Here are the 3 biggest challenges and how to overcome them
Hybrid workplaces have revolutionised the way we work, offering flexibility and the potential to redefine productivity. However, the road to successful implementation isn’t without its bumps. Here, we explore the three biggest challenges of operating a hybrid workplace and provide actionable strategies to overcome them.
Challenge #1: The office feels dead on Mondays and Fridays
Mondays and Fridays often see low in-office attendance as employees gravitate towards remote work, leaving offices eerily quiet. This not only affects energy levels but also reduces the perceived value of expensive office spaces.
How to overcome it:
a. Introduce phasing: Managers and functional heads should work collaboratively with their teams to plan in-office days. By staggering attendance, businesses can ensure a steady flow of employees throughout the week.
b. Encourage hosting of anchor events: Schedule team-building activities, leadership check-ins, or workshops on quieter days to attract employees and make their trips to the office worthwhile.
c. Repurpose underused spaces: Design underutilised areas on Mondays and Fridays to serve dual purposes. For example, transform unused spaces (e.g. meeting rooms) into pop-up project / war rooms, innovation labs for brainstorming (open collaboration areas), or training spaces (anti-spaces) for skills development.
Case study: A UK-based financial services firm implemented a phased attendance policy and rebranded quiet Fridays as “focus Fridays” repurposing meeting rooms into quiet zones while hosting events in morning, lunchtime and at 4pm. Over three months, employee attendance increased by 15% and the utilisation of spaces on Fridays rose by 22%.
Challenge #2: Pockets of high and low utilisation across the workplace
Some areas of the office buzz with activity while others remain underutilised, creating inefficiencies and frustration among employees.
How to overcome it:
a. Adopt technologies to collect regular data: Implement sensors or workplace analytics tools to continuously monitor space usage. Analysing this data can help uncover patterns and write clear challenge statements.
b. Zoning your workplace: Create multi-purpose zones that sit in between neighbourhoods cater to office wide needs—collaboration, focus, or breakout—to balance the demand across heavily and lightly used areas. This way you will move traffic to the proverbial ‘slip lane’.
c. Blend teams in neighbourhoods: Reorganise seating plans to mix high and low-utilisation teams, based on business adjacencies, to create a more evenly distributed demand for space.
Case study: A multinational technology company in London used workplace analytics to identify underutilised zones. By introducing modular furniture and multi-functional spaces between team home zones, they increased usage rates by 30% and employee satisfaction scores improved by 18%.
Challenge #3: Sudden flow of people on specific days
Certain days see an overwhelming surge of employees, leading to an event type busyness, strained amenities and limited availabilities of collaboration areas.
How to overcome it:
a. Use data to anticipate peaks: In fact, Airports do this well to anticipate pax flow – leverage tools such as meeting room booking data to predict high-traffic days and plan accordingly. Let functional heads and managers know that they need to inform you in advance on any attendance peaks.
b. Create overflow capacity: Design flexible spaces—such as library areas that can double as co-working zones—to absorb excess demand during peak days.
c. Assist people: Identify champions within your organisation who can help manage these peak days by providing guidance and support to employees.
Case study: A consultancy firm faced a weekly surge on a Wednesday. By setting up flexible overflow workspaces and training team leads as ‘office champions,’ they managed to reduce complaints by 40% and improved workspace efficiency.
Bonus tip: Maintaining employee satisfaction amidst hybrid complexities
Hybrid work requires consistent experiences to maintain employee satisfaction. Mismanagement can lead to frustrations from overcrowding or wasted trips to a quiet office.
Actionable insights:
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- Deploy fast and cost-effective pulse surveys to gather regular feedback and understand employee concerns.
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- Ensure hybrid work policies are consistently communicated and applied across teams. Provide training for managers to effectively lead hybrid teams.
Why it matters:
A seamless hybrid experience not only boosts employee satisfaction but also strengthens their connection to the workplace, making the office a place they want to visit rather than avoid.
Conclusion
Hybrid workplaces are the future, but they require intentional design and strategic management. By addressing these challenges head-on, corporate real estate leaders can create workplaces that balance flexibility, efficiency and employee satisfaction.
The question isn’t whether hybrid work is here to stay; it’s how prepared you are to make it work for your people and your business.
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Find us on info@worktransformers.com or reach out to Sam directly on sam@worktransformers.com