The Workplace in 2022

The Workplace is (finally) a compelling place to be. Sustaining human beings is the number one goal of any workplace. Defining human sustainability will move beyond a narrow focus on water and air, and embrace a broader idea: What do people need for their physical and mental health, and how does that drive design decisions?

When describing an effective workplace that prioritizes drawing employees back, the best list is almost always consists of: an urban vibe, a collegial environment, and a walk in the park. These ideas are increasingly important if we intend the office to be the heart of an organization’s culture and entice people downtown whether from across town, in from the suburbs, or from across the globe.

The pandemic has launched a variety of hybrid working flavors so the role of the office in enticing employees to come together when they need to be together is critical. Effective workplaces are the result of  experimentation: Try it out and fail — spectacularly if necessary — but evaluate what really brings joy and draws happy and healthy people together to be their very best.

Yes, you probably need less office space. Fewer people will be in the office at any given time. Solo workspaces no longer make up the bulk of an organization’s office, and those that are necessary don’t even need to be assigned one-to-one. Spaces will become truly fit for purpose and better support the workforce as companies explore what their work really is.

Even before the pandemic, surveys and evaluations showed that on any given day, 70% of employees were at their workplace. A workplace where even 50% of desks were occupied at any one time was almost an outlier. The pandemic has only amplified what seems to be a disconnect between what an organization builds and what they really need.

The key here is truly an inside-out perspective. Instead of benchmarking others, why not benchmark yourself? What really works for a specific organization may not work for another. What amplifies the culture and sustains employees in one workplace may not be as effective at another. Admittedly, workplaces won’t simply get smaller overnight, but the need for different spaces is clear.

Being clear about why an organization has an office, what it’s intended to do, and what the work really is are keys to developing a solution that is sustainable and not simply today’s flavor.

Real flexibility is paramount. Flexibility must allow office users to tailor office space to what they need, when they need it, and enable them to make changes themselves in real time. Building owners, landlords, and workspace execution teams are exploring exciting ideas to accommodate dynamic changes to a workforce as how much and what kind continue to challenge planners.

The pandemic has amplified a couple of ideas: Change can happen rapidly, often without warning, and the enormous energy needed to define the next normal can be taxing and stressful for any organization — even debilitating for some.

A different approach to the execution and delivery of effective workspace will provide an enormous boost to business flexibility and a new mindset about what a workplace can be — less an expense to be managed, and even better, an effective tool that can accommodate or even amplify a business’s transformation.

How we think about what a workplace is, how we define the specific arithmetic of what a business requires, and how we employ a systems methodology to thinking about a workplace are the linchpins to a more effective approach to the physical space.

What if physical change could be achieved overnight at no cost to the business in terms of both dollars and disruption?

The office will be a place of innovation. In all the hybrid talk, there is often little mention of the importance to an organization to promote and encourage innovation.

The most effective workspaces are designed to help an organization amplify and encourage innovation — the kind of thinking that sustains the business and makes it thrive. Spaces that create collisions and promote real collaboration will be prioritized.

For example, simple steps like corridors that allow two people to walk next to each other (and/or be socially distanced!), have upended the mindset that efficient use of real estate is defined by the least amount of circulation space. Efficiency factors now measure whether the space really supports the work an organization does and defines what people really need to do their work.

Another idea is using corridors as effective informal meeting spaces themselves: Wall materials, lighting, whiteboards, and other analog technology can help transform a prosaic hallway into an effective spot for collaboration and innovation.

The pandemic has upended the traditional office in a way we might not have imagined two years ago. This will continue — technology will improve, collaborative tools will better integrate far-flung colleagues, and the advantage many home setups already have over traditional workplaces will be amplified. The irony that homes designed for living support workers better than offices designed for work should not be lost on the people  who design, build, and deliver workspaces.

The stakes are high because we have learned this really matters. There are boundless opportunities for organizations that align their workplace with their business strategy.

An architect and a pragmatic futurist, Larry Lander has an innate ability to vividly portray possible futures that are rooted firmly in the present. As a principal and PDR’s director of programming, he guides business leaders to ask more of their workplaces — to consider what is, what if, and why change?