Though you’ve probably heard the term ‘future-proofing’ used more often concerning office design, future-proofing your company in the ‘new normal’ extends far beyond just carpets, ergonomic chairs and filing systems. If your company is starting your new chapter in a flexible office space with a hybrid framework, here are Clockwise’s tips for making the most of your shared workspace for the team and for tomorrow.

Communication 

We all know that communication has always been key to the successful running of a business but now, more so than ever. Communicating effectively with a team that is partly on-site and partly remote comes with its challenges but is certainly not insurmountable with a few minor process changes. Schedule in 1:1’s. Take an employee survey. Check-in with the team wherever they are. In a recent post by Peakon, suggestions on how to navigate this include becoming more intentional with communication rather than regular avalanches of Slack messages between individuals, writing everything down for the entire team to read in a company-wide email and being very aware of both tone of voice and location bias.

Collaboration

Collaboration is still an integral part of potent productivity for employees but also, one of the oft-touted hurdles of the hybrid shared workspace. Much like communication, all it takes is a shift in processes to make it work effectively. According to Deloitte, over 100 digital collaboration products were launched in the first eight months of 2020 alone. Paired with the breakout spaces and brainstorming areas available with flexible office space solutions, there is no reason at all that you can’t see the output of the successful collaboration between your team for years to come, even if the designer is in your shared workspace in Liverpool and the project manager is fully remote in Germany.

Health & Wellbeing

Recently, our COO Alexandra Brunner wrote a blog post sharing her thoughts on why ignoring mental health is bad for business. Not only does it cost UK employers billions of pounds a year but also fosters a toxic culture where productivity is more important than people. Taking the time to craft a wellbeing strategy now can pay dividends – at Clockwise we run regular initiatives like Wellbeing hours and partnerships with mental health schemes like Myndup to help you create a positive environment for the health of your team and your business.

Company Culture

Encompassing many parts of a business, company culture should be a priority as you step into the future. However, what that looks like will differ greatly from business to business. It might be social events that take place in a virtual setting so the whole team can attend. It may be an education bonus that allows employees to undertake personal learning or charity work. It might be putting a process in place to quickly and effectively manage workplace conflict. It might be as simple as really driving forward the company’s shared purpose. Whatever it looks like for you, it’s of utmost importance to remember that, when dealing with a hybrid team, company culture must be inclusive of everybody, no matter where they are.

Many diverse pieces come together to make up the puzzle of the shared workspace and the finished product is not going to fit together in the same way for everyone. Get in touch if you’re still looking for the perfect new home for your team, we take your specific requirements and craft them in a way that will help you future-proof for the team of today and tomorrow.