Website Planet had the chance to sit down and chat with Zerzar Bukhari, Co-Founder & CEO of Zynq, to learn how their office management platform saves working hours worth 6 figures to top brands like H&M and Albertsons.

Let’s introduce Zynq to our audience. What is it and how does it work?

Zynq is an all-in-one office management platform that organizes people, space, and time. Our platform is designed to help companies create flexible work environments for their employees, manage access to the office, optimize space utilization, and much more.Zynq acts like the heart of your hybrid workplace by managing desk bookings, rooms, visitors and much more, all in one platform.With Zynq, companies can immediately expect to save lots of money as compared to their previous manual process of managing the office. Office managers and workplace teams can spend up to 60% of their working hours coordinating desks, rooms and visitors manually. It is tedious work that is prone to errors when utilizing excel sheets, forms and various disparate software. For example, Zynq customers like Albertsons and H&M have saved over 12 full-time equivalent employee hours worth an estimated $1,000,000 dollars by switching to Zynq.The other measurable benefit businesses can expect is increased hybrid office employee worker attendance because of Zynq’s innovative Buddy system; increased visibility on how the office is being utilized and whether it is being utilized optimally; and employee satisfaction with a system that brings together a number of key office functions into one place.

How does your mission differ from the other companies in your niche?

Zynq takes a people-first approach to office management. This means that we design all of our products in such a way that employees would love to use them and benefit from them, as opposed to being forced to use them because of corporate policy.We believe employers and employees want the same thing: high-impact work in a collaborative environment. And our software makes it easier for employees to get the flexibility they need to do their jobs well while making sure the whole organization is aligned in the right direction.We believe in a future where employees are inherently trusted to make the right decisions to maximize the impact of their jobs while living a fulfilling life. We work hard every day to make that a reality for the companies that we work with.

How did it all start, and what are your achievements to this day?

Zynq originally started as a tool to make meeting bookings more efficient. As my co-founder and I were going through the process of growing our original product, the pandemic hit and we realized we could fulfill a much larger need. That need was helping companies safely bring back their employees into the office. After an initial period of everyone going remote, many companies were eager for various reasons to make it possible for people to return to the office. That’s where we saw an opportunity and built a space management platform with safety tools such as health questionnaires, contact tracing, physical distancing rules and QR scanning.Our approach to the problem was validated when we signed on huge companies like the LA Dodgers and Deciem to help their employees access their offices.We kept refining our product and growing our team as we graduated from Y-Combinator and got initial seed funding. Today, we have large contracts with Fortune 50 companies like H&M, American Express, and Albertsons to manage hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space in 70+ cities across 6 continents.

Who are your typical clients and what problems do they have when they come to you?

Zynq is an ideal tool for Medium and Enterprise size companies that have some sort of hybrid workplace policy in place, where they have a need to streamline office space access for employees and visitors.Generally, customers come to us requiring a solution for having insights on who is coming to the office, how often and whether office space is being utilized efficiently. Before implementing Zynq, normally, these processes are being managed manually using spreadsheets or Google/Outlook, requiring a huge investment of time from workplace teams and office managers. Some office managers tell us they would often spend a day or two every week managing issues related to employees coming into the office. Common problems they faced were employees showing up without a place to work, and not knowing whether users had been adhering to prescribed in-office days.What Zynq does really, really well in our space is that our software is incredibly easy to use. At the heart of how we design is simplicity. Although we have a helpdesk and guidebooks on how to use Zynq, we find the majority of users, including admins, don’t need reference materials. Zynq is that intuitive!We also take a decidedly white-glove approach to assisting our customers bring their office floorplans live by providing an in-house designer who customizes the floorplans for companies. This allows for a level of granular detail not possible with our competitors. Each company gets a dedicated customer success manager who is available as needed to ensure rollout and uptake of the software is in line with their goals.

Can you share any success stories where your product made a significant difference for a business dealing with these challenges?

I can share a great success story with Mollie, a financial technology company based in Amsterdam. As they looked to reopen their office after the pandemic, they needed a way to carefully manage occupancy with a 3:1 employee-to-desk ratio. Our desk booking system allowed them to ensure fair desk access while keeping occupancy aligned with their policies.Within just two weeks of reopening with Zynq, Mollie reached near 100% occupancy – an extraordinary achievement. We saved them over $260,000 in annual costs by freeing up their administrative staff from the burden of managing desk and room bookings manually. By providing tools for administrators to measure and distribute desk access, we kept their office full and vibrant.They even implemented customizations using our APIs to adapt desk booking to their local needs. And interestingly, they utilized Zynq Visitors to bring in pets to the office: a use-case we had never imagined, but it worked! For Mollie, Zynq made the difference in creating a seamless hybrid office experience that maintained their fantastic workplace culture. The office remains the thriving heart of their operations today.

Can you share any feedback from current customers that highlight how Zynq has positively impacted them?

Zynq enjoys a strong 4.9 review rating on the popular software review website Capterra. Here is some of the feedback we’ve received from our many very happy customers.“Customer service is great! very responsive, useful, and explanatory. The software is user-friendly and easy to use.”“Zynq workspace software is really intuitive and user friendly which is really important if you are tasked with rolling out to a large organization. The functionality is really easy to use both on your mobile or desktop and booking and canceling desks, accessing QR codes, finding where a fellow colleague(s) is sitting couldn’t be easier. Equally as an administrator Zynq is a great for managing and analyzing our workspace and provides useful information not only on a daily and weekly basis but also longer term for developing our workspace strategy. As an organization that has had a hybrid working model since 2013 having Zynq will provider greater clarity around our property requirements in the future mitigating the risk of taking on more expensive office space than we need.”“Really great. They are so fast at responding to requests and fixing issues. They are a really lovely team to work with. Always improving the app and introducing new features.”“The Zynq software has transformed the way in which we work as a charity. All of our 10 sites nationally within the UK are now operated through the Zynq software and allows various setups supporting social distancing during the pandemic. The software allows us to set up space plans for each office and staff can pick which desks they would like to sit at. Staff can also register attendance through the barcode reader on their app.”

If you had unlimited funds, what improvements would you make?

The goal for Zynq is to be a one-stop shop for all office management needs and we are well on our way there already. However, there is still much to do before we can fully realize that vision. In the future, we hope to add even more functionality to our platform including the ability to assist real-estate teams with managing leases and evaluating purchases, IT and facilities teams to track and maintain assets, security teams to help keep offices secure and running smoothly and much, much more.

Original Link: https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/zynq-interview/

The modern office is rapidly evolving, and companies must adapt their workspaces to accommodate new priorities and styles of working. One design strategy that has been gaining major momentum is hot desking. Hot desking does away with permanent assigned seats, instead allowing employees to take any open desk on a given day. This flexibility enables activity-based working, collaboration, and efficient use of office real estate.

As we head into 2024, experts predict hot desking transforming into a mainstream norm rather than an alternative approach. Here are some of the key hot desking trends expected to shape offices in the coming years:

Flexible Floorplans Created for Movement

Many traditional offices have static cubicles and unwavering floorplans. However, the offices of the future will have fluid layouts and modular furniture supporting a mobile workforce. Desks will be used to varying degrees as employees will opt to work in a variety of alternate settings like lounges, cafes, meeting rooms, and phone booths throughout the day. Offices will designate different zones for quiet focus, collaboration, learning, and quick meetings. With employees not chained to one spot, the office becomes vibrant and bustling.

A survey by office furniture company Steelcase found that 64% of employees globally prefer mobile work rather than being stuck at one desk daily. Space flexibility is a top priority for of organizations as they plan future workplaces. Companies are shrinking workstations and purchasing modular, mobile furniture to enable activity-based working.

More Shared Desks

The ratio of employees to desks will tilt more towards shared desks rather than personal assigned desks. One study finds that as much as 40% of desks remaining unoccupied on any given day. Companies can make substantial real estate savings by reducing the overall number of desks and enabling desk sharing or hot desking for the remaining.

At the same time, advancements in digital technology enable a more cloud-based, paperless work environment where employees don't need to store lots of physical files and materials at their desks. Employees can stay productive without a personal office base. Shared desks with clean desk policies will prevail as the norm.

Tech Enabling Desk Management

Tracking desk usage and availability will become a lot more sophisticated through hot desking management software. Offices will install check-in and out tablets to monitor real-time occupancy and analyze trends.

Admins will be able to see real-time desk maps to allocate space efficiently. Employees can check apps to see desk availability and reserve a spot that suits their needs. Integrated hot desk tech will transform seat bookings from a hassle to seamless.

A leader in this space is Zynq, which provides a comprehensive hot desking solution. With Zynq, companies can easily visualize desk utilization rates, run reports on usage patterns, integrate with calendar systems, and allow desk booking through a convenient mobile app. Employees can quickly find and reserve the perfect desk with just a single-click or make a batch of bookings for a few days or even weeks.

The platform integrates seamlessly with workplace apps like Slack, Teams, Office 365, Google Calendar, and more. Zynq enables administrators to optimize desk planning and space allocation for any workforce size.

With solutions like Zynq, companies can realize the full benefits of hot desking programs - increased flexibility, collaboration, and real estate savings. Intelligent hot desk management systems will become mission-critical in the evolving workplace.

Focus on Workstyles Over Dedicated Desks

Companies will design workspaces tailored to the types of work employees do rather than just job titles. Marketing teams don't use space identically to IT teams, for example. Leading organizations will study patterns of focus work, collaboration, learning, and innovation across departments. Then they will lay out floorplans, desks, and amenities optimized for those work modes.

No two employees work exactly the same either. Companies will integrate flexibility for individual working preferences into the office. Workspaces will have a variety of settings to suit whether an employee needs to do intensive research, take back-to-back calls, review complex data, or enter flow state.

Homey Touches in the Office

Offices used to prioritize sleek, sterile environments signaling productivity and professionalism. But the pandemic awakened a desire for comfort, belonging, and humanity at work. Home-like elements are being incorporated into offices to soothe employees who split time between corporate and home workspaces. Desks may integrate armchairs, soothing artwork, decorative tchotchkes, plants, and framed photos.

Unassigned desks allow employees to customize their temporary spaces and feel at home. Companies like Airbnb, Spotify, and FlexJobs have added cozy lounges, bean bags, and even hammocks to boost comfort and a casual vibe. The sterile, cookie-cutter office filled with identical desks is fading out.

Collaboration Around Shared Tables

Many forward-thinking companies are ditching individual desks altogether for unassigned seating at large shared tables. For example, client services firm PwC redesigned their Montreal office around communal tables seating 6 to 12 people collaborating.

Shared tables enable highly visible, fluid teamwork. Having quick stand-up meetings or hashing out ideas becomes natural when co-located around a table. The shared table approach will keep growing as offices emphasize creative collisions between colleagues.

Of course, acoustic controls are still important to allow focused work amidst conversation. Strategically placed sound-masking partitions, foam barriers, and noise-reducing felt materials will help strike the right balance.

More Standing and Treadmill Desks

Prolonged sitting is being recognized as a health risk, making standing and treadmill desks an appealing wellness strategy. There is a strong trend towards companies implementing more standing desks or treadmills for knowledge workers to prioritize good ergonomics. The standing desk market is estimated to reach $10 billion by 2030.

Standing meetings are also on the rise - a study by the Texas A&M Health Science Center found standing meetings to be associated with 34% shorter meeting times. This is understandable as standing can be less comfortable and so keeps participants focused on the goal. More desks and conference rooms will be height-adjustable or purposefully exclude chairs. Look for treadmill desks to go mainstream as companies address ergonomics.

Sustainability Guides Design

The green footprint of office furniture and buildouts will be top of mind. Used office furniture purchases are increasing, along with recycled or biodegradable materials. Energy savings from proper HVAC zoning and LED lights will be factored into space plans. Environmental impact will steer renovation decisions at sustainable organizations.

Lockers

When dedicated desks were the norm, employees typically had somewhere they could leave belongings when they went home, such as in drawers or simply on their dedicated desks. Post-pandemic the trend has strongly shifted towards hybrid work, with an Accenture survey stating that 83% of employees globally prefer a hybrid work environment.

Despite technology reducing the sheer number of ‘stuff’ we need to come in to the office, there are still some items people are motivated to bring and keep at the office. For those, personal lockers are a solution that is on the rise in hybrid workplaces.

Instead of dedicated desks, people can expect to have personal lockers at the office where they can keep various necessities easily accessible every time they come to the office and work at a shared hot desk.

Emphasis on Amenities

With employees hot desking desks rather than having dedicated offices, special attention will be paid to amenity spaces for rejuvenation throughout the day. Lounges, cafes, arcades, fitness studios, nap pods, gardens, massages rooms and more will provide oases away from workstations.

Amenities also reflect brand identity in more subtle ways. Outdoor retailer REI incorporates rock climbing walls and hiking trail maps at their HQ. Amenities aren’t just for fun - they provide intellectual and sensory stimulation that boosts creativity.

The bottom line is that offices are shifting from spaces designed primarily for individual tasks to environments nurturing productivity through connectivity. Hot desking leads the way in building buzzing hubs for fluid teamwork, innovation and culture. Companies not investigating flexible workspaces risk falling behind in the evolving race for talent, efficiency and competitive edge.

Adapting doesn’t mean ripping up your current office. The key is phasing hot desking layouts, furniture and technologies into spaces incrementally. Monitor utilization and gather employee feedback to home in on the right sharing ratios and amenities configuration. Lean on experienced workplace design firms to realize a vision that aligns with your strategy.

The winds of change are undeniably sweeping the corporate landscape. Is your office ready to embark on its hot desking journey? The workspace innovations coming in 2024 promise to usher in the future of work. Talk to us to see how you can start getting your office ready for the future.

Are you thinking about transitioning your team to a hybrid work model? Before you make the switch, it's important to gather input from your employees to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen many companies and businesses shift operations from in-office to working from home. The work-from-home model has proven to be efficient and cost-effective. However, there is no denying that the office has its own importance. Thus, companies have opted to incorporate the two for a synergistic result in a hybrid system of working.

"What is a hybrid office?” you may ask. A hybrid work model refers to a blend of remote and on-site work, and it can take many forms, such as working some days at the office and some days remotely or having a rotation schedule for employees.

This flexibility can have a lot of benefits for employees, such as increased work-life balance and reduced commute times. It can also have some downsides, such as a lack of team collaboration or productivity.

If you're still undecided about picking a workplace model, check out this guide (Guide to Picking a Workplace Model: Remote vs. Hybrid vs. In-Office) to help you decide.

Through a hybrid workplace survey, you can understand how your employees are currently working, what their needs and preferences are, and how to incorporate them into the hybrid model. It can also help identify the potential challenges and how to mitigate them. The data collected from the survey will help you create a plan and a communication strategy that address the specific needs of your team, so you can be sure that the transition will be as smooth as possible.

In this article, we will explore the importance of surveying employees before transitioning to a hybrid work model, the key questions to ask, and some best practices for conducting a survey that yields meaningful results.

Let's begin with why it's important to conduct employee surveys.

Change is hard

Transitioning from a traditional office model, such as 1:1 desk assignments, or from being fully remote to a hybrid model can be challenging for companies. Because company culture is so deeply ingrained, changing it can be a challenging ask.

Employees may have developed routines and habits that align with the previous model, and adjusting to a new way of working can be unsettling. Similarly, managers may have to adapt to new forms of communication and collaboration, all of which take time and effort.

It's important to acknowledge the challenges and offer support and training to employees and managers during the transition to ensure a smooth transition. Furthermore, involving employees in the decision-making process can help increase buy-in and acceptance of the change.

There may also be concerns about productivity and accountability. With employees working remotely, managers may have a harder time monitoring progress and ensuring tasks are being completed on time. This can be especially true for teams that rely heavily on face-to-face interactions and collaboration.

Misgivings about technology infrastructure can be another reason for resistance. Having a solid technology infrastructure in place is crucial for a successful hybrid model. Companies need to ensure that employees have access to the necessary tools and resources to work remotely and communicate effectively with their colleagues. This may require additional investments in hardware and software, as well as training for employees on how to use these tools.

Several businesses may also be unsure about the impact the hybrid model may have on their employees’ well-being. Remote working can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection from the company culture. Managers should take steps to ensure that employees feel connected to the company and their colleagues, even when working remotely.

Differences in Management Styles & Culture

The way that changes are handled in different companies can vary widely depending on a variety of factors, including the company culture, management style, and the nature of the change itself. Autocratic management styles tend to make decisions unilaterally and implement changes quickly, while democratic management styles tend to involve employees in the change process and take a more collaborative approach.

Some companies may have a more centralized, top-down approach to change management, where decisions are made by upper management and communicated to employees without much input or feedback.

Other companies may have a more decentralized, bottom-up approach, where changes are initiated and driven by employees and managers at all levels of the organization.

How quickly companies implement changes and adapt to them also differs. In some companies, changes are implemented quickly and with minimal planning or communication, while in other companies, changes are implemented slowly and with a lot of planning and communication. Some may have a more formal change management process in place, with designated teams and procedures for implementing changes, others may have a more informal process with little structure or oversight.

The readiness of the company to change and the perception of the change among employees can also play a role in how changes are handled. A company that has previously gone through changes and had a positive experience may be more open to new changes, whereas a company that has had negative experiences in the past may be more resistant to change.

Why Consultation Works

Going hybrid is a change that affects your employees the most, and a consultative, democratic process is often considered the most ideal when deliberating over transitioning to a hybrid working model.

Consultations allow for the input and participation of employees in the decision-making process. This approach can lead to greater buy-in and acceptance of the change among employees, as they feel that their opinions and needs have been taken into account.

By involving employees in the decision-making process through hybrid employee surveys, managers can address these concerns and work with employees to find solutions that meet their needs. This, in turn, can lead to a more successful transition and a higher level of employee engagement and productivity.

A consultative approach practically ensures that the transition to a hybrid model is successful and that employees are engaged and committed to the change.

People need some control

A psychology study shows that people need to feel in control of their work and lives in order to be successful and productive. Another says that employee control over work can reduce stress and enhance motivation and growth.

Put together, these two studies show just why it’s so important for companies transitioning to a hybrid work model to give employees more say in the decision making process.

When employees feel that their opinions and input are not valued, they may be less likely to accept and support the change. A consultative approach can help to avoid this by involving employees in the decision-making process and seeking their input and feedback.

Companies That Successfully Navigated Through Consultation

Dropbox conducted an employee survey to determine employees' opinions on hybrid work. Almost 90% of Dropbox employees agreed that they are just as productive when working from home as when they are in the office.

Figma also recently launched an employee survey to solicit feedback on a variety of topics related to the transition to hybrid work.

Hubspot conducted an employee survey too, and Hubspot employees indicated the need for the company to become a hybrid.

What Questions to Ask

It's important to ask the right questions to gain the insights you need. The Most Important Survey Questions to Ask Employees About Going Hybrid are:

Survey Questions

Keys to success

When it comes to transitioning to a hybrid work model, there are a few key pieces that need to be in place for it to be successful. One of those key pieces is having the right tools to manage and organize the hybrid policy.

That's where Zynq comes in. It's an all-in-one platform that helps offices use, manage, and optimize their space. It's like having the missing piece that makes the puzzle complete. With its smart desk and room bookings, visitor management, health and vaccine screeners, collaboration tools, and much more, it empowers companies worldwide to embrace hybrid work with ease. And its enterprise analytics give businesses the insights they need to make data-driven decisions.

Zynq is trusted by the best in various industries, such as Amex, H&M, Albertsons, Deciem, and the LA Dodgers. They have already unlocked the potential of the hybrid work model with Zynq. So, don't miss out on this missing piece of your puzzle. Zynq can help you achieve success in your transition to a hybrid work model.

The Take-Home Message

In conclusion, transitioning to a hybrid work model can be like trying to navigate uncharted waters. But by surveying your employees, you can get the map (input) you need to navigate the journey with confidence. It's like having a compass to guide you on your way, making sure you're headed in the right direction and that your crew (employees) is on board with the voyage. So, don't miss out on this opportunity, survey your employees, and set sail on a successful journey to the hybrid work model!

There was a time when work occurred at a desk, and only at a desk - a particular desk. Now, in 2023, that workplace norm is relegated to the history books for a large number of companies.

With the advent of remote and hybrid work: work happens somewhere between ‘anywhere’ and ‘everywhere’.

As a response to the seismic change the pandemic ushered in, a majority of large companies have reduced their office space in the last 3 years, as workers have been equipped to work from home or anywhere.

Hybrid working has sprung forward as the clear winner as far as workplace policies go, with companies deciding on some unique mixture of in-office and remote working for employees.

Now that employees no longer have a desk to themselves, it becomes crucial that companies have some visibility and control over how the office is being utilized. For that a company needs office seating software.

Office seating software–also known as desk booking or hot desking software–allows those who plan to come into the office to access it in accordance with a company’s hybrid policies.

Office seating software–also known as desk booking or hot desking software–allows those who plan to come into the office to access it in accordance with a company’s hybrid policies.

But what exactly is office seating software, and is it worth investing in?

What Is Office Seating Software?

Office seating software is a program that lets employees book their desk at the office.

Some programs are designed specifically for ‘hot desking’ where an available desk is assigned when an employee arrives at the office.

Other software enable pre-bookings of desks. This is desk hoteling. Staff can access the seating software remotely and book a desk ahead of time.

More advanced office seating software go even further, addressing other office space needs and can be termed office space management software. These include booking meeting rooms, visitor management, or running health screeners.

Why Use Office Seating Software?

Hot desking and desk hoteling have both been popular among companies for years - well before the pandemic forced more companies to consider the solution.

They were typically used by employees who regularly worked off-site. Think sales teams or on-the-road consultants. Giving them a fixed desk was a waste of space.

But with the majority of corporations embracing hybrid working, the purpose of office seating software is changing. The vast majority of workers who are able to work remotely are also able to work from any desk.

Instead of a handful of staff not needing fixed desks, almost no one does.

So instead of a handful of employees using office seating software, it will now need company-wide adoption to ensure everyone who wants to, or needs to, come to the office is able to find a space to work.

This system reduces overheads by slashing the square footage companies need, potentially saving millions every year in real-estate costs.

At the same time, it encourages remote workers back to the office.

Software in this category have certainly evolved during the pandemic, becoming increasingly sophisticated and feature-rich. Many of these features are absolutely essential to running a company with a hybrid workplace policy. Excel sheets will not cut it.

Below we walk you through important features to look out for when selecting a software. Depending on the nature of your company’s hybrid work policy, you may need all or only some of these below features.

Software Features

Interactive Floorplans

Some software of times past would only give users the option to book a desk. That was it. Maybe if they were lucky, they could choose which desk.

Products have dramatically improved since then. Fully customizable floorplan features now show users exactly which desks are booked and which are available. More advanced software even shares who is sitting where.

This can help people decide not just where they want to work, but who they want to work with. It also lets you know who is in the office at any time.

Especially with safety still a concern, some appreciate the option to book a desk a bit away from crowded areas. Many will appreciate the choice a floorplan gives them, including:

• Do I want to work by a window, or away from one?
• How close do I want to be to the breakroom?
• Do I want to work in a loud, lively area of the office, or a quieter corner?

Some software even provide a live floorplan view. It shows which desks are booked and available at any given moment. This level of transparency can ease the anxiety of returning to the office for many.

Collaboration Tools

With the availability of remote work and hybrid working, it can be difficult to bring people into the office. They know it’s optional, so why would they?

The best office seating software find ways to motivate people to come back to the office. It encourages in-person collaboration and meet-ups for events.

For example, Zynq’s Buddy Sync feature notifies users when a close colleague has booked time in the office, and can synchronize their office schedules.

Choosing where to sit can also lead to departments overlapping where they normally wouldn't. This organically creates conversations that can lead to effective cross-department collaboration.

Neighborhoods and Desk Restrictions

Office seating software can be completely customizable. The level of choice and freedom staff have regarding when they come in and where they sit is up to you.

Some companies may allow workers to choose from any seat in the office with the vision of encouraging cross-departmental collaboration and productive intra-company connections. Other companies may prefer to suggest or enforce department neighborhoods.

Office seating software caters to all these models, depending on how you’d like your office to function.

Single Sign-in (SSO)

Accessibility and ease is key to a friction free office seating software rollout. It also helps the whole office to run more smoothly.

Good applications remove the need to create additional accounts and simply allows users to sign in to the software using a platform they are familiar with: Microsoft, Azure and G-Suite.

Single sign-ins make a world of difference when it comes to user uptake.

Integrations and APIs

This integration extends to other areas. Existing virtual collaboration software such as Microsoft Teams and Slack can be combined with office seating software to allow for faster desk and room bookings, for example.

Even more complex HRIS software and RFID security systems can also be integrated for even more seamless set up.

Office seating software with API documentation can extend the versatility of the platform to virtually any use case specific to a company.

Co-worker Search

People appreciate the ability to choose who they work next to. They may want to book near a certain person for social reasons or to collaborate on a project.

As useful as a live floorplan may be, it can be difficult to find who you’re looking for in a large company.

A feature to be able to look up colleagues and their in-office schedules and seating can help you plan out yours. Good hot desking software make this easy and seamless.

Administrative Controls

In most companies, office administrators need to be able to see and control who is accessing the office and how. Should the need arise, bookings can be overridden by admins.

Office seating applications empower office admins with back-end controls to create an ideal office layout on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to align with company policies or priorities.

Usage Insights and Analytics

Huge sums of data are collected by flexible working software. When desks are booked, when they are used, what meeting rooms are most popular, and even at what time of day. How can that be used?

The software can help you find under and overused resources and spaces in your office. Tracking exactly how many desks are used every day, and for how long, shows you how many you need.

The software can help you find under and overused resources and spaces in your office.

For example, certain areas of the office that were necessary three years ago might be less important now. Scores of cubicles may need to be replaced with open floorplan desk layouts that are becoming increasingly popular among hybrid companies.

Such decisions can be data-driven when a company uses their hot deksing software data.

Metrics can even help predict the future of your office space. With hybrid policies still new, it is important to start building a database as soon as possible.

Metrics can even help predict the future of your office space. With hybrid policies still new, it is important to start building a database as soon as possible.

This database can then inform future space planning and real estate decisions. The data shows you what resources are actually required for your office to run smoothly.

Your analytics may show that you can reduce your office space. With many working from home some of the time, your office may not need to be the size it once did. This concrete information helps businesses save on costs in the long run, only investing in what they need.

Don’t make guesstimates based on what you’ve observed. Use flexible working software to look at the exact number of desks and meeting rooms your office actually needs. If the number is lower than your current capacity, you may be able to downsize.

Alternatively, you can keep the same space and keep growing while adjusting hot desking policies to always remain within the limits of your office space.

Lots of software offers a free demo that shows you exactly how these analytics work before you invest in the product.

Floorplan Customization

Floorplan customization allows management to easily turn on and off desk access. This can be used for a variety of purposes, but most prevalent at the moment is to enforce social distancing.

Some offices need to consider government-imposed social distancing in their offices. Office seating software helps by allowing you to make certain desks unavailable.

The strictest companies could use this to block out every other desk. Others may prefer to block off desks next to crowded walkways for the time being.

Closing access to certain desks also has other uses. For example, blocking off desks near a client meeting for the afternoon could keep the area quiet.

However you use it, it’s an incredibly powerful tool.

Health Screeners

Many offices are running health checks, either when someone arrives at the office or beforehand. This can be to comply with local government ordinances or simply to keep the office as hygienic as possible. Health screening questions can be integrated into office seating software.

Before booking a desk remotely, the software can ask the user to fill out a survey about any symptoms they are experiencing. The software sends the results back to management. Then, the company decides who is allowed to work in the office.

Desk Types

These software give staff a choice of desks, depending on what’s available at an office. It also identifies which types of desks are most popular. This can help you decide which furniture solutions to invest in from now on.

But flexible seating provides even more choice than which desk type workers choose.

Rather than having a fixed desk, desk hoteling allows people to choose where they work in the office. This isn’t just limited to bookable desks. Some people may prefer to work in more open, agile  collaborative working spaces than at a desk.

Hybrid working options give them this freedom. And software that integrates office check-in allows you to track office space usage even if someone doesn’t book a desk.

Mobile Apps

Office seating software can run on the internet or a company intranet. More advanced solutions offer apps to their clients.

These iOS and Android apps have become substantially more sophisticated overtime, allowing users to utilize every feature of a hot desking software right on their personal or work mobile device.

Apps are particularly more useful when the software is utilized by the entire company. Desks can be booked on the go and check-ins can occur seamlessly to get an end-to-end picture of desk utilization at a company.

Meeting Rooms

Just as people like to know they have a desk waiting for them the next day, people feel more comfortable if the guesswork is taken out of having an accessible meeting room when it’s needed.

Some office seating software also allow for meeting room bookings. That way, those needing a meeting room can relax, knowing there is a space available somewhere in the office.

This also provides useful information about how staff use meeting rooms.

People prefer to meet in person than online. So despite emptier offices, meeting room usage is almost at the same level as before the pandemic. Using this software can help companies determine whether they need to invest in more meeting space, or rooms of different sizes.

Wayfinding

With many people attending their company offices for the first time because they were hired during the pandemic, wayfinding is more critical than ever.

Office seating software helps users orient themselves on the office floorplan so they can quickly get familiarized with the layout of the office and find where they are sitting.

Plus, live floorplans can help staff and visitors alike navigate the office.

Visitors and External Users

Software often incorporate add-on features to bring in guests to your office that will be visiting as a one-off or for a prolonged period of time, without being direct employees of the company.

They check in to the office the same way as staff do, and can work wherever you allow. The check-in process can be the same or different for these categories of external users.

Take Control with Office Seating Software

Take control of your office space. Rather than muddling through manual desk booking policies and office check-ins, talk to us at Zynq.

Zynq's all-in-one office seating software is easy to use, easy to change, and includes all the aforementioned features. Sign up for a demo of Zynq’s office seating software today. Whether you need hot desking software, desk hoteling, or full office management, we've got you covered. See how much it reassures employees about their return to the office, while keeping you informed.

Many companies have made the decision to transition their employees back to the office at least some of the time, and the employees seem to enjoy it.

A recent survey revealed that 63 percent of high-revenue growth companies have embraced a hybrid model (employees work remotely and in the office). The survey also found that employees prefer a hybrid model 83 percent of the time.

Plenty of employees enjoy a hybrid approach, especially Gen Z employees. 74% percent say they prefer face-to-face interactions with colleagues. However, some employees are still on the fence about the hybrid system for various reasons.

For some, working exclusively from home helped them cut out a dreaded commute from their life, and for others it just fit better with their personal commitments.

Whatever the reason, employers have researched, surveyed and deliberated deeply on what their post-pandemic workplace policy will look like – and a majority seem to have opted to take a middle-of-the-way hybrid approach offering their employees the best of both worlds.

So for those companies that have already gone hybrid or are considering it but want to preempt any hiccups, this guide is for you. Below, we break down ten hybrid employee satisfaction tips to help you support your employees and provide a better work environment.

How to Increase Hybrid Employee Satisfaction

If you’re concerned about how your employees are adapting to the new hybrid office structure, these tips can help. Here are ten suggestions to boost hybrid employee satisfaction:

1. Establish Clear Communication Protocols

Poor communication can interfere with employee engagement and productivity.

Imagine a team with three in-house employees and three remote employees.

One of the remote employees misses the memo about changing the way they format documents. As a result, they slow the whole team down because they don’t find out they’ve made a mistake until they submit their work for review.

Not only does this scenario hinder productivity, but it also creates a lot of frustration for all team members.

Precise, carefully planned communication protocols could have prevented this entire issue. If everyone on the team communicated using the same app or software, everyone would’ve been on the same page right from the start.

Hybrid companies have to work harder to create systems that ensure all team members stay on the same page.

2. Create Perks for Everyone

Perks should be doled out fairly and hybrid companies should tailor their perks to the specifics of their hybrid workplace policy.

Suppose office attendance is entirely optional: it would be important to avoid a disproportionate amount of resources on office perks like free lunches or creating an expensive workplace gym, while offering little to nothing to remote employees.

Company leadership should conduct surveys and research what perks are most likely to be well-received by a large majority of employees at the company.

You don’t have to provide identical perks for all hybrid employees. This option isn’t realistic or even possible. However, you should do your best to make the benefits and perks equal for all team members.

3. Invest in an Office Management Platform

If you’re calling employees back to the office in some capacity, it’s likely that you’ve decided to forgo 1:1 desk assignments in favor of hot desking or desk hoteling.

It makes no sense to spend huge sums of money on real estate that is being utilized sub-optimally.

There are tons of benefits to employing an office management platform for your hybrid workplace.

The right tool will help ensure that employees have whatever they need to make their trip to the office productive and seamless. They will know where they are sitting for the day, who they are meeting with and where, and be able to receive their planned visitors, all without the need of checking three different applications.

As leadership, you will have analytics data on how the office is being utilized, and find ways to optimize and improve. Perhaps the sit-stand desks are the most popular and are always booked out – that’s the signal that more may be needed.

Having the right software ensures your company’s investment in physical space has an amazing return.

4. Encourage Socialization

Encourage your hybrid employees to socialize with one another. Far from being a waste of time, it’s the glue that keeps teams effective. Remember: your employees are humans, not robots!

Some office management platforms even have a Buddy system to get alerts when your ‘Buddies’ at work book a spot in the hybrid office. Zynq found a 70% increase in in-office days following the launch of their Buddies Sync feature.

For the entire team, your preferred collaboration tool can be used to create a group chat dedicated to casual conversations, pet pictures, safe-for-work memes, etc.

Invite your employees to join this group, and participate in it yourself. If you contribute to the group, you model the behavior you’d like see from the rest. You’ll also develop stronger relationships with your team and get to know them on a deeper level.

Remember, work friendships matter.

A Future Workplace/Virgin study revealed that 70 percent of employees view having friends at work as the most crucial element to a happy work life. Furthermore, 58 percent of men said they would refuse a higher-paying job if it meant they wouldn’t get along with their co-workers.

5. Walk the Talk

If your hybrid policy requires employees to attend the office at some consistent schedule, such as a minimum of two days a week, then it is absolutely critical that you, as leadership, do the same.

Nothing spells trouble like hypocrisy. If your employees see that exceptions are being made for management or certain groups, the internal grumbling will spell disaster for employee satisfaction and team cohesion.

Your inability to address such concerns could cost you star employees who may look elsewhere for a more equitable workplace.

If you expect your employees to do something, then start with yourself.

6. Involve Everyone in Meetings

If meetings have gone in-person at your hybrid company, you should make an effort to properly involve remote participants.

Like with office attendance, good hardware and software is the solution to ensuring remote participants can join and participate just as well as in-person attendees.

Solutions like Zoom offer both the hardware and software needed to equip meeting rooms to function optimally for hybrid teams.

When everyone participates, you reduce the likelihood of team members being misinformed or not having the latest information. You also give everyone a chance to contribute and feel that their opinions and insights matter.

7. Respect Work-Life Boundaries

A 2022 McKinsey & Company report explains that hybrid work offers more flexibility and a better sense of work-life balance.

To ensure team members experience these benefits, though, managers and team leaders must respect all employees’ work-life boundaries. They must be particularly conscientious about respecting remote employees’ boundaries.

For example, if someone says they can’t answer emails after 6 pm, honor that and wait until the morning to contact them. Don’t assume that just because they’re home, they’re free.

8. Recognize Achievements Regularly

The importance of regular employee recognition is similar to the importance of equal benefits for all team members. Make sure all hybrid employees receive praise and recognition for their hard work.

Whether you give them a shout-out in a group chat or pause to thank them in a team meeting, be as egalitarian as possible with your positive feedback and recognition.

According to this report from Apollo Technical, an employee who has received recognition is 63 percent more likely to stay at their job for the next three to six months.

To keep your hybrid employees happy and increase their tenure with your company, recognition matters.

9. Check in Often

A report published by the Journal of Library Administration explained that regular check-ins played a crucial role in maintaining employee performance during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These check-ins are just as important in the context of a hybrid work model.

It’s easier to assess employee satisfaction, learn about potential roadblocks, and correct issues if you connect with your team often. Schedule regular check-ins to touch base with all employees and seek feedback.

10. Act on Employee Feedback

It can be scary for employees to give you feedback, especially if it’s not anonymous. If someone is willing to communicate a concern or suggest how you can improve, genuinely do what you can to act on their feedback and show that you appreciate them for sharing it.

If you cannot act on it, give them the respect to explain why not so they know they were heard.

Acting on employee feedback also promotes a better relationship between you and your team.

When they know you value feedback and will implement their suggestions whenever you can, morale will improve. They’ll likely be more committed to your company moving forward, too.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re brand new to hybrid work or have used the model for years, the tips in this guide can help you boost employee satisfaction and establish a better work environment for everyone.

Do you need help connecting with hybrid employees, promoting better collaboration, and collecting valuable data? If so, Zynq’s all-in-one office management platform is the perfect solution.

Sign up for a demo today.

The shift towards remote working is probably the most impactful societal change the workforce has seen since the 1940s. The percentage of people working remotely has doubled between 2019 and 2021, with 53% of workers expecting to work in a hybrid setting and 24% stating they expect to be fully remote by 2025.

53% of workers expect to work in a hybrid setting and 24% state they expect to be fully remote by 2025.

However, it does seem like the shine of working remotely on a full-time basis has worn off for both employees and employers.

According to a PwC survey, 11% of workers said they would like to return to the office full-time, and 62% said they would like to adopt a hybrid approach.

The motivations for this approach vary between individuals. Some miss the sociability of the office; others would like stronger boundaries between their work and home life.

20% of remote workers cited problems with communication and collaboration while working remotely.

The Problem With Fully Remote Collaboration

Collaboration is a vital component of success. While technology and communication patterns have adapted to collaborate effectively remotely, there are very real limitations to collaborating when team members aren’t in the same room.

Remote collaboration relies largely on asynchronous communication - where one person provides information, followed by a time lag between when the information is received, processed, and responded to.

While many employees have become used to this, these messages can conflict with normal rules of social interaction. Without an immediate response, there’s the possibility of getting distracted, misinterpreting information, second-guessing our message, or even growing impatient and frustrated.

Distance is created in three ways during remote collaboration: physical place and time distance, operational distance in bandwidth and skill levels, and even affinity, such as interdependency and values.

Distance is created in three ways during remote collaboration: physical place and time distance, operational distance in bandwidth and skill levels, and even affinity, such as interdependency and values.

Managers find themselves battling to create valuable opportunities for in-person interaction, team-building, and meaningful collaboration as remote working can easily lead to siloed and independent working behaviors.

Conversely, some tasks and projects are improved through remote work.

Tasks that can be completed by individual workers that require focused time and attention, for example, are best done in a quiet and distraction-free remote environment without interruption from co-workers.

Similarly, “unpleasant” tasks like admin, filing expense claims, or compliance training are often made more manageable by completing them at home.

To get the best of both worlds, many companies have opted for a hybrid working model where employees divide their time between the office and remote locations.

Hybrid Working and Collaboration

There are several different approaches companies can take to hybrid working.

Some companies adopt fully flexible hot desking, allowing employees to pick when they would like to attend the office, if at all. Others require employees to come in on certain days of the week or for a prescribed number of days in the month.

Many companies require employees to come into the office for any meeting or project that is improved by working together in person.

We compiled a list of hybrid policies adopted by some of the top companies in the world.

Companies should decide which approach works best for them according to their culture and the nature of their work. We recommend starting with a company-wide survey.

What Types Of Collaboration Are Best In The Office?

According to a study by Deloitte, 55% of workers believe productivity levels were the same or higher than when working in the office due to fewer distractions. However, the same study also noted that 31% of employees thought they were more collaborative when in the office.

And according to Forbes, companies that promoted collaborative working were five times as likely to be high performing.

Companies that promoted collaborative working were five times as likely to be high performing.

For the purpose of this article we’re using collaboration in the broader sense of simply completing work-related tasks in-person with colleagues.

Creative Work and Ideation

When teams work together on a problem or project, the enthusiasm in the room is enhanced by a positive, free-flowing atmosphere and free, unfiltered exchange of ideas. The passion of one team member sparks that of the others so that they are more likely to dedicate time and effort to generating and contributing ideas. Brainstorming together is more effective (and exciting) than doing the same thing in isolation or in a large virtual meeting.

Expanding Perspectives

Team interactions enable workers to expand their horizons and perspectives. Electronic discussions are often short and to the point, whereas in-person discussions can be drawn out and bring a better understanding of the uniqueness of each team member to the fore. This helps teams improve their communication, build relationships, and foster understanding and insight into new perspectives.

Collaboration On High-Risk Projects

Disjointed teams communicating asynchronously may find it hard to navigate difficult accounts or problems, but a synergized in-person team enjoys a deeper connection and become more enthusiastic problem solvers. Team leaders will quickly gain insights into the strengths and weaknesses of their team members and can structure the project accordingly.

At the Start of a Project

It’s a best practice to opt for a focused and organized in-person meeting when charting a path on a new project. What constitutes the start can really vary, as large projects can have many ‘starts’ as aspects are broken down into meaningful achievements. Involving all team members that will have action items on the project is a great idea and making sure to do this in-person ensures clear communication, buy-in and commitment from all those involved.

When a Deadline is Close

Teams meeting in-person is a great idea when there is a time-crunch and the finish line requires a number of complex pieces coming together in a perfectly synchronized way. An in-person meeting a little before the deadline can help all those involved clarify actionable items and responsibilities. Of course, documenting clearly with meeting efficiency tools like Hypercontext is essential to then making the most of the in-person meeting when team members will go off to work asynchronously.  

When Miscommunication is Likely

Some conversations are inherently sensitive. Executing these conversations poorly can result in teams performing poorly, or worse: disintegrating. Team leaders should opt to call in-person meetings when it’s likely that an email, virtual meeting, or chats will poorly convey the intended meaning or decision. For example: if team members are being reassigned tasks it may help to speak in person to carefully convey the reasons why.

How To Make Hybrid Collaboration Easier

While hybrid working creates more opportunities for collaboration, effective collaboration doesn’t happen organically - it should be proactively enabled using the right tools and office structure.

Here are a few of the ways offices can empower employees to collaborate more effectively.

• Hot desking and sync tools: When employees arrive at the office, they shouldn’t waste time looking for a place to sit and work or meet. Hot desking tools like Zynq enable teams to book meeting rooms and workspaces with ease. Zynq’s Buddy Schedule Syncs allow team members to schedule their in-office days by notifying users when close colleagues will be in the office.
  

• Add more meeting and huddle spaces: The office should move from an area dedicated to individual workspaces to one that is optimized for close collaboration. Adding meeting and huddle spaces where team members can sit together and discuss projects is vitally important if you want to enable collaboration.
  

• Create water-cooler hangouts: Many employees were hired during the pandemic and never met their colleagues in person or seldom worked from the office. Socialization doesn’t always happen naturally, so encourage water-cooler hangouts, brown bag lunch-and-learn sessions, and both in-person and virtual team meetings where employees can become acquainted and learn about one another’s projects in an informal way.
  

Bear in mind that many employees are resistant to coming back to the office because they enjoy the freedom and flexibility of remote work.

If you are shifting from a remote to a hybrid model of working, make sure that your employees understand why and when they are required to come in. One of the most effective strategies businesses can deploy to bring their workforce back to the office is demonstrating that some meetings are simply more effective (and enjoyable) when held face-to-face and in-person.

Here at Zynq we specialize in helping companies create and manage a hybrid workplace policy through desk, room and visitor management, health screeners and much more! Reach out to us if you'd like to leave more.

As the coronavirus pandemic seems to be under control, more and more people are keen to go back to what used to be their “normal”, pre-COVID19 lives. And because this, in many cases, meant working in an office, it might seem obvious that people are eager to go back to their old desks, sip coffees with their co-workers, and attend business meetings in person.

The reality, though, is much more complex. A recent survey, for example, has found that up to 40% of employees are willing to leave their current job if they aren’t offered some degree of flexibility. What does this mean, then, for the future of the workplace, and what can employers do, after being challenged during such dramatic and unprecedented times?

Simple: the keyword is “hybrid”. Hybrid working – a combination of work that is performed remotely and in-person – is the way forward for companies across the globe. To be successful, however, a hybrid office model needs to be based on a well-thought-out “return to the office” strategy.

This should highlight all the benefits of going back to the office on a part-time basis, while still enjoying the great work-life balance that remote work is so popular for. In this article, we will outline seven of the best and effective ways to attract your workforce back to the office – and keep it coming back.

Which Hybrid Option Is for You?

Before we jump into the core of our article, it’s essential to establish that there is no one ‘right’ way of doing hybrid.

Within the world of hybrid work, in fact, there are at least five different schools of thought:

1. Employee-First: Companies that adopt this policy allow their employees to pick the day or days when they come into the office. This option offers a much higher level of flexibility for the employees, which may result in better work attendance. A 2022 survey conducted by At Work revealed that 56% of the surveyed business leaders selected this approach.

2. Set Flex-Days: With this approach, a company selects specific days of the week during which an employee is expected to come into the office. This can be decided following a department or role logic, whereby some departments work in the office on some set days, while other departments work remotely on those days.

This method generally offers more advantages to the employer, as it allows for better and easier organization of the office space. However, it can also be helpful for employees who are still wary of spending hours in a small space with crowds of people. According to the At Work survey mentioned previously, 11% of the surveyed managers opted for this policy.

3. Manager-Scheduling Policy: This method is fairly similar to the one that we have just described, although it usually involves more collaboration between employer and employee. If you choose this approach, you will be expected to have a consultation with your team and, together, decide which day (or days) suits everyone best in terms of working remotely and working on-site.

Another interesting feature of this approach is that individual departments can pick and choose their own days, based on internal agreements between department heads and team members. The At Work survey found that only 8% of participants are following this approach.

4. Mixed Policy: Some companies do not follow a strict hybrid policy, preferring instead to offer their staff a combination of the three options discussed above. This means that both employers and employees gain equal benefits, although such an approach may also generate confusion and misunderstandings if not communicated appropriately. The At Work survey revealed that 25% of the surveyed business leaders are opting for this policy.

5. Role-Based: This method requires considering who, amongst the entire workforce, can easily and efficiently perform their duties remotely, and who, on the other hand, must be on-site. This might be the case, for example, with a manufacturing plant. While office staff can work from home without it affecting productivity levels, production staff has to remain on-site.

Having considered all the above, it’s essential to decide which hybrid policy works best for you and your employees. Then, you will be able to move on to the first step in your “return to the office” strategy, as outlined in the next section.

1. Have a Clear Plan in Place

For many companies offices are only now starting to teem with life, after the forced hiatus due to the pandemic. In many cases employees aren’t even returning to an office they are familiar with; rather, they are attending their company’s office for the first time. Much needs to be thought about before opening the doors wide open.

Here are some aspects to consider in your plan of action:

• Workplace model policy: Is your office hybrid policy clearly published and communicated to all those who might be affected by it? Here is a helpful resource.
• Survey employees: decisions that impact everyone are well served by being less top-down. A consultative process using a company wide survey is a great idea.
• Timings: When are you planning for your new hybrid model to come into effect?
• Personnel: Is everyone across the entire company expected to follow the new guidelines? Remember to clarify whether there are any exceptions.
• Hot Desking: Assuming desks are not assigned 1:1, a desk booking platform will be essential. Review what’s important to consider when selecting a software.
• Health and safety: While the coronavirus pandemic is no longer perceived as a major threat by most people, it’s important to remember that some of your employees might still feel uncomfortable coming back. Additional improvements to the HVAC systems or the physical layout of the office, allowing for greater distancing, would help convince those with health and safety concerns.

2. Rethink Your Office Décor and Layout

It might sound somewhat trivial but renovating parts of your office as well as its overall layout might function as an incentive to attract your employees back to the office. Post-pandemic hybrid office layouts are becoming increasingly popular because, in many ways, the definition of the office has evolved.

Consider implementing some of the following tried-and-tested office layout best practices that have been proven to be very effective in a hybrid work setting:

• More meeting areas: Coming back to the office should highlight the joy of socializing, sharing, and working collaboratively. For this reason, creating a few extra meeting rooms can be a great incentive to drive people to come back more regularly. Utilize room booking software to ensure a room can always be found.
• Casual spaces: Taking frequent, short breaks has been proven to contribute to the maintenance of focus and motivation in the long term. Therefore, incorporating a few additional break and relaxation areas in your office can be a great way to let your staff know that not only should they keep taking some time to regenerate in between meetings, but that there are specifically designated places where they can do so, easily and comfortably.
• Spaces for physical exercise: While you don’t necessarily need to build a fully-equipped gym, creating a room or two with some basic gym props and equipment can help entice your workforce back to the office. It can also teach them healthier habits, such as swapping a hurried, fast-food-fueled lunch for a few, gentle yoga stretches followed by a nutritious meal (more on this in the next section).
• Sleek, configurable office furniture: In a hybrid office setting, the chances are that you will no longer need rows and rows of outdated cubicles. With fewer employees working on-site, you have the chance to free up some space and get rid of old, bulky, and unnecessary pieces of furniture, replacing them with sleeker, more modern, office furniture such as these by Steelcase.
• Outdoor areas: Spending time in nature is well-known for being a fantastic mood-booster, and it also works wonders on employees’ productivity levels. If your office has a garden or another outdoor area, consider sprucing it up – adding some benches and tables, planting flowers, curating edges and bushes – and making it available to your staff.

3. Free Lunches and Snacks

Once you have created a cozier, more welcoming, and more productive environment across the different areas of your office, you can further attract your employees to come back by letting them know that they can enjoy meals, snacks and drinks on-site.

This is one of the best perks that you can offer your staff, and you know why? Because food is one of the highest expenses that office workers sustain on a daily basis. So much so, that a growing number of companies are offering free meals to their staff on certain days of the week.

The result? Work attendance on those days has skyrocketed.

And as more and more people who live a sedentary office life are increasingly opting for healthier food choices, you’ll have great success by offering nutritious, wholesome, and delicious snacks and meals. At the same time, remember to cater to all the different dietary needs and/or preferences of your employees, such as vegan, halal, dairy-free, and gluten-free.

Finally, remember to also equip your kitchen and eating areas with all the tools and utensils your employees might need to prepare and consume healthy, freshly-made meals.

4. Offer Travel-to-Work Bonus Plans

One of the main reasons why many people appreciated working from home during the pandemic was the fact that they no longer needed to embark on what, sometimes, felt like nightmarishly long commutes. Spending hours squeezed between dozens of other people aboard a tightly packed train or on the road can take its toll on a person’s mental and physical health. Not to mention that commutes can be extremely expensive, too.

The year before the pandemic wreaked havoc around the world, for example, the average, full-time US office worker spent between $2,000 and $5,000 on annual commutes to work. If you are serious about bringing your employees back to the office – at least, for some of the time – you’ll need to provide them with better, more cost-efficient travel alternatives.

For example, why not offer to contribute towards part of their commute costs every month? Or you could think about promoting healthier ways to travel to the office, for example by bike, by foot, or by choosing other methods of transport.

When none of these options seems feasible to you, there is something else you can do. You might allow those employees who live far to come to the office at their own convenience. Doing so will enable them to travel at much quieter, and sometimes cheaper times which means that they will get to the office calmer, happier, and more eager to work.

5. Embrace Technology

It’s no surprise that technology has become an even more vital component of our lives since remote work has come to the fore. And because even the least tech-savvy of your employees have now become accustomed to using technology much more often, they also expect to find the same tools when they come back to the office.

Some of these tools include video conferencing software such as Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet, as well as collaboration platforms such as Slack, Airtable, and Notion. Companies can even get a bit more creative and incorporate technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and Meta’s Oculus to help in the organization and hosting of interactive, engaging virtual meetings.

Another type of technology that should be on the priority list for hybrid companies worldwide is the one that lets you manage desks and workstations.

Another type of technology that should be on the priority list for hybrid companies worldwide is the one that lets you manage desks and workstations. Because having a 1:1 type of desk assignment no longer works in a hybrid setting, businesses should consider using desk booking software. Companies that have swapped traditional desk allocation with hot desking have been able to achieve a wide range of benefits, including:

• Flexibility: One of the most obvious advantages of desk booking is its ability to provide employees with more flexibility when it comes to deciding where, when, and how to work. And after the pandemic, this sentiment has only increased, promising to remain high on the agenda of both employees and employers for a long time.
  
• Planning and organization: Desk booking software can empower employees to take back control of their own work schedule by better planning and organizing the days and weeks ahead.
  
  Employees simply access their desk booking app from home and reserve their space whenever they want – or need – to come into the office. And because a desk booking app like Zynq is available for mobile too, employees can also book their spot while on their morning commute, or anywhere else. But desk booking software supports better planning and organization of companies, too.
  
  By tracking data on desk usage, company managers are able to plan ahead for their current and future real estate needs. This type of insight can also reveal whether any specific workstations are never used, and thus allow office managers to rethink the layout and furniture of specific areas to ensure maximum productivity and minimum waste.
  
• Cost-efficiency: Constantly surging real estate costs are a huge pain point for most businesses, which is why having a desk booking system in place can help. By increasing the ratio of employees-to-desks, company managers can accommodate a higher number of people while keeping the office the same size or downsizing.
  
• Hygiene and cleanliness: Back when employees had assigned desks, it was not uncommon to rapidly witness them turn into piles of clutter, personal items, and sometimes even dirt. Desk booking allows companies to forget all about old, half-eaten snacks, long-lost sweaters, and messy workstations, as it ensures people keep those spaces clean and neat, knowing that another colleague will likely be using it after them.

6. Organize Fun Social Events

When surveyed about how they are enticing their employees to return to the office on a part-time basis, 42% of business leaders that took part in a recent At Work poll answered: “Through social events”. The social aspect of being physically in an office is something that remote work simply can’t and won’t ever be able to replace or recreate.

It doesn’t matter how many Friday evening Zoom drinks or virtual escape rooms you organize – the warmth, comfort, and empathy that in-person work offers are unique to that specific environment. With this in mind, it might be a good idea to attract your employees back to the office by organizing regular social events.

These can be anything from very laid-back post-work drinks to something a lot more elaborate, such as a spa afternoon, a sports day, or a cinema-style lunch break. It all depends on what sector you operate in and what your employees are interested in.

In fact, it’s wise to run your ideas past your staff, and ask them to provide feedback, tips, and suggestions. If you want this to be a success, though, remember to keep organizing fun social gatherings on a regular basis and not just as a one-off.

7. Make It Compulsory on Certain Occasions

Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that, as an employer, you can decide to make going to the office mandatory on specific occasions. These can be, for example, special events, business meetings, conferences, workshops, seminars, training sessions, and more.

It’s important to note that you can still make this compulsory regardless of which approach to hybrid work you had previously chosen. For example, let’s say that your company is following an at-will hybrid policy, in which most of the agency is given to the employee as opposed to the employer.

If the occasion calls for it, and if it’s clear that your employees will directly benefit from it, it’s reasonable for you to request their presence in the office on that day. Of course, this shouldn’t become the norm, but your employees should also expect to provide a small degree of flexibility, understanding, and willingness to compromise.

The Bottom Line

Returning to the office post-pandemic means mostly one thing: creating a hybrid workspace. This is a working arrangement that combines both remote and in-person attendance, and that can highly benefit both companies and workers.

If you are following a hybrid work approach and want to always stay on top of your logistics and organization, then try Zynq. Our platform powers the new generation of hybrid work by helping things run smoothly, efficiently, and productively in the “new normal”.

COVID-19 has disrupted the way we work. Work is no longer seen as a destination, but as an activity, with scores of employees working from homes and cafes either part-time or permanently. It’s no longer a binary choice between working in-office and 100% remotely. Business owners and employees want choice, freedom, and flexibility.

The million (or more) dollar question is — which model is best for you or your business? Hybrid, remote, or in-office?

Grab a coffee and a quiet corner. This is an in-depth look at the three working models. If you’d like a quick refresher on these workmodels, check this out. From the benefits for employees to cost savings for the business, we’ll cover it all, and by the end, you’ll know which is best for your use case and why.

Table of Contents

High Growth Companies

If you’re choosing between a hybrid model and a completely on-site or remote way of working, it makes sense to see what the big boys are doing. And you might be surprised by the result.

According to Accenture’s Future of Work Report:

• 63% of high-growth companies have adopted hybrid or “productive anywhere” models, and
• 69% of companies with negative or no growth reject the hybrid working model and prefer all on-site or remote work.
  

That’s what the stats say, but what’s the picture like in the real world?

For Dropbox, for example, going hybrid was an easy decision. As they shifted to a hybrid work model, they conducted a research project on the side that showed that remote workers appeared happier, more focused, and no less productive than in-office ones. In fact, Dropbox has decided to become Virtual First. All people processes are digital, and workers can choose their geographic location, with office space available to all.

Like Dropbox, Spotify also moved to hybrid working with the argument that it boosts employee effectiveness, offers a great work-life balance, and encourages efficient working methods.

Spotify employees are offered a choice between working full-time at home, in-office, or a combination of the two. Workers living away from a Spotify office receive a membership to a co-working space if they prefer the in-office experience.

It’s clear that the biggest and best companies are opting for hybrid, begging the question: are high growth companies choosing hybrid or are the companies high growth due to the model?

The cause and effect relationship is not (yet) clear. However, it is clear for high growth companies that hybrid makes sense. Why?

According to HSBC:

• High growth companies make savings on office overheads if employees work from home partially.
• 77% of high growth companies report increased productivity levels with a hybrid model.
• 66% of the same companies claim it will help them move into new locations and markets.
  

The Winner: Hybrid

High growth companies are reaping the rewards of moving to a hybrid model. It’s good for employee morale, productivity, profitability, and more. If you’re still on the fence, consider that many brands from Spotify to Dropbox have made the move and are confident in the results.

Employees

That’s high growth businesses, but what about their most important asset, the workers? There’s little point in moving to a new model only to find out your teams are reluctant to make the change, so before we jump ship and move to hybrid, let’s look at what employees think.

Do they prefer working in the office with the option to chat with co-workers, or do they prefer working from home?

According to a study by Stanford, only 25% of workers want to work from home full-time, and, even fewer, 20% want to work exclusively on-site. The study found that many employees tried working from home exclusively but found it was too lonely and exhibited negative behaviors (including eating or sleeping too much).

The Stanford study also found that employees didn’t want to be forced to work in the office full-time, so choice is key. When employees feel like they have no choice or autonomy, they are more likely to feel stressed, depressed, and lack morale.

Given what the boffins at Stanford found, it shouldn’t surprise that a similar study by Prudential showed that 68% of US workers believe that a hybrid approach is the perfect work model, allowing them to work both remotely and on-site is the perfect model.

But the stats don’t stop there:

• 87% of American employees working remotely during the pandemic would prefer to continue working remotely post-pandemic for at least one day a week.
• 42% of current remote workers stress that if their current company doesn’t let them work remotely in the future, they will seek to join a company that does. This could lead to a talent war, as employers need to address their employees’ needs, including their preference for remote occupation.
  

To sum up, the Prudential study found that talent migration is on the horizon with workers looking for greater flexibility, as well as opportunities for career growth. Flexible working is becoming an essential employee benefit, as hybrid employees can save more money than their in-office counterparts, save time by not commuting, get more sleep, spend more time with their family, and reduce their overall stress levels.

The Winner: Hybrid

Again, it’s hybrid for the win. The preferred model of many workers is hybrid, although, of course, there are outliers who want fully remote or full on-site options. Turns out, allowing employees the flexibility to choose which option suits them best is the most effective way of keeping the workforce happy.

Executives

Employees prefer the option to work flexibly instead of completely in one location. But, what about their bosses? What do the execs think?

• 68% of executives still feel that employees should be in the office at least three days a week to maintain their company culture.
• 65% believe that the office is very important to maintain and increase productivity.
• More than half believe that the office is still important for collaboration and provides spaces to meet with clients and one another.
  

Executives have a strong preference for time in the office, even on a part-time basis, and science backs them up too. Studies consistently show that the ability to connect meaningfully to others is less satisfying when we are not physically present.

The absence of shared context (like body language and shared experiences) can dilute the non-verbal signals that convey culture, and relationships are also more likely to “drift” when employees don’t spend time together physically.

Interestingly, although the executives do want want time in the office, like employees, they agree this can be on a part time basis.

The Winner: Hybrid

To maintain healthy company culture, employees should spend at least some time together in person. Even if you move towards a more remote experience, make some room for employees to physically meet and share experiences.

Younger Employees

You’d be forgiven for assuming that younger, more digitally aware, but less experienced workers prefer to work in a remote or hybrid model. It would make sense; younger people are far more used to communicating online, but the studies don’t agree.

In fact, they completely disagree:

• 84% of Gen Z employees prefer interacting with colleagues face-to-face, despite growing up in the digital era of virtual reality, texting, and selfies.
• 42% of Gen Z respondents supported that they don’t want to work remotely more than two days per week.
• 30% of employees with 0-5 years of experience prefer working in the office for 3-4 days per week. These workers are also far more likely to feel less productive when working remotely (34%) than their more experienced counterparts (23%).
  

Even though youngsters are used to chatting with friends, making plans, and even conducting educational activities online, there is an overwhelming preference for working in-office, at least part-time.

The Winner: In-Office or Hybrid

If you mainly employ Gen Zers, perhaps you shouldn’t be tempted to default to a fully remote model. As shown above, the younger and less experienced generation prefer face-to-face guidance and communication, even though they’re digital natives. If you’re set on some form of home working, hybrid is definitely the best option.

HR Professionals

According to Crain’s Future of Work survey, 78% of HR professionals feel that flexible working hours and the ability to work remotely are effective ways to retain workers without spending additional money.

As well as being an effective way to work, Cielo Talent’s survey of HR professionals found that talent acquisition teams are adopting new recruitment practices to match the new normal. Talent teams are interviewing respondents over video (59%), making offers without having to meet the relevant candidate personally (65%). At the same time, 67% are using virtual onboarding programs. Some of the professionals surveyed also said that remote working results in more effective recruitment practices (59%), especially in terms of cost (60%).

The talent teams also praised the fact that remote working opens up new talent pools, with hiring managers (64%) being more eager to employ remote workers. It’s not without its downsides, though. 21% of talent team managers seem to worry about increased drop-off rates due to remote working, while 62% believe companies have to work harder to beat the competition due to remote hiring practices. Others believe that supporting remote working increases focus on promotion and reskilling (42%), shrinking the talent pool and jobs market.

The Winner: Remote and Hybrid

HR professionals have well and truly welcomed remote and hybrid ways of working. Due to geographic limitations, access to remote workers may open the door to new talent that wasn’t accessible before. Make sure that you are well-positioned to promote your company and its benefits.

Real Estate Costs

Whether businesses lease, own, or rent, real estate is a huge line item on the balance sheet. It’s a massive investment to keep employees in the office. For many businesses, this is an acceptable cost of doing business if — and it’s a big if — the rewards are worth it.

If keeping your team in-house means that they are more productive, happier, less stressed, and more likely to stick around, the extra office space is (probably) worth it.

But the issue is, as we’re discovering, the benefits of working remotely and/or in a hybrid manner appear to outweigh the benefits of working in-office.

This leaves business owners seriously questioning whether the costs are worth it. This is forcing businesses worldwide to reassess their real estate spending, but not in the way you might think…

PwC’s US Remote Work Survey found:

• 87% of businesses plan to change their real estate strategy over the next few years. This includes moving to premier locations or operating satellite offices.
• 56% of these companies, even though they plan to reduce office space, expect to invest in more real estate than before. This happens because companies rethink what the ideal office experience should look like.
  

While other research shows that:

• In 2020, the US shed 138.4 million square feet of office space due to reduced office requirements following the COVID-19 pandemic.
• As employees move to a hybrid or remote work environment, companies cut back on real estate needs, saving money they can re-invest in different features and amenities.
  

The stats show that for many businesses, remote or hybrid working is a prime opportunity to save on real estate costs. Downsizing and saving on operation costs allows companies to re-invest the money in other features and amenities.

But, interestingly, not all companies are getting rid of their office space; they are reducing and recalibrating to accommodate the new way of hybrid and remote working. With employees working from home rather than in-office, companies can cut back on real estate needs, reduce office spaces, or even sell or repurpose built buildings.

The Winner: Hybrid and Remote

Investing in decentralized hubs seems to be a smart idea. By doing so, you not only save on operation costs but can also re-invest the money you saved in extra features or additional amenities for your employees.

IT Spending

While a hybrid and remote work model pleases the execs and the employees, does it make financial sense? Of course, there are many different costs associated with remote, hybrid and in-office models, but first, let’s look at IT spending.

To be able to employ a remote or hybrid model, businesses need additional IT solutions. Subscriptions to collaboration and project management platforms and cloud-based video conferencing platforms all incur costs, but they are essential if you want your team to work from anywhere.

But how much do these costs affect businesses? And which business model spends the most on IT?

During the pandemic, companies were forced to adjust to a hybrid or remote work model for their employees, and as a result, IT spending increased 6.7% between 2020 and 2021.

Communication tools, project and order management software, security software, etc., make up the increased IT spending. In other words, a network of tools to keep your team connected from anywhere.

The tricky part here is determining the cost difference between a hybrid and remote workforce, as much of the new tech required to run a remote model is likely needed for hybrid too. The cost difference is likely minimal, but we can compare this cost to an exclusive in-office team.

The stats paint a clear picture of increased IT costs since employees were forced to work from home:

• Companies’ IT spending increased 6.7% between 2020 and 2021 as they adjusted to employees working remotely or on a hybrid basis.
• Worldwide IT spending will reach 4.45 trillion US dollars in 2022, an almost 5% increase in growth compared to 2021.
  

The costs have clearly increased, and many businesses struggled to implement an entirely new way of working. But, with the right strategies, they managed to aggregate their outdated systems, make the life of their employees easier, and, at the same time, boost their effectiveness.

The Winner: In-Office

If you’re concerned about IT costs only, you should stick to an in-office workforce model. It’s cheaper, and you won’t need the web of apps, tech stacks, tools, and SaaS just to be able to communicate with your employees. That said, there are many other cost savings associated with a remote and hybrid model, which may offset the increased IT spending depending on your use case.

Workplace Distractions Costs

One of the primary reasons offices are moving towards a hybrid model is because remote workers are more productive than fully on-site workers. Businesses collectively lose close to $600 billion per year in productivity due to distractions.

94% of employers found that company productivity has been largely the same (67%) or higher (27%) since employees have been working from home during the pandemic. The top reasons for the increase in performance are fewer interruptions (68%), more focused time (63%), a quieter work environment (68%), a more comfortable workplace (66%) and avoiding office politics (55%).

A survey by the Economist said that 36% of workers felt more focused working remotely while 28% felt the opposite. What is true for one employee isn’t true for another, which means that the employer should create options that suit different preferences.

The Winner: Remote and Hybrid

Fewer distractions are one of the benefits of a remote or partially remote workforce. Not all employees enjoy being fully remote, and others prefer working from home full-time. The best way to keep distractions to a minimum is to let employees pick the environment that is least distracting to them - retaining an office for individuals who prefer to work on-site but giving workers the option of working from home when they need to.

Employees Savings

We’ve looked at how hybrid and remote models can actually cost a business more in IT costs, but what about employees? Is there a saving associated with working at home, on a beach, or in a coffee shop? Or do the lattes eliminate any potential savings? Let’s find out.

According to a study from Flexjobs, an online job service specializing in flexible jobs, they do. The figures show remote working employees save on average almost $4,000 per year, with many people reporting far higher savings depending on their commute length, car use, and so on.

Hybrid and remote employees save on car insurance, maintenance, clothing, and eating out expenses. For instance, Flexjobs’ survey says that car owners expect to spend between $6,000 to $10,000 a year on maintenance. This variation is because employees drive different types of cars, from pickup trucks to city cars to electric sedans.

These estimates, though, assume workers drive 15,000 miles per year. As remote employees will probably drive far less than that, the wear and tear of their vehicles would be minimal, significantly reducing their car maintenance costs.

The same holds true for car insurance. The more people on the road, the more accidents there could be, which translates into a higher insurance rate because the odds of getting into an accident are higher.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that 75% of workers feel that cost savings are the second most important benefit of flexible work, second only to not having to commute (84%).

• Remote employees can save up to $10,000 per year on commuting, car maintenance, insurance, public transportation, eating out, and clothing costs.
• 75% of workers consider cost savings one of the top benefits of remote and hybrid work models. Commuting comes first (84%).
  

These figures are based on remote workers, so let’s make some estimates. First, let’s assume these costs are based on a 5-day work week, so we can extrapolate a saving of 1/5th for every day not in the office. For example, if workers estimate they save $4,000 per year when working remotely, they could save 3/5s of that amount if they work from home for three days per week.

Simply put, the more days you work from home, the higher your savings, while on the other hand, based on the above example, people working in-office full-time would see zero savings.

The Winner: Remote

Implementing remote work lets your employees cut costs and put more money in their pockets. This makes them happier and more productive, increasing your workforce’s efficiency. If you’re not ready to take the plunge to 100% remote, hybrid offers the same savings on a pro-rata basis.

Business Running Cost

Another important factor that needs to be considered is the total cost of running a business in-office, hybrid, or remotely.

By running their business remotely, business owners save on real estate and other expenses, which, in turn, delivers a significant cut to operational costs. According to a 2021 Capgemini Research Institute report, remote working can cut up to 43% of real estate costs.

Even labor-heavy industries, like telecom, manufacturing, and energy, save 20% from remote working. Of all the organizations surveyed, a whopping 98% expect to save on operational costs in the next three years, with the public sector seeing the biggest saving potential.

Running your business in-office, at least pre-pandemic, meant your workplace budget went primarily to the office rent. Though the cost might vary from business to business, since location and type of office affect the rent price, companies typically spend about $500 per employee to work from the office in New York City. If you split this across a five-day working week, the monthly workplace budget would be $100 per day for each employee working in-office.

But, what’s the overall cost for hybrid companies now? This depends on the number of days employees spend in-office and at home. This could range from $204 on HQ space, $204 with access to on-demand workplaces, and $102 on perks, like home office equipment and remote work support, per employee per month.

Keep in mind that since hybrid work changes our relationship with the office, the HQ budget covers more than just employees working at desks, such as WiFi, meeting rooms, cleaning services, and kitchen facilities, among others.

Potentially, hybrid working could become more expensive than remote work or office work. For example, you could end up paying for an office space that will never be used or commit to a plan that, in the end, is unsuitable for your employees.

Likewise, some businesses think that adopting a hybrid strategy will save lots of money since they’re paying less for every employee who uses the office. But that’s wrong. Even if employees work remotely, you should still prioritize their work setup as much as you would have if they were working in-office. Doing so makes them happier and more productive, which you want to achieve, after all.

The Winner: Hybrid and Remote

While hybrid working has hidden operational costs, if you’re careful and know what you’re looking for from your employees and business, it can help you save a substantial amount of money. Investing in high-quality hot desking and space management software is an excellent way to optimize your space.

Mental Health

Positive mental health in the workplace is crucial. Not only does it benefit the individual, but companies that encourage mental well-being are rewarded with higher productivity, greater staff retention, and lower turnover rates. It is the right thing to do, and it’s a win-win for everyone involved.

Unfortunately, after the pandemic, many workers found that working exclusively from home had a detrimental effect on their mental well-being. Feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and need for human connection, to name a few.

According to an American Psychiatric Association (APA) online survey between March and April 2021, most workers working from home say they experience negative mental effects, like isolation and loneliness, and find it challenging to get away from work as their workday ends.

54% of employees reported their employer had become more accommodating and understanding about their mental health since the beginning of the pandemic, but the numbers are declining. Workers stressed that only 1 in 5 employers were offered extra mental health services in 2021, 35% less than in 2020.

• While working remotely has many benefits and advantages, 60% of employees that worked at home reported that they faced feelings of isolation and loneliness and difficulty finding personal time, despite working from their home office.
• Out of those, younger adults (73% of 18 to 29-year-old and 73% of 30 to 44-year-olds) were more likely to report feelings of isolation, loneliness, and depression working at home. In comparison, older workers (48% of 45 to 64-year-olds) didn’t seem to be affected so much.
  

The office environment has benefits for employees’ mental health. The inherent socialization from going to a real-life office and interacting in person is important for many people’s mental health.

But the perks don’t stop there. When you go into the office regularly, your peers are able to notice if you’re having a hard time and intervene where needed, which is far harder via a Zoom call.

In-office meetings with mental and physical well-being specialists are also easier to coordinate and attend, so it’s far easier to make it part of your schedule to take advantage of any schemes on offer.

Hybrid potentially offers the best of both worlds here. The option for workers to benefit from the autonomy of choosing their own schedule and way of working, and the benefits of in-office interaction and the safety net it offers.

The Winner: In-Office or Hybrid

While the remote model has lots of benefits, including cost savings, it seems to negatively affect employees’ mental health. On this occasion, the in-office work and hybrid models seem to have the edge for employee mental well-being.

The Environment

Being environmentally conscious is important. For this reason, governments and regulatory bodies impose taxes and compliance requirements to combat the threat of global warming and climate change. Businesses don’t have a choice but to comply. Otherwise, they will face the consequences.

Contrary to in-office work, hybrid working improves your company’s carbon footprint. Here’s how:

• If 3.9 million employees work from home just 50% of their time, greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced to the equivalent of taking 600,000 cars off the road for an entire year.
• Working from home can reduce commuter miles by 70 to 140 billion per year by 2025.
  

The pandemic offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to test these theories — is it true that working from home reduces emissions?

As you’d expect, the answer was a resounding YES. Working from home during the pandemic allowed billions of employees to skip the daily commute. This led to a 13% reduction in carbon emissions in 2020.

But, the environment is a complex topic, and there might be hidden climate impacts when hybrid working is the main work model.

According to a 2021 study from the Carbon Trust and Vodafone Institute for Society and Communications, hybrid working could create a worst-case scenario, where there’s more energy consumption and emissions as both homes and offices are operating to enable in-office and remote workers to do their jobs.

The Winner: Remote

Remote working can reduce environmental waste and help sustainability efforts, improving a company’s carbon footprint. It also reduces the stress of the daily commute for employees, which might make them more productive than ever before.

Highlights and Vital Statistics

1. 69% of companies with negative or zero growth reject the hybrid working model and prefer on-site or remote working.
2. 87% of US employees that worked remotely during the pandemic prefer to continue working remotely post-pandemic.
3. 68% of executives feel that employees should work in the office for at least three days a week to keep the company culture going.
4. 84% of Gen Z employees prefer interacting with colleagues face-to-face than through a computer screen.
5. 64% of hiring managers seem more willing to consider remote workers.
6. 87% of businesses plan to change their real estate strategy in the next few years, including moving to premier locations or operating satellite offices.
7. Companies’ IT spending increased 6.7% between 2020 and 2021 as they adjusted to employees working in a remote or hybrid environment.
8. 94% of employers found that company productivity has been the same or higher since employees began working from home during the pandemic.
9. Remote employees can save up to $10,000 per year with remote or hybrid working.
10. Companies can save up to $500 per employee with a hybrid or remote working model.
11. 60% of employees working from home reported feelings of isolation and loneliness.
12. Working from home during the pandemic led to a 13% reduction in carbon emissions.
    

Drum Roll, Please. The Winner Is…

What’s the verdict? Who’s won the show-down?

Do we want to operate fully remotely or per a hybrid model? Here’s a quick summary of the winners and losers for each category:

While employees have embraced remote working, there is still a need for face-to-face, in-office interaction. This article clearly shows that without any social interaction, the mental well-being of team members is affected.

On the other hand, businesses can make significant cost savings by reducing the number of people in-office, increasing the money available to invest in growth and other business areas.

The massive benefit of hybrid is the option for employees to choose and feel in control of their work, while for employees, they can benefit from many of the savings of remote working, plus retain a happy workforce.

All three models require the right tools and skillsets to maintain healthy collaboration and productivity as companies and employees embrace the “new normal”, but for us, the clear winner is hybrid. It offers the best of all worlds and fantastic opportunities for all businesses and employees.

But, now, it’s over to you. What works in your business? What do you prefer? Have you been convinced to change your business model?

Contact us to see how we can help you get set up with the right workplace model for your company.

More than half of large companies have reduced their office space in the last 2 years. They slashed their overheads as staff migrated to home offices.

But even as people return to the office two years later, firms may still be able to keep their smaller spaces. How? By using office seating software.

Flexible working software, also known as desk hoteling, desking booking or hot desking software, allows those who come into the office to work wherever they want. The key is that they don’t need a fixed desk.

With so many still working remotely, this reduces the office space a company needs.

But what exactly is hot desking software, and is it worth investing in for your company?

What Is Hot Desking Software?

Office seating or hot desking software is a computer application that lets employees book their desks in an office. Typically, this is done because staff are not assigned a desk 1:1, but rather pick an available desk upon arriving at the office, or prior to arriving.

Office seating or hot desking software is a computer application that lets employees book their desks in an office.

Hence, the office requires fewer desks in total to service its staff because not everyone will be in at the same time.

More advanced hot desking softwares go even further, addressing other office space needs and can be termed office space management software. These include booking meeting rooms, visitor management, or running health screeners.

Why Use Hot Desking Software?

Hot desking and desk hoteling have both been popular among companies for years - well before the pandemic forced more companies to consider the solution.

They were typically used by employees who regularly worked off-site. Think sales teams or on-the-road consultants. Giving them a fixed desk was a waste of space.

But with the majority of corporations embracing hybrid working, the purpose of office seating software is changing. The vast majority of workers who are able to work remotely are also able to work from any desk.

Instead of a handful of staff not needing fixed desks, almost no one does.

So instead of a handful of employees using office seating software, it will now need company-wide adoption to ensure everyone who wants to, or needs to, come to the office is able to find a space to work.

This system reduces overheads by slashing the square footage companies need, potentially saving millions every year in real-estate costs.

At the same time, it encourages remote workers back to the office.

Softwares in this category have certainly evolved during the pandemic, becoming increasingly sophisticated and feature-rich. Many of these features are absolutely essential to running a company with a hybrid workplace policy. Excel sheets will not cut it.

Below we walk you through important features to look out for when selecting a software. Depending on the nature of your company’s hybrid work policy, you may need all or only some of these.

Interactive Floorplans

Some software of times past would only give users the option to book a desk. That was it. Maybe if they were lucky, they could choose which desk.

Products have dramatically improved since then. Fully customizable floorplan features now show users exactly which desks are booked and which are available. More advanced software even shares who is sitting where.

This can help people decide not just where they want to work, but who they want to work with. It also lets you know who is in the office at any time.

Especially with safety still a concern, some appreciate the option to book a desk a bit away from crowded areas. Many will appreciate the choice a floorplan gives them, including:

• Do I want to work by a window, or away from one?
• How close do I want to be to the breakroom?
• Do I want to work in a loud, lively area of the office, or a quieter corner?

Some software even provide a live floorplan view. It shows which desks are booked and available at any given moment. This level of transparency can ease the anxiety of returning to the office for many.

Collaboration Tools

With the availability of remote work and hybrid working, it can be difficult to bring people into the office. They know it’s optional, so why would they?

The best hot desking softwares find ways to motivate people to come back to the office. It encourages in-person collaboration and meet-ups for events.

The best hot desking softwares find ways to motivate people to come back to the office. It encourages in-person collaboration and meet-ups for events.

For example, Zynq’s Buddy Sync feature notifies users when a close colleague has booked time in the office, and can synchronize their office schedules.

Choosing where to sit can also lead to departments overlapping where they normally wouldn't. This organically creates conversations that can lead to effective cross-department collaboration.

Neighborhoods and Desk Restrictions

Desk hoteling software can be completely customizable. The level of choice and freedom staff have regarding when they come in and where they sit is up to you.

Some companies may allow workers to choose from any seat in the office with the vision of encouraging cross-departmental collaboration and fruitful intra-company connections. Others companies may prefer to suggest or enforce department neighborhoods.

Office seating software caters to all these models, depending on how you’d like your office to function.

Single Sign-in (SSO)

Accessibility and ease is key to a friction free hot desking software rollout. It also helps the whole office run more smoothly.

Good hot desking software removes the need to create additional accounts and simply allows users to sign in to the software using a platform they are familiar with: Microsoft, Azure and G-Suite.

Single sign-ins make a world of difference when it comes to user uptake.

Integrations and APIs

This integration extends to other areas. Existing virtual collaboration software such as Microsoft Teams and Slack can be combined with office seating software to allow for faster desk and room bookings, for example.

Even more complex HRIS softwares and RFID security systems can also be integrated for an even more seamless set up.

Hot desking softwares with API documentation can extend the versatility of the platform to virtually any use case specific to a company.

Co-worker Search

People appreciate the ability to choose who they work next to. They may want to book near a certain person for social reasons or to collaborate on a project.

As useful as a live floorplan may be, it can be difficult to find who you’re looking for in a large company.

A feature to be able to look up colleagues and their in-office schedules and seating can help you plan out yours. Good hot desking softwares make this easy and seamless.

Administrative Controls

In most companies, office administrators need to be able to see and control who is accessing the office and how. Should the need arise, bookings can be overridden by admins.

Hot desking software empowers office admins with back-end controls to create an ideal office layout on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to align with company policies or priorities.

Usage Insights and Analytics

Huge sums of data are collected by flexible working software. When desks are booked, when they are used, what meeting rooms are most popular, and even at what time of day. How can that be used?

The software can help you find under and overused resources and spaces in your office. Tracking exactly how many desks are used every day, and for how long, shows you how many you need.

The software can help you find under and overused resources and spaces in your office.

For example, certain areas of the office that were necessary three years ago might be less important now. Scores of cubicles may need to be replaced with open floorplan desk layouts that are becoming increasingly popular among hybrid companies. Such decisions can be data-driven when a company uses their hot desking software data.

Metrics can even help predict the future of your office space. With hybrid policies still new, it is important to start building a database as soon as possible.

This database can then inform future space planning and real estate decisions. The data shows you what resources are actually required for your office to run smoothly.

Your analytics may show that you can reduce your office space. With many working from home some of the time, your office may not need to be the size it is. This concrete information helps businesses save on costs in the long run, only investing in what they need.

Alternatively, you can keep the same space and keep growing while adjusting hot desking policies to always remain within the limits of your office space.

Lots of software offers a free demo that shows you exactly how these analytics work before you invest in the product.

Floorplan Customization

Floorplan customization allows management to easily turn on and off desk access. This can be used for a variety of purposes, but most prevalent at the moment is to enforce social distancing.

Some offices need to consider government-imposed social distancing in their offices. Desk booking software helps by allowing you to make certain desks unavailable.

The strictest companies could use this to block out every other desk. Others may prefer to block off desks next to crowded walkways for the time being.

Closing access to certain desks also has other uses. For example, blocking off desks near a client meeting for the afternoon could keep the area quiet.

However you use it, it’s an incredibly powerful tool.

Health Screeners

Many offices are running health checks, either when someone arrives at the office or beforehand.

This can be to comply with local government ordinances or simply to keep the office as hygienic as possible. Health screening questions can be integrated into hot desking software.

Before booking a desk remotely, the software can ask the user to fill out a survey about any symptoms they are experiencing. The software sends the results back to management. Then, the company decides who is allowed to work in the office.

Desk Types

Desk booking software gives staff a choice of desks. It also identifies which types of desks are most popular. This can help you decide which furniture solutions to invest in from now on.

But flexible seating provides even more choice than which desk type workers choose.

Rather than having a fixed desk, desk hoteling allows people to choose where they work in the office. This isn’t just limited to bookable desks. Some people may prefer to work in more open, agile  collaborative working spaces than at a desk.

Hybrid working options give them this freedom. And software that integrates office check-ins allows you to track office space usage even if someone doesn’t book a desk.

Desk Hoteling Mobile Apps

Office seating software can run on the internet or a company intranet. More advanced solutions offer apps to their clients.

These iOS and Android apps have become substantially more sophisticated overtime, allowing users to utilize every feature of a hot desking software right on their personal or work mobile device.

Apps are particularly more useful when the software is utilized by the entire company. Desks can be booked on the go and check-ins can occur seamlessly to get an end-to-end picture of desk utilization at a company.

Meeting Rooms

Just as people like to know they have a desk waiting for them the next day, people feel more comfortable if the guesswork is taken out of having an accessible meeting room when it’s needed.

Some office seating softwares have the option of integrating meeting room bookings. That way, those needing a meeting room can relax, knowing there is a space available somewhere in the office.

This also provides useful information about how staff use meeting rooms.

People prefer to meet in person than online. So despite relatively emptier offices, meeting room usage is almost at the same level as before the pandemic. Using this software can help companies determine whether they need to invest in more meeting space, or rooms of different sizes.

Wayfinding

With many people attending their company offices for the first time because they were hired during the pandemic, wayfinding is more critical than ever.

Desk booking software helps users orient themselves on the office floorplan so they can quickly get familiarized with the layout of the office and find where they are sitting.

Plus, live floorplans can help staff and visitors alike navigate the office.

Visitors and External Users

Desk booking software often incorporate add-on features to bring in guests to your office that will be visiting as a one-off or for a prolonged period of time, without being direct employees of the company.

They check in to the office the same way as staff do, and can work wherever you allow, or simply drop-in for a meeting. The check-in process can be the same or different for these categories of external users.

Zynq Platform Does it All

Take control of your office reopening. Rather than muddling through manual hot desking policies and office check-ins, talk to us. Our all-in-one flexible working software is easy to use, easy to change, and includes all the aforementioned features.

Sign up for a demo of Zynq’s office seating software today. Whether you need hot desking software, desk hoteling, or full office management, we've got you covered. See how much it reassures employees about their return to the office, while keeping you informed.

The pandemic has disrupted the way we work, and what matters most to employees and employers has changed - possibly forever.

As a result, companies have had to cultivate more human-centered cultures during the last couple of years to attract and retain talent. One thing is sure: a clear trend towards hybrid working, where employees spend some mixture of time working in and out of the office.

According to a 2022 Global Talents Trends Report, there has been a 304% increase in job titles that relate to hybrid work. Employees want a culture that better aligns with their work-life balance goals, and in return, they show higher levels of well-being and productivity.

Employees want a culture that better aligns with their work-life balance goals, and in return, they show higher levels of well-being and productivity.

If we look at LinkedIn's job listings for 2019 to 2021, we can see a steep rise in keywords like flexibility (83%) and company culture, wellness, or well-being (13%). Many believe that the only way companies will be able to completely switch to a hybrid workplace is to have dedicated leadership.

Increasingly companies are creating roles that can fully address the seismic changes that have taken place in the past years. Roles such as "Hybrid Workplace Lead," "Flexible Workplace Operation Manager," and "Head of Future of Work'' are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in large companies.

A New Hot Job Title and the Future of Work

It's quite common for a new role or job title to follow a management priority.

For example, the 2010s saw the rise of smartphones, IoT, B2B tools, and artificial intelligence. As a result, businesses focused on innovation management to avoid hampering new ideas.

And in response to recent movements demanding greater equity and representation in the workplace for minorities, many companies hired diversity chiefs to ensure the workforce represented minorities appropriately.

Now, new roles are required to evolve the thinking around the hybrid and flexible workplace, its unique requirements, and its biggest asset: the people.

In many ways, the necessity of such positions comes from the employees themselves who are demanding forms of flexible work as a prerequisite for interviews, much less getting hired.

In the severe talent war that is ever-raging, companies need to position themselves ahead of trends to hire the best.

In the severe talent war that is ever-raging, companies need to position themselves ahead of trends to hire the best.

So what are companies looking for when they list openings for "Head of Future of Work?"

The responsibilities of this new role include (but are not limited to):

• Implementing new employment models and handling transitions between work styles, such as remote, in-office, or hybrid arrangements.
• Providing updates on the pandemic's development and its impact on the workplace.
• Updating HR systems to facilitate posting jobs for remote and hybrid work.
• Partner with external experts, universities and think tanks to predict and get ahead of trends that will influence how we work.
• Helping employees move to new locations while working remotely, for example, by aiding them in setting up taxes.
• Taking positive action towards a working culture based on well-being and job satisfaction.
• Lead and rollout pilots and experiments internally to inform future workplace policies.
• Equipping offices with furnishings that are modern and hybrid friendly.
• Getting creative in how to bring virtual teams together.
• Offering appropriate scheduling choices and nurturing healthy bonds.
  
  

The Future of Work: A Leap Forward

Although it might sometimes look like we're merely reacting to short-term problems, proactively adopting can help make our organizations more robust, efficient, and welcoming to new ideas and talent.

It took us a couple of years to learn that well-being, flexibility, and company culture are central to a productive workplace. Flex work is the way forward, but it doesn't come without challenges.

Organizations that don't adapt will surely struggle to find and retain talent.

Culture can be a selling point for motivated job seekers, but companies need a competitive edge to make sure they are noticed.

A person or team dedicated to employee experience and engagement can help people avoid burnout and feel happier at work.

Many of us feel the pandemic accelerated many trends that are now becoming norms in workplaces. Remote and hybrid work is not going anywhere, so finding invested leadership is essential.

And when you do, Zynq is here to help. Zynq's all-in-one, office management platform features hot-desk booking, room reservations, visitor management, and many other tools to help your business seamlessly step into the hybrid future.

With COVID-19 restrictions coming to an end in many parts of the world, employees are slowly returning to their offices. However, normal operations are a thing of the past.

Employees have shown that they can work remotely during the pandemic, and many insist on more flexible working hours and locations.

A Robert Half International Inc. survey in 2021 showed that more than a third of professional workers would resign if asked to return to the office full-time, and half the people surveyed preferred the hybrid work arrangement to preserve their work-life balance and mental health.

In this article, we’ll look at exactly how a hybrid model can benefit your team’s mental health.

Why Does Mental Health Matter in the Workforce?

There is a clear business case for looking after employees' mental health and well-being.

According to the WHO, every dollar spent on treating common mental disorders like anxiety and depression delivers a return of four dollars in productivity and health.

Every dollar spent on treating common mental disorders like anxiety and depression delivers a return of four dollars in productivity and health.

The CDC also found that illnesses like depression can reduce an employee's cognitive performance by 35% and hampers their ability to complete physical tasks.

Jessica Pryce-Jones, CEO of the iOpener Institute, compiled answers from a questionnaire sent to 3000 respondents in 79 countries and found that happier employees are 108% more engaged, 50% more motivated, and 50% more productive. Moreover, the most satisfied employees take 66% less sick leave than their less happy counterparts.

When companies don't address or improve their employees’ mental health, the long-term costs are often far greater than any short term advantages.

To this end, many companies are rethinking their policies on a full-time return to the office.

Mental Health Risks Due to Full Time Remote or Office Working

While some people enjoyed working from home during the early stages of the pandemic, others found it lonely or difficult for balancing their personal and work lives.

Many workers experienced loneliness and isolation while working remotely during the pandemic. Symptoms of isolation can include increased stress levels and poor decision-making.

Despite the negatives of working remotely 100% of the time, working 100% from the office also has disadvantages for peoples’ mental health.

Many workers face long and stressful commutes and schedules that impact their home life. Others are not emotionally equipped for the typical stressors of working with difficult co-workers or managers. The negatives of working full-time in the office are reduced autonomy, time wasted in commuting, exposure to illness, and struggling to adapt.

Hybrid as a middle-of-the-way solution offers an excellent way to improve your team's mental health, and consequently numerous other business metrics. Let’s find out the mental health benefits of going hybrid.

Hybrid as a middle-of-the-way solution offers an excellent way to improve your team's mental health, and consequently numerous other business metrics.

The Mental Health Benefits of Going Hybrid

Considering the drawbacks and advantages of both approaches for your team’s mental health, hybrid working can offer a suitable solution consisting of the best of both worlds.

Employees can still form meaningful face-to-face connections and relationships with co-workers by combining working from home and the office.

Hybrid working reduces the cost and stress of commuting every single day and provides a better work-life balance that will improve mental health all around. Let’s find out more.

1 — Create a Virtual and Real-life Connection

Traditionally, coffee stations or canteens acted as a hub for serendipitous social interaction. People love the ability to simply walk up to their colleague’s workstation to discuss an idea or have a chat.

People value the hub of social interaction that office spaces offer.  

However, with a 100% remote model, studies found the loss of connection reduced job satisfaction, with workers feeling less connected to their employers and distant from the daily updates of company news.

How does this tie into mental health? Research shows people need to be connected socially for their well-being. Physical distancing and online working limit social interactions, narrowing the sense of social connection and impacting professional networks.

Physical distancing and online working limit social interactions, narrowing the sense of social connection.

Hybrid offers a solution.

First, companies must embrace technology to create a virtual connection for employees working from home or in different locations. But there’s a caveat.

Employers also have to use tools to encourage collaboration and connection in a social way.

Second, by allowing people to come to the office flexibly, workers can meet in real-life, enjoy water-cooler chats, and translate their online relationships to in-person bonds.

By fostering virtual and real-life connections, hybrid working is perfectly positioned to engage and connect with team members, a vital factor in mental health and wellbeing.

2 — Improve Work-Life Balance

A disadvantage of full-time remote working is that while many people thought the opportunity to work from home would improve their work-life balance and, in turn, their mental health, the opposite turned out to be true.

A study showed that nearly a third of remote workers struggle to achieve a work-life balance; they work more than 1.4 days than their office-bound counterparts and experience higher stress levels.

Workers have replaced their commutes with early morning Zoom calls and struggle to switch their laptops off at night. The increased working hours and lack of clear boundaries can lead to burnout and the deterioration of their mental health and well-being.

The increased working hours and lack of clear boundaries can lead to burnout and the deterioration of their mental health and well-being.

It’s clear that a physical distinction between where an employee spends their free time and their working day is required to achieve a better balance in life, but in both full-time office or remote workforces, it’s hard to achieve.  

Hybrid is ideally placed to fix this conundrum, creating clearly defined “zones” and set schedules for work, creating boundaries and guidelines for work, reducing stress, burnout, and other potential mental health concerns.

3 — Spot Signs of Distress

Not seeing your colleagues every day also makes it easier to hide mental distress and disorders.

Many of us struggle to spot signs of mental health problems at the best of times, but remote working completely eliminates face-to-face interaction and reduces our ability to pick up on non-verbal cues that could warn us that our colleagues are experiencing some form of mental distress.

Hybrid working makes it easier to spot personal distress like depression, anxiety, or traumatic experiences in our co-workers because employees have greater visibility.

It is easier for management, senior personnel, HR or colleagues to extend a helping hand, encourage a personal time-off benefit, or be sympathetic to those who need it in the office environment.

4 — Increase Autonomy

Most in-office companies adhere to the standard nine to five work schedule, which can negatively impact productivity, increase stress, and cause exhaustion.

Plus, being part of a larger office team can decrease workers' autonomy, requiring them to stick to a structured schedule that works for the business and not necessarily for individuals.

Autonomy is essential for our mental health. Studies have found that workers with limited autonomy have an increased likelihood of depression and even death.

Sticking to a work schedule dictated by mandated office hours can also increase time pressures and, in some cases, build distrust.

With increased workloads and set hours, many dedicated workers bring their work home with them, and when this is not recognized, they feel unappreciated.

When staff members work those set hours instead of when they are most effective at their jobs, it can add to the stress and pressure of work and lead to mental distress and burnout.

When staff members work set hours instead of when they are most effective at their jobs, it can add to the stress and pressure of work and lead to mental distress and burnout.

The hybrid model flips this on its head. Workers have the flexibility to choose their hours, where and how they work. This autonomy should increase job satisfaction, improve morale, and reduce stress.

5— Save Time, Reduce Stress

An American AutoInsurance Company analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the 2015 Urban Mobility Scorecard, the INRIX 2015 Traffic Scorecard, and the U.S. Energy Information Association.

The analysis found that the average American worker spends 52 minutes traveling to and from work each day. They spend 42 hours stuck in traffic jams every year and waste $960 on fuel due to traffic delays.

On paper, this sounds pretty serious, but the jury’s out on whether a long commute is, in fact, good or bad for our mental health.

On the one hand, a long commute has been connected to negative short and long term mental health problems such as anxiety, mood changes, irritability, and even depression.

However, on the other hand, it’s also been connected to benefits such as fitness, pleasurable “me time”, and a feeling of detachment from the family life (in a positive way!).

Based on the research, it is hard to determine whether or not the commute is good or bad for your mental health; it’s likely highly dependent on the individual.

It’s therefore evident that the hybrid model offers the best of both worlds, allowing your team to choose what works — for them.

6 — Reduce Exposure to Illness

The COVID-19 pandemic also exposes another legitimate concern — exposure to illness. Even if COVID-19 becomes milder and eventually dies out, viruses and bugs can cost workers valuable time and impact their health.

By working partly from home, you reduce your exposure to illnesses, plus it gives businesses extra time to deep clean the offices with a lower footfall on a day-to-day basis.

By working partly from home, you reduce your exposure to illnesses, plus it gives businesses extra time to deep clean the offices with a lower footfall on a day-to-day basis.

But, it’s not just the benefit to your physical health. Many workers report feeling anxious about returning to work due to the increased chance of illness.

The worry about the risk of catching COVID is a real cause of anxiety for many people. By adopting a hybrid way of working, you can allow employees to decide how they feel about attending the office in-person.

7 — Help People Adapt

After almost two years of working remotely, some workers find it too difficult to return to an office environment — a factor that should be carefully considered, particularly when juggling childcare and commutes.

It's no small wonder that scores of employees quit rather than return to the office full time.

By offering a hybrid way of working, you help your team adapt.

It doesn’t need to be all or nothing, exacerbating the so-called “Great Resignation”. Work with your team to offer a flexible solution that helps them adapt in their own time, and you will increase their happiness, reduce stress, and improve their mental health.

Improve Mental Health With Hybrid

Good mental health isn't a perk. Prioritizing it improves productivity, happiness, motivation and reduces absence due to illness or personal time off.

Working remotely during the pandemic highlighted many advantages and disadvantages for full-time work-from-home and fully-remote office setups.

While working from the office provides structure, much-needed face-to-face interaction, solid relationships, and teamwork, it is also rigid and stressful for employees.

Remote working offers autonomy, flexibility, and less stress than the office, but it also means that employees miss out on the essential benefits of face-to-face interactions.

Hybrid working combines the best of both worlds.

By working partially from home and partially from the office, workers can build those solid relationships and gain structure while removing the stress and rigid structure that comes with the territory when you work from the office full time.

In short, hybrid working enables practices that contribute positively to employees' mental health.

By implementing simple software solutions like Zynq that can promote and enable safe and structured hybrid working practices, any business can put the health and well-being of their employees front and center — and reap the benefits.

Working from home has taken over as the new normal. According to a recent Gallup study 45% of full-time U.S. employees now work from home either all (25%) or part of the time (20%).

Even more, two-thirds of employees in white-collar jobs (67%) reported working from home either exclusively (41%) or some of the time (26%) in late 2021.

Our guess is that these numbers aren’t alarming to you - and if you’re reading this, probably present something very familiar.

Furthermore, if you were someone that previously went into an office that now works from home - you’re enjoying many of the benefits flexible work offers. These widely covered “perks” can include: less time on the road, greater productivity, a cleaner environment, money saved, increased job satisfaction, and more.

But like most things in life, most ups come with their downs.

Erosion of company culture has been a big concern for company leaders, “zoom fatigue” has emerged as a major issue, employee churn is at an all time high and the well-being of employees are some of the biggest concerns when dealing with a fully remote workforce.

For some, the advantages of remote work far outweigh the benefits of going into the office. And when your employer starts discussing return to work (RTO), it may seem like it’s for their own good over yours.

You should suspend judgment a little longer. There are definitely benefits for employees to get back into the office (at least part time).

But, we contend you should suspend judgment a little longer. There are definitely benefits for employees to get back into the office (at least part time). Read on for some we think are quite compelling.

Benefits of Getting Back to the Office

Collaboration

When you can reach over and tap someone on the shoulder, there is nothing to get in the way of communication or the flow of ideas. Whether you have a question, an idea that needs to be expressed or need a second of someone's time - walking over to them is far easier than that slack message or MS Teams ping.

Undivided attention is a core pillar of in-person collaboration and asynchronous collaboration is hardly ‘collaboration', it can be argued.

Remote work has made it harder for employees to acquire and share information across networks. Having the opportunity to go back into the office will help you learn faster, share new ideas, and fast-track your career trajectory.

Having the opportunity to go back into the office will help you learn faster, share new ideas, and fast-track your career trajectory.

Apple’s VP Deirdre O’Brien said, "If we take a moment to reflect on our unbelievable product launches this past year, the products and the launch execution were built upon the base of years of work that we did when we were all together in-person.”

The success of Apple’s products are legendary. They were all conceived and built on the foundation of in-person working.

Apple now intends to go hybrid, requiring staff to work one to two days per week days in-person.

Motivation

Being around other people working towards the same goal posts is contagious. There’s several reasons why 4.5 millions US workers quit their jobs in November.

In large part, studies show, it was due to lack of being challenged or motivated. Work starts to feel increasingly dull in isolation. Even with a pet betta fish.

Getting back into the office, at least part time, will allow you to rekindle the flame that comes with being around amazing, high-performing team members, and for those who bring you down: at least it’s not five days a week!.

Even if it’s once or twice per month -  coordinated activities in the office for recognition, “team days”, hangouts, quarterly kickoffs, etc., will serve the important purpose of keeping you motivated, connected and challenged in your job.

Friendships

Think back to a job where you made a close, lifelong friend: would that have happened if they were only a talking head on Zoom  - or worse: a voice?

The lack of in-person socialization has drastically hurt employees in an all-remote setting. Work becomes far more transactional and less relational. After-work dinners and happy hours become Zoom cooking classes. Can you even compare those, apples to apples?

A core pillar of having a great work environment is great people. Most people find their friend (or otherwise) matches at work, especially if given time. That is a value-add that no one would readily let go.  

Think about it: would Jim and Dwight have been Jim and Dwight over slack (from The Office)?

Humans are social beings. While that can mean a lot of things now (thanks Mark Zuckerberg), at the core it means socializing in person. And as we discussed in the article, for the office this means benefiting from Collaboration, Motivation and Friendships.

If you’re dreading getting back to the office - don’t knock it till you try it. If you’re an employer thinking about a return to work strategy - reference this article to empathize with your employees and create policies that highlight the benefits of returning to work for them.

The holidays are just around the corner, and you know what that means - the office holiday party is just around the corner too. Hooray!

The office holiday party can be one of the best times of the year for everyone involved.

They help bring everyone together and boost team morale, especially after such a tough two years. It is a time for everyone to let loose and have a little fun  at the real or home office!

It’s also an opportunity for management to show they really care

It’s also an opportunity for management to show they really care about the overall culture and wellbeing of staff.

Largely as a result of the pandemic, many companies have adopted a hybrid approach to working, where not all members of staff are working at the office at the same time. Instead, some (or all) staff have some set flexibility around working at the office.

In hybrid workplaces, staff in-person days are scattered throughout the year, and colleagues have fewer chances to meet face-to-face, in person.

Given the particular nature of how colleague interactions usually occur in hybrid workplaces, the need for an unforgettable holiday party is arguably even greater. The boost in team morale and team bonding that the holiday party can bring is particularly important this year.

The boost in team morale and team bonding that the holiday party can bring is particularly important this year.

But it is also a little tricky.

While the worst of the pandemic is “over” in a sense, in some parts of the world,  it is also very much raging in others.

When it comes to planning your holiday bash this year, you will have to get creative and think outside the box as there may be unique restrictions and challenges with execution.

Some things you will have to consider are:

• Will the party be in person, virtual, or some mix of in-person and virtual?
• Whether venues will have the same capacity that they used to and whether this will allow all of your staff to party together.
• Whether all party guests will be required to show proof of vaccination before they enter a event space.
• Will all staff be comfortable meeting a larger group in person? There may be pushback just as there was pushback against coming back to the office.
• Will it be mandatory to attend?
• If you take a hybrid approach to your party, will the people going remotely be sufficiently included in the happenings?
• Could it be awkward? Could people feel uncomfortable being together for the first time in so long?

In this post, let’s look at three options for all-virtual office holiday parties and three options for in-person & hybrid parties to give every kind of office an option that will suit them and help counteract any of these potential issues.

All-Virtual Party Ideas

We’ll look at virtual options first. These can be implemented as an option in hybrid companies where in-person events may not be possible due to capacity or safety issues, or because they may exclude remote workers that live far from the work hub.

A virtual event can be great to keep everyone on equal footing.

Online Trivia and Quizzes

Online quizzes are great for hybrid holiday parties as they strongly focus on shared experiences and opportunities for interaction.

You can have someone be the quizmaster and set rounds of questions and then put staff members into teams. You can use quiz templates easily found online, or you can task some creative staff members to create the quiz for you.

Having people interact in teams can be a great way to break the ice and dispel any discomfort.

Online quizzes are great for having a lot of fun as well as team collaboration. Having people interact in teams can be a great way to break the ice and dispel any discomfort, especially if staff members don’t know each other very well or haven’t seen each other in a long time due to the pandemic.

Online Cocktail Making Class

An online cocktail-making class is a fun and quirky idea for a virtual holiday party. There are many online cocktail-making class options, or if you have a cocktail-savvy colleague, you could save your budget and have them conduct the class instead.

Either way, cocktail making is a fun way for your colleagues to enjoy a party from the comfort of their own homes.

The most important thing to remember with this one is to include interaction, lots of it. When it comes to virtual events, having interaction in the group will allow everyone to feel included and important.

Maybe consider having some mocktails on the menu so as to include those who abstain from alcohol for health or religio-cultural reasons.

Online Cooking Class

Another fun idea is an online cooking class.

This would be better suited to smaller groups, so larger teams will have to split up.

Online cooking classes make for interesting and wholesome holiday parties. It helps take the attention off your attendees and put the attention on to a focused task. This is important if you feel that some colleagues might feel awkward.

The best thing you can do to make a successful holiday party is to understand and really empathize with your attendees. Take the time to understand how each person might feel and then take the necessary steps to counteract any negative feelings.

Hybrid Party Ideas

The next three ideas are for in-person events with a possible online component. Hybrid companies may opt to have in-person holiday parties. This can be an excellent opportunity for people at the company to finally meet those who they’ve never met before in person due to their hybrid schedule. With a little bit of work, these can be hugely memorable events and improve company-wide morale.

Escape Rooms

Escape rooms are a super fun way for your colleagues to come together and bond as a team. The problem-solving nature helps break any awkwardness between people who haven’t seen each other since before the pandemic.

Coming together to work as a group will help everyone ease into the party, and they will soon be so focused on the tasks at hand that they will forget about awkward small talk altogether.

Remember that escape rooms will usually only cater to small groups and that some people might not be comfortable yet in such a small space for a prolonged time.

Try to be as inclusive as possible by providing an alternative online option. There are plenty of online escape rooms available. You could have those who are comfortable in real-life escape rooms and those who aren’t in online ones. All you would have to do is take some employee surveys and see how people feel.

Office Olympics

Have you ever watched the episode of the Office where they play office Olympics? If not, you really should.

Office Olympics could look different for all kinds of offices, and it depends on what numbers and space you have.

But in summary, it is an event where you play lots of games in teams or individually to win prizes. They are a whole lot of fun, and people will surely lose themselves in the activities.

You could also do this event for remote workers if you made some of the activities accessible to those online.

The most important thing here will be to prepare appropriately and ensure everyone understands the party’s expectations. Hybrid parties are different, and that’s ok. All that matters is that everyone is on the same page before the party so that there can be a limit on any potential confusion or discomfort.

Comedy Club

A comedy club is a place where you and your team can go and enjoy a comedian's standup show. This is a less interactive event but is nonetheless lots of fun. It will help your colleagues to loosen up and allow themselves to have a laugh. Just make sure, as this is a work event, that the company is safe for work.

You can absolutely make this a hybrid event by allowing staff to log in from home to watch too. The key will be to make sure that your at-home colleagues can hear everything as well as those in the audience. Those joining from home shouldn’t have a lesser experience because they are at home.

Remember that inclusivity is the theme of every party this year.

Everyone being included is our aim with a hybrid party, and couldn’t we all do with a laugh after the year we’ve had?

Some Final Words

The world of work has become more complex since the pandemic. Hybrid working models are coming up on top as the most popular option, which means that many aspects of office life have changed and continue to change. This includes holiday parties.

But, there are lots of positive and growth-promoting ways that we can tackle this issue.

This blog has covered some great options for holiday parties for hybrid workplaces, with examples of both fully virtual and hybrid events.

The key formula to throwing a great party for a hybrid office is inclusivity, accessibility, and interaction.

Take these things into account, and you should be on to a winner.

If you need a little extra help organizing your office and managing your staff in a new and hybrid way, consider using Zynq office management tools to give you a helping hand.

Hybrid is the future, and technology is the means.

It’s hard keeping up with business lingo, but our handy glossary will make things so much easier. Below you will find many of the terms relevant to the modern workplace.

Hybrid Working: Hybrid working is a flexible working model that allows employees to work from the company office, their homes, and/or public spaces. Hybrid working usually involves booking hot-desks when coming into the office, using hot desking software. Organizations can vary in when they expect employees to come into the office. For a detailed overview, check out this article.

Hybrid Workplace: Also known as Hybrid Office. A hybrid workplace is a flexible workspace that supports a distributed workforce, which may include in-office and remote workers.

All-Remote Workforce: Also known as Telecommuting. A model of working that expects employees to work from home or anywhere other than the company office.

Agile Working: Agile working is an approach to completing tasks with maximum flexibility and minimum constraints by optimizing people, processes, and technology. It usually involves giving employees a great deal of autonomy to choose when and where they work.

Flexible Working: Flexible working is an approach adopted by organizations that enables employees to work according to their needs for a better work-life balance, e.g., flexible hours, staggered start-times, or remote working. See also: Flex Hours.

Flexible Workplace: A flexible workplace is an office space with creative or non-fixed workspaces that any employee can utilize as required. See also: Hot-desking.

Flex Hours: Flex hours is a scheduling process for employees that enables them to change their working hours to accommodate their lifestyle. See also: Flexible Working.

Hybrid Meeting: A hybrid meeting is a meeting or an event that involves a mix of in-person and virtual participants.

On-Site Working: On-site working relates to the activities carried out by employees in the company office or location, as determined by their employer.

Hot-Desking: Hot-desking is an office space utilization practice which involves employees booking available desks, instead of being assigned a particular desk/space/office. This can be booked through a formal hot-desking software or managed informally. For a more detailed outline, read this article, See also: Flexible Workplace.

Hotelling: Hotelling is similar to hot-desking but with greater levels of control and formal organization. Employees share desks on a rota basis, but they are required to pre-book and check in with a concierge or central booking system to access their spot.

HRIS: Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) refers to software designed to help businesses meet their core HR needs and improve productivity.

Head-Down Work: Head-down working refers to individuals who are focused on or function within a single silo, task, or deliverable. They may not attempt to understand or collaborate with other parts of the organization. It may also refer to a working style that involves extreme concentration, free from distractions. See also: Deep Work.

Deep Work: Deep work relates to professional activities performed in a state of extreme concentration. See also: Head-Down Work.

Co-Working Space: A co-working space refers to an arrangement where subscribers share an office space, where some may be hot-desking and others have fixed spaces. Common amenities (e.g. coffee, printers, reception staff) are shared.

Collaborative Work: Collaborative work is when two or more people work together to complete a project or task and share a common goal that benefits the team or company.

Collaborative Space: A collaborative space within an office incorporates zones for small teams to share their knowledge and ideas while retaining some quieter areas for more focused work.

Collaboration Zones: Collaborative zones are breakout areas or formal spaces designated for collaborative working and ideation. See also: Collaborative Space.

Neighborhoods (in an office): Office neighborhoods refer to role or activity-based areas within an office. Neighborhoods are arranged by job functions (e.g., Marketing, Finance, Sales) or cross-functional teams that work together frequently (e.g., front-end and back-end app developers). Neighborhoods are commonly managed using office space utilization software.

Huddle: Huddles refer to short, focused meetings. They can involve a whole team or just a select few individuals and are geared to resolve a particular task or question affecting the group.

Huddle Rooms: Huddle rooms are small meeting rooms equipped for quick team meetings (huddles) that can be used for unplanned working sessions and small team discussions. These are typically not bookable on a centralized room booking system.

Brown Bag: A brown bag is an informal meeting or session that usually takes place at lunchtime. One or more of the attendees present to the group on some aspect of their job. The term refers to employees bringing their own lunch to these meetings.

HVAC: HVAC refers to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. HVAC may sometimes refer specifically to the environmental controls deployed remotely to ensure the optimal functioning of a large data center.

Work From Home (WFH): Work from home is a workplace policy that refers to an employee working remotely from their own residence instead of the formal office.

Work From Anywhere (WFA): Work from anywhere is an approach in which organizations allow employees to execute their daily tasks in a flexible way, including working remotely or partially from the formal office. See also: Flexible Working.

Return to the Office (RTO): Return to the office is a coordinated plan whereby employees safely return to their formal workplace. The term has gained popularity during the 2020 pandemic as a result of companies working towards bringing employees back to the office.

Activity-Based Working: Activity-based working is a style of working that allows employees to choose from a variety of settings to perform different tasks. It is usually combined with an office layout that facilitates various activities, e.g., typing, phone calls, etc.

Working Pod: A working pod is a self-contained workspace that workers can utilize to perform tasks that require privacy or deep concentration. These can sometimes be booked using a hot-desking software.

Assigned Workstation: An assigned workstation is a dedicated desk, office or area that is allocated to and only utilized by a single worker.

Cubicle: A cubicle is a partially-enclosed office workspace designed to minimize distractions within an open office by separating neighboring workspaces with partitions.

Building Management System: A building management system is a computer-based control system that monitors and manages energy, ventilation, and cooling within a building.

RFID: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a wireless system comprising tags and readers, typically used as part of the access control system for a building.

Call Booth: A call booth is an enclosed modern office furniture solution that provides workers with privacy and quiet in order to make phone calls.

Work Booth: Work booths are usually mobile, semi-enclosed, screen-based units where individuals can work more privately. Also see: Working Pods.

BYOE/D (Bring Your Own Equipment/Device): BYOE/D is a policy whereby companies expect employees to bring and use their company assigned mobile devices to the workplace, and do not have stationary computing workstations.

Kiosks: Digital, integrated kiosks are typically visitor access control systems that reduce queues and enable rapid check-in.

Desk-Person Ratio: The desk-person ratio is the prescribed number of employees to available seating in workspaces. In general, hybrid workspaces support fewer seats than total employees. See also: Hot-Desking.

Space Optimization: Space optimization is the automated process of creating and utilizing free space or spaces that can be vacated, therefore rearranging assets and operations more efficiently.

Room Tablets: Room tablets are digital displays mounted inside or outside a meeting room and display key features about the room, the room’s meeting schedule, meeting attendees and company. A room tablet software solution is normally required.

Digital Signage: Digital signage uses LCD, LED, and projection to display images, videos, wayfinding map, media streaming, and other important information to visitors.

Facilities Management: Facilities management focuses on the efficient delivery of logistics, support services, and management of visitors and employees as related to real estate.

Bossware: Also known as 'tattleware'. Refers to software used to track and monitor productivity of employees working remotely. Softwares in this category have become especially popular during the global pandemic of 2020.

Fun Zones: Fun zones are areas within an office or building dedicated to relaxation and entertainment. Employees can access fun zones to relax or interact socially.

GDPR: The GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation sets the guidelines for collecting and processing personal information for residents of the EU.

Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS): The IWMS is a software platform that allows organizations to optimize and prioritize the use of workplace resources, including their facilities’ assets and infrastructure.

Interactive Floorplan: An interactive floorplan is a simple and easy-to-digest representation of the office layout on a special-purpose software, such as one for wayfinding, hot-desking, or office resource management.

ISMS: An ISMS or Information Security Management System is an organizational approach to a company’s information security. It’s used to centrally and efficiently manage, monitor, review, and improve information security from a single hub.

Lockers: Compartments where employees can securely lock away and store their personal possessions in a shared office space. These are commonly found within hybrid workplaces where employees do not have assigned workstations.

Hygiene Lockers: Hygiene lockers are contactless, germ-repellent storage units where workers can safely store their personal belongings in an office environment.

Sanitization Station: A sanitization station is a kiosk or stand where hand sanitizer or disinfectant wipes are provided to staff/visitors, usually to prevent the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19.

Employee Monitoring Software: Also called 'bossware' and tattleware'. Refers to software used to track and monitor productivity of employees working remotely. Also see: bossware.

Future of Work: Future of work is a term that refers to the shifts in how work will be done over the next ten years, as influenced by technological, epidemiological, social, and generational changes, e.g. hybrid and remote working and smart buildings.

Nap Pods: Nap pods or sleep pods are structures or chairs used in the workplace that allow employees to take short sleep breaks.

2FA/MFA: Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a type of multi-factor authentication (MFA) deployed to strengthen security by requiring two authentication factors to verify your identity, usually when accessing a company network remotely.

Occupancy Sensors: Occupancy sensors detect motion within the building and relay the information to the larger Building Management System in order to control lights, ventilation or temperature to maximize energy efficiency. It is also used to monitor occupancy limits.

Contact Tracing: The process of identifying and categorizing the in-person interactions an individual or group of people had during a given period. This approach is typically used to control outbreaks of infectious diseases within a building, floor or area.

COVID-19: An infectious respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The virus was first identified in China in 2019, and in 2020, the WHO declared it a pandemic.

Quiet Zones: Rooms or areas within an office where silence is maintained. No talking, cell phones, or other disturbances are allowed. Quiet zones are commonly utilized for deep work.

Occupational Health and Safety: Occupational health and safety refers to the laws, standards, and internal programs concerned with the health, safety, and welfare of people at work.

Ergonomics: An applied science that designs and arranges people and equipment in order to enable more efficient and safe interaction.

Social/Physical Distancing: A set of measures designed to prevent the spread of infectious disease by maintaining a physical distance between people and reducing the number of times people come into close contact with each other.

QR Code: A code that stores information as a series of pixels within a grid that can be read by a digital device, such as a smartphone.

Recurring Bookings: Bookings of meetings and resources  that occur at the same time, on some cadence (usually weekly or monthly).

Same-Day Bookings: A same-day booking is where the visitor/guest books a slot, desk, or room on the same day as their intended arrival or visit.

Scheduling Software: Scheduling software is used to manage and track managers’ and their employees’ time and schedules. It can be used to assign workers to shifts and duties. Within flexible workspaces, scheduling software is used to book hot desks and rooms.

Smart Bookings: Booking an appointment, desk, room, or resource using a software that allows for an optimal booking suggestion based on several known and unknown criteria to the user. They can be used in modern, flexible workspaces, offices, restaurants, hair salons, and clinics.

SSO: SSO or single sign-on is an authentication scheme that allows users to log in to multiple related and independent software systems with a single ID and password. An SSO will enable users to log in once and access various services without re-entering their information.

Visitor Management: Visitor management allows organizations to track the usage of their building or office. A visitor management system records visitor information and provides documentation of their whereabouts, the reason for their visit, and the time of arrival and departure.

Vendor Access: Vendor access is a form of privileged access management that protects the organization against external threats that come from the organization’s usage by external vendors to support, maintain and troubleshoot certain systems within the corporate network.

Wayfinding: Wayfinding refers to the myriad ways people navigate through and orient themselves within a physical space. Wayfinding tech allows users to find their way around a large indoor area using their smartphones.

Workspace Heat Maps: A workspace heat map is a data visualization technique that depicts some aspect of how the physical workspace is being utilized. This is often used in office settings to identify over- and underutilized spaces to optimize usage.

Workspace Capacity: Workspace capacity is the maximum amount of workers that a workspace can contain at a specific time. Workplace capacity may be determined by the number of desks and workstations present or by recommended occupational health and safety standards, e.g., COVID-19 protocols.

Zoom: Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing and virtual meeting tool that uses audio, video, and chat. It became extremely popular after many organizations turned to remote working in 2020.

Virtual Conferencing: Virtual conferencing is a mode of communication between multiple participants whereby meetings or presentations are held using online communication tools.

Covid-19 completely changed how we live and work. Many people who had never worked from home before began doing so around Spring 2020, and a large number of those are still at their home offices.

A recent U.S. survey found that 56% of working Americans still work remotely either all of the time or most of the time. Importantly, this study also found that the number of workers who want to continue to work remotely has risen over the last month and is predicted to continue rising into the next year.

However, at the same time, things are shifting in the opposite direction for companies and their work-from-home policies.

While the delta variant is making things tricky for companies and causing some delays and disruptions, many are now pushing for their employees to return to the office.

Our favorite tech giant Google has announced that they want their workers back in the office by January 2022. Fellow tech king Apple had previously announced a new policy that would require their workers back in the office for three days a week from September 2021, but this has also been pushed back to January 2022.

It’s looking like a post-Christmas return to the office for many across the States. But many aren’t feeling too excited about this prospect.

So, why don’t people want to return to the office?

There are of course many reasons why people do not want to return to their offices.

Number one being that many simply do not feel safe given the persistently high numbers of Covid-19 cases and low vaccination rates in much of the United States. (Can you blame them?)

Number one being that many simply do not feel safe.

Additionally, many workers have become accustomed to the many freedoms that working from home brings them. Many relish the shorter or non-existent commute times, many have moved farther away from their offices for financial or personal reasons, and many simply find that working from home suits them and their working style better.

Many enjoy having their cat on their lap while they take a Zoom meeting.

For many, it makes total sense.

This delay in workers returning to the office has been dubbed “The Great Wait”, and it is costing employers millions of dollars.

It is also important to note that, despite working from home, U.S. workers are still statistically the most stressed in the world, and some research has drawn links between this and the social isolation that comes with home working.

Ita double-edged sword, and there are campaigners for both sides. Many surveys demonstrate that a larger percentage (74%) of knowledge workers do want to return to the office, at least some of the time.

Many surveys demonstrate that a larger percentage (74%) of knowledge workers do want to return to the office, at least some of the time.

What does the Law have to say?

Before you make any decisions, it’s always key to check what is within legal bounds to implement.

Now, in the United States employers can legally call their employees back to the office even if the workers are concerned otherwise. Under the OSH Act (Occupational Safety and Health Act), workers can only refuse to go back to work due to “unsafety” if these four conditions are met:

Employers also have the right, under Joe Biden’s mandate, to legally enforce a vaccine mandate in companies with over 100 employees. Read our blog about this topic, here.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission does, however, dictate that employers must make reasonable adjustments for employees who are eligible. See “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws”, here.

So, yes, if you are an employer, you can call your colleagues back to the office.

6 Tips for Dealing with RTO Push-Back

If you do want to do so, here are our 6 top tips for dealing with or preempting the potential push-back.

Be clear and upfront

The first thing to do when calling your employees back to the office is to give them plenty of notice and time to adjust. Be clear about your expectations and about what exactly is coming up for them down the line.

Give everyone the same and consistent message about why you are returning to the office and how you are going to do it as a company.

Give everyone the same and consistent message about why you are returning to the office and how you are going to do it as a company.

When it comes to the “why”, make sure you focus on the benefits of being back in the office together. This will vary depending on your type of work but positive reasons for being back could include company morale, team bonding, social inclusion, fairness, culture, customer-centricity or simply that the type of work you do benefits from being in person.

Try not to get bogged down in people’s reasons for wanting to stay at home and focus instead on what upsides being back in the office will bring for everyone involved.

When it comes to the “how”, you will need to be clear and consistent with your plan on how you are going to bring everyone back to the office safely and effectively. Will it be a hybrid model or a full return? Will it be a phased return or immediate? Whatever the way you are going to do it, keep your messaging clear and honest from the get-go.

Consider safety

Take the time to clearly explain to your employees how your company plans to keep them safe.

Following a pandemic, the primary reason that people will state they are hesitant to come back to the office will be health and safety concerns surrounding Covid.

Explain whether all those coming in will be vaccinated or not, and explain any health & safety measures you will be implementing. High on the list are these critical features of a covid-safe office: modernized ventilation systems, frequent sanitization, contact tracing systems (such as the one offered by Zynq), and physically distanced set-ups.

Critical features of a covid-safe office: modernized ventilation systems, frequent sanitization, contact tracing systems (such as the one offered by Zynq), and physically distanced set-ups.

It is important that you take any government-issued guidelines into consideration and implement any measures you need to before your employees return to a shared office space.

Everyone just wants to feel safe and comfortable in their workplace and that is completely understandable.

Being safe and showing how you are being safe will reduce “return to office anxiety” greatly, and that’s exactly what we’re aiming for here.

Keep company policies in check

Update all company policies and have them available and accessible. Make sure everyone knows their rights but also what company policy will be going forward.

This will be particularly important when it comes to Biden’s vaccine mandate and how it will or won’t affect your workplace.

If you do need to follow the vaccine mandate, the guidelines and protocols will need to be incorporated into your company policies, and these need to be read and understood by each of your employees.

Yes, getting the company policy book out might make the atmosphere a little tense and your employees might get a little bored listening to article two, sub-section B of your Covid policies, but it’s so important.

It’s key to keep everyone on the same page and to keep yourself protected by the law. Heavy stuff, but it’s worth it.

It keeps everyone safe, happy, and unanimous on what’s happening.

Create incentives

Keep the narrative positive and motivating by providing rewards and incentives for those who choose to return to the office.

Office anxiety could be creating a bit of a bad vibe around the whole situation and that’s not what we want.

It’s understandable that those coming back who aren’t sure about it will be tense or worried when they are back in the office, but it’s equally important to fight positively against the sentiment.

You can give yourself and everyone else a bit of a boost by providing some rewards and incentives in-house. These could be pizza days, a one-time commute stipend, free breakfast food in the office, and other small but rewarding treats.

The incentives could also be bigger things such as the approach you take to returning to the office. Instead of throwing everyone back in at once, you could introduce a hybrid system that works on a rota and then allow your employees to pick the days they want to come in.

Instead of throwing everyone back in at once, you could introduce a hybrid system

Where possible, this allows your employees to still feel that they have some control over the work schedule and this will keep them happier and more motivated.

Which, when you add in some free pizza, adds up to a great environment to work in.

Share positive messages from those who have already returned

Again, focus on the positives in returning to the office and keep the messaging hopeful and consistent.

Share positive feedback and messages from those who have already returned to the office and let them encourage their colleagues to follow suit. An internal blog article or sharing RTO pictures on a team / company slack channel should do the trick!

An internal blog article or sharing RTO pictures on a team / company slack channel should do the trick!

Encourage long-term goals and progress rather than “pushing” people back to work. This means showing authentic and genuine journeys of those who may not have been sure at first either but are now re-settled into office working.

Cut down on negative gossip and worried thoughts by promoting long-term happiness and progress in the office.

Embrace technology

Finally, give yourself one less job to do and embrace technology in your return-to-work phase. It will make the return smooth and save your company a huge amount money.

Use office space management tools such as Zynq to promote safe hybrid working and hot-desking options. Keep everything safe, on record, and accessible by providing access to a useful and straightforward tool.

You can manage your desk and room bookings, contact tracing, surveys and data, office controls and access, and scheduling all in one place, making this process easier for everyone involved.

Resistance won’t disappear, but if you proactively manage it from the get-go you can safely and happily have all your employees back in the office in a new and improved way.