Introducing the ‘Hybrid Model’ into your workplace & how to prepare accordingly…

Workplaces are adapting to many changes, some even for the better. It is still unclear if these changes are steady or yet to change again but one thing facility managers are certain about is that this is the new ‘normal’. Social distancing had never been something which workplaces had to take into consideration however now facility manager professionals need to find innovative and creative ways to re structure office spaces, this can also be related to the transition to a ‘modern workplace’.

How will one decipher who will return to the office and who will remain at home?

The first thing managers will need to take in to account when making such decisions is the level of physical importance each employee holds. Managers will need to accurately decipher which employees can work at home and which should return to the offices, in order to successfully adapt to a hybrid workplace. Hybrid working is becoming the new normal and since it will most likely not leave us once the pandemic comes to an end, managers should start thinking of the best ways to introduce such agile ways of working.

• Hotdesk (hoteling)

Managers can look into the idea of ‘hot desking’, by reducing the number of employees which have permanent desks. This will immediately increase space since when an employee is not in the office the desk will be available for use, thus automatically reducing the amount of space needed.

• Remote workers

The question is in fact, how important is it for that employee to be in the office, managers will need to accurately decipher which employees can work at home and which should return to the offices, since not all employees need to be physically present in the office, and in fact may even be more productive from home.

“A recent Gartner poll showed that 48% of employees will likely work remotely at least part of the time after COVID-19 versus 30% before the pandemic”

• Employee shifts

One-way facility managers can utilize space and better adapt to the hybrid model is by sharing desks between employees, since employees will work in different shifts, by using the same desks for the same workers managers will then be able to reduce the amount of space needed. Thus, while some employees work from home, less desks are left unutilized.

Things which changed won’t necessarily go back to the way they were before the pandemic. Take advantage of the current situation and use this time to adopt flexible/agile ways of working since hybrid workplaces will be the new normal. POC’s solution offers relevant tools such as, employee shifts, hot desking and more, aimed to contribute to a ‘smoother’ shift from traditional ways to the modern workplace when adapting to the ‘Hybrid workplace model’. In addition, we invite you to checkout our COVID-19 resource page , aimed to help during times like these ones.