consulting firm PwC showed that more than 70% of working people say remote work improves their work-life balance and their ability to focus.[1] Corporate managers in Germany see it a bit differently: According to a KPMG study,[2] two-thirds of the 125 respondents want to see employees back at their desks. One in four would even consider offering incentives such as a raise or a promotion to lure them back. Retail giant Amazon, by contrast, has decided to take a hard-line approach and make office attendance mandatory from 2025.
But is that the right thing to do? Wouldn’t it be better to make your workplace so creative, so inspiring and so engaging that people would rather be there than sitting alone at home in front of their laptops? There is no doubt that working from home can boost productivity, provided you get the mix right between remote and in-office work. For us at CSMM, the real questions are: What is the ideal design for today’s workplaces? And what role will the office play in the future of work? Based on the decades we have dedicated to these issues and the latest research in the field, we have formulated five theses on the workplace of tomorrow.
These 1: Oxytocin out of office: When working from home makes your hormones call it a day.
No, we are not arguing in favour of office romance; this is about the latest in scientific research. Anja Gerlmaier from Duisburg University’s Institute for Work, Skills and Training (IAQ) explains: “According to recent studies, when people only ever interact on the screen—and barely know each other or not at all—they produce less oxytocin, which we know as the bonding hormone.”[3] Scientists at the University of Münster also found that “people who spend more hours working from home have a stronger sense of social isolation and a weaker sense of belonging at the workplace.”[4]
But this isn’t just about feelings. Creativity also suffers when staff often work from home. A recent experiment conducted by the science journal Nature found that people who brainstorm together in the same room are up to 20 percent more creative than those on a video call. Melanie Brucks from Columbia University and Jonathan Levav from Stanford University had 600 subjects work in pairs to come up with innovative uses for a frisbee in bubble wrap. Half of the pairs were together in the same room, while the others collaborated over a video call. The results were hardly surprising: The online collaborators not only came up with fewer ideas, but those ideas were also less creative. An interesting side note to this: when you are with other people in a room, you tend to let your gaze wander around the office. That is not the case for people on a video conference; they keep their eyes on the screen. In other words, virtual communication narrows your field of vision—along with the opportunity to let your mind wander and expand.
Here at CSMM, we have always advocated working from home for one or two days a week. The ideal modern workplace offers a combination of virtual and in-person engagement. From the outset, our workplace designs have always prioritised giving employees an attractive place to work in the office for three to four days a week, a place where the infrastructure—and the vibes—are just right. You think that sounds complicated? Not in our experience: With the right design, we can revive even the most deserted office.
That is precisely what happened with our custom workplace design for the Reply Lab in Fiat’s iconic Lingotto building. We started designing and outfitting the global offices of this IT consulting firm back in 2016, completing more than 42,000 square meters and counting. Reply decided to locate its innovative research, experiential and office facilities in the Lingotto building in Turin, not only to strengthen customer relationships but also to inspire the Reply team. The communal areas offer a range of sports, and staff have access to a mini club with a DJ booth, hanging gardens, a gaming room with vintage arcade machines and hospitality spaces ideal for socialising and exchanging ideas. You can feel a real buzz in the place. And almost every desk is occupied, because working in the office is a lot more appealing than working from home. The Reply Lab is where the employees go to share knowledge and work on R&D; it is where strong teams envision the future.
Thesis 2: New offices need new leadership.
The workplace has to be right, but the company itself has to adapt as well.
Despite what the studies from the previous section show: Remote work is here to stay. And for good reason as well as sheer practicality: A lot of companies have reduced their office footprint to cut costs and no longer have the desk space to accommodate every employee five days a week. They have no choice but to make the hybrid office trend work for them.
That said, only one in five managers have even considered what this new world of work means for training and development. We learned this in the recent Konstanzer Home-Office Study[6] from the Future of Work Lab, an institute focused on finding sustainable, flexible and mobile management and work models that stand the test of time. If there is one key finding from the study, it is this: Hybrid work models require a special kind of leadership. Well-trained managers can succeed in revolutionising the workplace for the long term, provided they create the right conditions for hybrid working.
Whatever the motivation, companies have started rethinking the design of their offices, as evidenced in the PwC study quoted above: “While our preliminary studies indicated that reducing the size of the office was the main issue, most of today’s market players are focused on updating the furnishings and the floorplan but not changing the footprint,” as David Rouven Möcker explains, a Real Estate Partner at PwC Germany. “More clients are concerned with the quality of their office space in terms of sustainability and the well-being of the staff, especially as the debate around ESG [environmental, social and governance] gains momentum.”
One company showing us how this could work is digital solutions provider Team Neusta, where the 1,200 employees use a desk-sharing model at its locations throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. They store their files and personal belongings in a locker at the end of the day and book desks through the company app. The app also lets people know when their co-workers are scheduled to be on site in the app, in case they want to choose desks near someone or reserve a conference room for a meeting. Hybrid working as it was meant to be.
But we want to take it one step further, and advocate for workplace designs flexible enough to accommodate all employees at any time. One of the solutions here is to set up so-called home zones that are allocated for specific teams and departments. It is a concept that works—if you have the right infrastructure for agile working, you can foster team spirit and a sense of belonging. The goal: having most of the desks full on most days of the week and a strong sense of connection within the individual teams.
Thesis 3: Location, location, location! Where your office is located does matter.
The traffic pattern says it all: In-person office time rules from Tuesday to Thursday. Statistics show traffic peaking midweek, with much lighter traffic for the commute at the start and the end of the week. So, what can we do to prevent offices from being empty Mondays and Fridays? Companies looking to bring their staff back to the office are banking on what they are call “flight to quality”. This is a term used by portfolio managers to describe the tendency to invest in safe assets during a crisis, but it also it fits in the commercial real estate context as well. Put simply: Location matters.
But this does not necessarily mean your office has to be downtown. Prof. Dr. Andreas Knie at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), for example, sees decentralisation as a potential solution:[7] small flexible hubs with day-care and an attractive range of amenities. The new Clockwise building in Bremen fits the bill: offices in a range of sizes across five floors along with kitchens in the communal areas and so-called zoom boxes for digital conferences. There are breakfast options, workshops and happy hour—in other words, a range of incentives could motivate employees to come back to the office and their teams.
This is exactly what we are advocating. The appeal of the office infrastructure will entice people back into the office, even if it is not in the city centre. When it comes to your office location, added value comes in different guises, whether it is high-quality childcare and shopping nearby to neighbourhood sports and cultural activities. And yes, the rents are higher in attractive locations, but here at CSMM, we know that this investment in corporate culture and employer branding will always deliver a return. It is better to have a smaller space with a high-quality design in a good location than a large, empty office in an industrial area.
The key is to develop these offices to a high standard with the future in mind: flexible, modular and with long-term appeal. CSMM has just completed the new Munich office of the law firm Finnegan in Lehel Carree—managing everything from negotiating the lease to the initial concept as well as planning, design and project oversight. The new offices are flexible and scalable, able to easily adapt to the needs and growth targets of a modern law firm. There can be no doubt: Finnegan’s decision to move to this attractive location—and to outfit the office with everything the staff could ever need—will pay off in the end.
Thesis 4: Mediocre office spaces foster mediocre decision-making.
There is one thing we know at CSMM: Architecture matters. Or to put it another way: outstanding workplace design has an energising and motivating effect. Dr. Christoph Quarch, philosopher and founder of akademie_3 and Prof. Jan Teunen could not agree more. In their joint manifesto “Adieu Tristesse”, they call for an end to mediocrity in today’s workplaces: “Mediocrity is so dominant in the modern corporate world that you can see and feel in the workplace design. It runs rampant in countless office buildings. We consider a workplace mediocre when it has nothing to say to the people who work there. It is essentially mute, unable to engage with the users. […] And it is inevitable when functionality is the sole driver of workplace design.”[8]
In these mediocre spaces, practicality and ergonomics are the top priorities—and though these are certainly an important part of the equation, they ignore the fact that employees are multi-faceted human beings. They need social interaction, sensory stimuli and a sense of belonging within the corporate culture to bring energy and creativity to their jobs. At CSMM, we see our role as advisors and curators helping make a company’s corporate culture a visible and tangible element of the workplace design. And we do not rely on aesthetics alone; economic, environmental and socio-cultural factors are also fundamental to our workplace designs.
Another thing to consider is the ability of the workplace to stand the test of time. Today’s companies are always on the move, and they need offices that are flexible enough to adapt to changes as they happen. The way we see it, a versatile space doesn’t have to be a boring space. We can adapt it to shifting circumstances, build it, renovate it and put it back the way it was without compromising our cradle-to-cradle principles. The workplaces of tomorrow capitalise on versatility to create the best possible working conditions for the occupants. They are hybrid spaces not only tailored to the actual work being done, but also—best case scenario—appealing to the people who work there with additional amenities that go beyond their day-to-day jobs: from day-care, exercise and sports facilities to dining and entertainment.
It is the kind of place where people like to come together, collaborate, eat and spend at least part of the time having fun—and we believe that this makes people better decision-makers as well. The workplace is where companies cultivate their unique culture and a sense of belonging among the staff. In the end, this is what makes long-term success possible.
Thesis 5: The office as a place where employees feel a sense of belonging and connection. Hub & Home is the future.
As architects, we know that nothing affects us as profoundly as the spaces in which we work and live—and not solely in terms of well-being and aesthetics, but also in terms of structures and workflows. We know that well-designed workplaces foster motivation and innovation.
But what role will the workplace play in the future of work? As we see it, about 80% of the spaces in today’s office landscape are places of necessity. What a missed opportunity! After all, inspiring workplaces can help employees cultivate a sense of belonging within the corporate culture. And yet, a lot of today’s companies are only using 45 percent of their office footprint—no wonder they are starting to rethink their strategy. According to a trend study by the German Innovation Institute for Sustainability and Digitalisation, the leaders at small to medium-sized companies are not looking to reduce their office footprints, but rather to redesign their offices in terms of both furnishings and floorplan.[9] “Offering high-quality spaces focused on sustainability and employee well-being is a major factor in the debate around ESG,” explains David Rouven Möcker, Partner Real Estate at PwC Germany.
In other words, we need to rethink our offices as places of possibility and focus on the needs of the staff as well as certain groups of users. Remote working, as an extension of these places of possibility, can still be an integral part of the modern working life—offering a smart fringe benefit and a retreat for deep concentration.
A carefully considered custom workplace design can transform your office into a Hub & Home, bringing together two previously separate concepts: the “hub” (the office as a social hotspot) and “home” (a place of belonging). Employees come together in the hub and develop shared ideas in the purpose-built meeting and communal spaces we envision for the modern workplace, but that workplace can also be a corporate home where staff find purpose and meaning.
With this in mind, we see the expansion and remodelling of the workplace as an interdisciplinary process that virtually never ends. Every office needs to adapt as its needs evolve, taking a workflow-driven approach to the design. That may mean transforming versatile spaces into smaller islands of calm with partition walls or furniture, and then, just as quickly, changing them back again into agile collaborative spaces. When it comes to designing a modern workplace that fosters agility and productivity, the question is not how many square meters you have, but rather what your overall objectives are. We need to make the workplace an inspiring place that offers exciting experiences if we are serious about enticing employees back into the office.
Quellen:
Zurück ins Büro – Was vom Homeoffice bleibt“. Eine Sendung von Dirk Asendorpf für den SWR, 29.06.24
https://www.polver.uni-konstanz.de/kunze/konstanzer-homeoffice-studie/
https://office-roxx.de/2021/05/31/adieu-tristesse-raus-ins-exzellente-bueros/
https://diind.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/12diind_TrendStudie_ZukunftDesArbeitens.pdf
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