3 Strategic Additions to Support Hybrid Workers

3 strategic additions to support hybrid workers in the workplace

Hybrid work is now the norm for 80% of people. This means that work is done primarily in two work environments – the workplace and the home office. Both environments offer certain benefits depending on the work activity.

Leesman research has found that the home office better supports individual tasks such as one-on-one phone calls, business confidential conversations, and individual or collaborative focus work. Meanwhile, the workplace supports connection activities, like getting face time with colleagues, hosting guests, attending a training, or accessing physical materials.

Hybrid working can balance the best of both worlds, especially when people are given the freedom to choose the environment best suited to their tasks. But finding that balance requires a thoughtful approach – and going from a quiet home office into a noisy, crowded workplace can be particularly jarring. This article looks at three strategic product additions in hybrid workplaces that can ease the transition between the home and work environments.

The first addition addresses a universal workplace pain point: acoustics.

Add phone booths and quiet rooms to support focus work

Hybrid workers have found that some work tasks – especially focus work and phone calls – are more productively done at home. When hybrid workers come in the workplace, they will generally do more collaborative activities – but that doesn’t mean focus tasks cease. It is critical to manage the acoustic experience of hybrid workers, making the workplace as supportive an environment for focus tasks as possible.

If an employee has a positive experience – quickly finding a quiet space for an impromptu phone call from a top client, for example – then they will feel less resistance to the office on their in-person days.

But if that interaction is botched – if the employee is stuck having a spontaneous call in a stairwell or noisy lobby, for example, leaving an important client unhappy – that employee will begin to feel hesitation about coming in.

Acoustic privacy and background noise are top concerns for workers in a traditional office. Providing phone booths and meeting pods – in sufficient quantities – will enable hybrid workers to find supportive settings for focus tasks. (Here’s an easy rule-of-thumb to check your acoustic landscape: Hushoffice recommends one phone booth for every 8 people and one small group meeting pod for every 12 people.)

Phone booths or meeting pods work best when complemented by semi-private soft seating settings nearby. Such areas support tasks that require only moderate acoustic privacy, freeing up phone booths and meeting pods for tasks that require significant acoustic privacy.

Now that hybrid workers have experienced how effectively home offices support private conversations or focus tasks, the feeling of a lack of privacy will only be exacerbated. For this reason, quiet rooms and phone booths are a strategic – and crucial – addition to support hybrid workers.

Next, we’ll look at how smart storage can relieve stress for hybrid workers.

Smart lockers take the stress out of ‘stuff’

One of the less commonly acknowledged benefits of the home office is that people don’t have to lug anything around. There are no backpacks or laptop bags. There is no hunting for outlets, and people don’t have to worry about forgotten chargers. A favourite mug is ready on the desk. There is a book to read during lunch – and it can even be a hardcover, because people don’t have to worry about carrying it around.

A hybrid workplace will usually entail unassigned, shared work surfaces. All the things people are accustomed to keeping on home office desks won’t fit on a shared worktop. But people will always have stuff; that is inevitable! Not all of it can be left behind – and carrying and storing all those things in a hybrid workplace is often an added stressor.

Before hybrid working, people may have been accustomed to a dedicated workstation with a pedestal. They might have had personal, assigned storage like a locker. Nowadays, such assigned storage is unlikely to be a feature of most hybrid workplaces, because it is not an effective use of space when few people come into the office every day.

Smart lockers are an effective workplace addition to reduce stress when people come into the office. Smart lockers can be booked via an app before coming in – so hybrid workers will have peace of mind, knowing they have storage sorted. And when the amount of stuff people bring varies – it always does! – they can choose the size of locker that suits their needs that day: small for a laptop bag, medium for a gym bag, large for a suitcase.

Smart storage is a strategic product addition that will remove stress when hybrid workers go to the office.

In the final section, we’ll look at how lounge settings can support well-being.

Create lounge areas for relaxation – and eye health

The final category on our list? Lounge settings to support emotional and physical well-being.

Leesman notes that the home office effectively supports ‘relaxing or taking a break’. Especially now that hybrid workers know how it feels to relax or take a break in their home working environments – where they can shape lounge settings to their personal preferences – expectations for lounge areas in the workplace will be higher.

Thoughtful lounge settings in workplaces will draw people in. Two plush armchairs and a coffee table will invite duos to have a quick catchup over coffee. A sheltering high back sofa opposite two high back chairs will give small groups a semi-private sanctuary. Individual lounge chairs facing a window with a view, paired with a low coffee table, will encourage people to rest their eyes (more on that in a moment).  

Relaxation is key in these settings. Stressed, unhappy people are unproductive people. A lounge chair like the Haworth Cardigan Lounge offers a calming, hammock-like experience (and it is a milestone in Haworth’s sustainable product development journey).

And by providing a respite from screens, lounge areas can support worker well-being. Eye health is a growing concern for hybrid workers. Frequent screen use can lead to problems like eye strain and dry eye. Experts like the NHS recommend the 20/20/20 practice, which entails looking away from screens every 20 minutes for 20 seconds, focusing on something at least 20 feet (6m) away.

Providing lounge areas that discourage screen use will allow people to put this healthy habit into practice. To encourage people not to look at screens in lounge areas, pair seating with coffee tables. On the tables, put books, product samples, fun action figures, bowls of fresh fruit – anything to draw people’s eyes away from screens for a moment. (For a relaxation-oriented setting, consider not adding working height surfaces; seeing only coffee height tables is a legibility indicator that a setting is not for devices, but rather for detaching from them.)

Another tip? Put lounge areas near a coffee station – and find some excellent locally roasted coffee beans!

Support hybrid workers with acoustic landscaping, smart lockers, and lounge spaces

Hybrid work is the norm for most workers. Workplaces should aim to effectively transition hybrid workers from one environment to another – home to office – by providing them with environments that support connection activities and focus tasks.

To summarise, here are three strategic product additions workplaces can add to better support hybrid workers:

1. Phone booths and meeting pods for private conversations and focus work
2. Smart lockers to take the stress out of storage
3. Lounge areas that support emotional and physical well-being

We have products that can help you meet each of these needs – but the coffee is up to you.