{"id":85512,"date":"2022-07-13T14:53:18","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T13:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/eu-en\/?p=85512"},"modified":"2023-11-15T15:21:15","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T15:21:15","slug":"hybrid-needs-home-designing-neighborhoods-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.steelcase.com\/eu-en\/research\/articles\/topics\/hybrid-work\/hybrid-needs-home-designing-neighborhoods-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Hybrid Needs a Home: Designing Neighborhoods at Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Jo heads into the office for the first time in two years, she knows things will feel different. She doesn\u2019t have an assigned desk anymore \u2014 her company moved to unassigned spaces when they adopted a hybrid work schedule. She spends more time on video calls \u2014 over half of her meetings will mix in-person and remote participants. Her hours shift depending on her work and her life. She\u2019s excited to have more flexibility in her schedule and greater autonomy, but\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

If Jo walks into the same workplace she left two years ago, and the only difference is new policies, the office may feel empty, it could be a struggle to get work done and she may wonder why she bothered to make the commute. She\u2019s expecting the office to be better than what she has at home. She wants to connect with people in a new way, do meaningful work together, and still have her boundaries and needs for privacy respected.<\/p>\n

Why Neighborhoods?<\/h2>\n

Jo is not alone. Research<\/a> suggests her need for a sense of belonging and control over her environment are must-haves for people as organizations adopt hybrid work. The new reality is that hybrid work will change old patterns and behaviors, plus people want their workplace to be more humanized which means the office needs to respond to a new set of needs.<\/p>\n

Workplaces of the past took their cues from hierarchy and efficiency. We believe they should draw inspiration from a new source \u2014 our neighborhoods where we live, learn and grow. Great neighborhoods are diverse, inclusive and resilient. They bring people together and create a sense of community, yet they change over time to respond to the people who live there. Everyone has a responsibility to the whole, and yet people\u2019s individual identities shine. (Read why in The New Hybrid Neighborhood<\/a>). We wondered, why can\u2019t our offices be more like the places we choose to live?<\/p>\n

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If you think about a workplace like the communities in which we live, there are shared public places available to everyone, like parks, plazas and cafes, blended in with neighborhoods where people live, reflecting the unique needs and personalities of the people who reside there.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s different from the old paradigm of designing departments where everyone is assigned the same type of space \u2013 an office neighborhood is designed to be inclusive<\/strong> because it provides a diverse range of spaces that allow for differences in what people need and the ways they prefer to work. Spaces can be shared or assigned based on the degree of hybrid work or patterns of the team and the neighborhood becomes a homebase<\/strong> in the office where people feel they belong. (Remember Jo? She\u2019ll know where to find her teammates and her tools \u2014 and feel connected).<\/p>\n

Neighborhood planning is based on multi-modal<\/strong> spaces that are highly flexible and support a variety of types of work within one setting, making it easy to switch between individual focus work, collaboration, socialization and learning from simply being together. Planning is modular<\/strong>, which allows organizations to change settings within the neighborhood and be resilient<\/strong> as the team\u2019s needs change. And, they support any level of hybrid work<\/strong> policy as well as future changes.<\/p>\n

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Neighborhoods should differ based on lots of factors, including:<\/p>\n