Rising demand for flexible workspaces

The increased popularity of remote working has resulted in more demand for flexible workspaces. Although often criticised in the past for depersonalising the workplace, and being motivated only by money-saving (reducing the amount of office space used), it’s now enjoying a renewed appeal. Offering a friendly space promotes creative interactions and well-being at work, therefore reshaping the relationship between work and corporate culture. 

Long before Covid-19, making office spaces more flexible was already becoming popular. In 2018, a study by Savills and Workthere reported a significant increase in the percentage of requests for flexible office spaces within Europe, compared to the global corporate real estate demand. It already reached 9.9% of inquiries, i.e. 3 times more than 3 years earlier, occupying 830,000 m² of offices across Europe. Although it predictably concerns large cities such as Paris, London, and Berlin, other “secondary” European cities are also experiencing a significant increase in demand. In Stockholm and Brussels, nearly 25% of the inquiries made are now for co-working spaces.

How is the flexible workspace organised in practice?

The flexible workspace can consist of the sharing of an office, it can also take the form of a completely free space where no workstation is assigned.

It is also possible to opt for a halfway solution, with open spaces without allocated spaces, but dedicated to each of the company’s departments, allowing both the preservation of reference points and constructive interaction for each team.

Hybrid formulas combining workspaces and relaxation areas can also be made available to employees to maintain team cohesion. Lastly, other spaces can also be planned to optimise the concentration of teams. This is the case for: 

• “Phone-booth spaces” (rooms dedicated to calls);
• “Meeting-boxes” where employees can have meetings with optimal acoustic comfort;
• “Focus rooms” allowing a more private setting if employees need maximum concentration.

This redefinition of space will depend both on the company’s flexibility, on your goals, and your teams’ feelings about their adaptability to a less sedentary workspace. 

Lower costs for businesses

For many businesses, the main advantage of flexible workspaces is often to reduce the costs associated with office space. Fewer designated offices equal less space required. Even though it relies on a certain degree of remote working and ‘hot-desking, the hybrid approach is also part of long-term development. The individual space available in large companies has fallen from 40 m2 in 1980 to… more or less 15 m2 today. 

According to several studies carried out before Covid-19, at least 50% of employees said that they did not need a personal office provided they had all the necessary equipment to be able to work efficiently. 

Flexible office spaces, inseparable from remote working

The success of remote working following the Covid-19 crisis is now speeding things up. The vast majority of employees (81%) wish to continue remote working from one to several days a week, which truly raises the question of maintaining a personal workstation on company premises. Why reserve a personal workspace for everyone if it remains empty part of the time? 

The need for essential support from employees

This flexible way of working is often criticised for causing depersonalization of space or even creating additional stress due to the loss of the familiar. A hybrid approach effectively combines the need for the familiar (working from home) and being able to interact face-to-face. This flexible system allows employees to cultivate a real quality of life at work, and retain the feeling of being in control of their working environment. 

Some like the socialisation of the office; others like the calm of remote work; most appreciate being able to switch from one to the other. The freedom to choose your place of work is undoubtedly a powerful factor of autonomy. It also gives one a very strong sense of control. And, as Gaëtan de Lavilléon, doctor of neuroscience, emphasises, the sense of control is “associated with greater job satisfaction in general and, ultimately, better performance“. 

To gain the support of all employees, it is therefore essential that the flexibility does not go against this need for control. Otherwise, you might as well stay at home! This is why it may also be wise to involve employees in the design of workspaces. This is, for example, the choice made by Airbnb for its American headquarters in Portland.  

Finally, to avoid fuelling the frustrations associated with the loss of an individual office, it is essential that everyone feels that the new hybrid approach offers a new opportunity to connect with others within the company. From this point of view, the flex office must be seen not only as a workspace, but also as a place of conviviality, conducive to creative interactions, and where everyone enjoys going and meeting up.

Make the flexible workspace a collaborative hub

This is, for example, the model advocated by Peugeot. Last spring, the French car manufacturer announced that on-site presence would now be mandatory only… 1.5 days per week. 40,000 employees worldwide were affected. The challenge here was to make each in-person encounter a rich and productive moment. “As HRD, if I have a work meeting in the physical presence of my teams, I will ask them not to open their laptop or check their phone. It is essential that we are focused on this session of creativity, interaction, and decision making that we have to do together“, says Xavier Chéreau, HRD of PSA, in this regard. In this way, the hybrid approach tends to turn office spaces into collaborative hubs, mostly dedicated to meeting and consultation rather than production. Conversely, individual work is carried out quietly and remotely, at home, in another location, or a co-working space. 

Flexibility, a new corporate culture

The important thing is no longer to observe the hours of presence in the office but to meet the deadlines. Everyone is then free to organise themselves as they wish, as long as they do not compromise teamwork, and do not harm the quality of the final result. 

New services are emerging to support companies in this cultural change. This is the case, for example, of the Moffi application, which lets each user know which workspace is free and which is occupied. Users can also indicate whether they plan to go to the company premises or work remotely. If necessary, it is also possible to geolocate nearby co-working spaces. Managers can see in one click how many people are working remotely and how many are present on the company’s premises. 

Remote working is also reinventing the role of managers. A true facilitator, they become more than ever the person capable of uniting teams around a common objective, setting clear horizons and precise deadlines, as well as fostering the social bond needed to maintain the group cohesion alive, and to encourage trust among its members. In short, their charisma must make them the keystone of flexibility. 

The flexible working at a time of the health crisis

Finally, hybrid working, beyond its many advantages, is still facing the challenge of the health crisis. With undifferentiated traffic and unallocated workstations, the mixing of people thus takes place on a massive scale within companies, all the more increasing the risks of contamination. It is therefore important to comply with strict protocols, including:

• Strict compliance with preventive measures and social distancing;
• Use of a day or half-day space reservation system to limit intermingling;
• Use of personal non-shared equipment (keyboard, mouse, laptops, headsets);
• Cleaning of the workspace before and after use.

All of these procedures, combined with the gradual familiarisation of employees with this concept, will ensure a bright future for a hybrid working pattern which will redefine the approach to the work environment for a long time.

For more information please visit us: www.manutan.co.uk/future-of-work