No business or industry could have predicted the last 18 months. It has delivered immense hurdles and challenges for businesses and employees to overcome. Many of whom have risen heroically to the task and stayed the course to tell the tale. However, as the country and the rest of the world inches out of Covid-19 restrictions, attention turns to the post-Covid-19 physical workplace.

According to a recent YouGov survey, almost three-fifths (57%) of those forced to work remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic wish to continue working from home. That doesn’t mean they want to work remotely full-time. Far from it, in fact. There is an emerging trend for hybrid working, enabling workers to split their time between office and home-based work. How will the hybrid model affect commercial properties in the ‘new normal’ and how will business owners need to adapt to maintain their culture long-term?

Reassuring staff of their health and safety

One of the primary considerations for any business owner redesigning or remapping its business space is to provide assurances to employees regarding their health and safety. Businesses and landlords alike will need to work collaboratively to consider the installation of specialised air filtration systems, as well as periodic disinfection procedures on-site, to keep coronavirus at bay and provide peace of mind for employees – some of whom may be considered clinically vulnerable.

The CIPD published its own ‘Working Safely’ guidance recently for business owners to “manage risk and support their staff and customers”. Within it, the documentation could not be clearer that employers have a large degree of responsibility to safeguard workers and minimise their contact in the current climate. In office environments that previously contained face-to-face and back-to-back workstations, employers are encouraged to look at utilising transparent screens and barriers to separate work desks from one another. In terms of redesigning workplace layouts, CIPD advice states that employers should also put a stop to face-to-face working and instead opt for back-to-back or side-to-side working where the floor space allows.

Another important facet of reassuring staff of their safety in the workplace is employers maintaining regular risk assessments. Making staff aware when risk assessments have been undertaken – and the outcome of these assessments – is equally important to retain trusted relations with your workforce.

Revisiting workspace per employee

In recent years, floor space per employee has been at a premium. Reworked believes the allocated workspace per employee has almost halved in the last decade to approximately 175 sq. ft per worker. The reality is that health and safety measures post-pandemic are likely to require staff to have significantly more space.

Some employers will wonder how this is at all possible whilst retaining the same size workforce. This is where businesses are likely to need to get creative. Working hours could be staggered, allowing half your workforce to be in the office on certain days of the week and the other half in on the remaining days of the week. This is a policy that some businesses are already adopting as the case for flexible working grows.

Architects are likely to earn their corn in the coming months and years, working with business owners to reimagine their workspaces. The need for a decongestion of conventional office spaces can help to create much-needed space, with “compact office” trends almost certain to accelerate. To accommodate more space per employee, workers are likely to have to cope with smaller work surfaces, which should be achievable due to the digitisation of many industries and the mobile nature of the devices we use day-to-day, be it laptops, smartphones or tablets.

Socialisation must also be a primary consideration when reimaging a office floor plan. Some businesses and architects are already incorporating “Coffices” that provide an alternative to the conventional cafeteria or kitchen and enable workers to use the soft furnishings and tables to grab a hot drink and continue working unplugged. All of which can help reduce the space density of workers on a typical morning or afternoon.

Hot desks to encourage hybrid working

Hot-desking is by no means a new workplace trend. However, it will be increasingly influential as businesses transition to an age of hybrid working between the home and the office. Hot desks were originally coined by developers of co-working spaces, whereby professionals could ‘rent’ a desk or space for certain periods of the working week. These people do not have the same desk or space every day, instead they simply take what they could find. Hot-desking therefore encourages engagement and hyper-collaboration with like-minded professionals.

Generally, hot desks allow for a more organised workspace, with reduced clutter and an improved utilisation of workstations. With guaranteed access to power outlets and internet, employees can simply land at an available hot desk, plug in and start working. Hot desks can prove particularly beneficial for businesses that are looking to stagger work times for their workforce to curb the number of people in the office at once.

If a large percentage of your workforce would consider working remotely throughout the week, it’s also possible for businesses to downsize their space and regain control of your working environment with hot desks, whilst lowering your leasing costs. Hot desks are generally clutter-free, which makes these workstations easier to disinfect and clean regularly. Hot desks also give businesses the choice to trial ergonomic sit-stand desks that give workers the freedom to alternate from sedentary sitting positions to a standing position, increasing blood circulation and alertness whilst simultaneously reducing fatigue. Sit-stand or height adjustable workstations can also be space-saving, particularly if workers only require laptops and mobile devices to plug in.

Breakout spaces to maintain collaboration

If businesses are serious about employee health and wellbeing, breakout spaces that foster agile working are a must. Breakout areas enable talent to collaborate, innovate and flourish, giving staff the freedom to break from the shackles of open-plan workstations and get creative when necessary.

Breakout areas are also useful to help certain demographics ease their way back into the office environment. There will be a contingent of people that will have been working remotely for more than 18 months. Many of whom will be understandably anxious about returning to the workplace. From a people-first perspective, breakout spaces give employees a ‘home from home’ environment to sit, detach themselves from the hubbub of the office and get down to work on some comfy furniture.

Breakout spaces used to be restricted to the communal kitchen or canteen, but more thought is going into today’s breakout areas, with biophilic office design playing an increasingly important role. These trends, including living walls, help to connect interiors to exteriors whilst absorbing more acoustic energy from open-plan environments. The end result? Fewer distractions, greater productivity and a strong company culture.

For some flexible workers, certain tasks may demand a breakout space to get the job done. They may struggle to concentrate at home, or they may require the advice or know-how of a colleague to take their work to the next level. These spaces can also help to minimise workstation congestion, ensuring staff adhere to social distancing measures where applicable.

Technology to keep office-based and remote workers connected and healthy

For businesses to enable and embrace flexible and agile working, technology will continue to play an influential role. Investment in smarter technologies will not only make workplaces more productive, but they will also make them safer and more hygienic in the ‘new normal’.

The proliferation of Covid-19 has led to a significant rise in adoption of voice-enabled technology. A recent survey from Adobe Voice found that 86% of respondents believed voice-enabled tech would create a more sanitised office environment. This technology can limit physical contact with devices and appliances and even allow staff to enter and exit rooms or corridors without having to touch handles or doors.

Between the final quarter of 2019 and March 2020, there was a 24% rise in the use of Hangouts Meet, a 20% rise in the use of Zoom and a 13% rise in the use of Microsoft Teams. These remote collaboration platforms have become a lifeline for businesses to stay connected. With businesses more likely to use meeting rooms as remote conference spaces, it begs the question as to how to keep these rooms safe with multiple people sat around a table for hours on end. New York start-up ROOM appears to have a simple solution. Its modular meeting ‘rooms’ contain silent fans and air inlets that refresh the room’s air every 67 seconds – five times faster than a conventional meeting room. ROOM has also devised an analytics platform, Room Sense, which can help to monitor space usage and room density.

We’ve already mentioned about the emergence of biophilic office design, particularly in breakout areas. Swiss start-up Oxygen at Work has developed a way to turbocharge living walls in the workplace for the ‘new normal’. Its “high-performing plans” produce optimal levels of humidity that are designed to minimise the transmission of viruses like Covid-19. Scientific studies have suggested humidity can reduce the survival of airborne viruses by up to 60%.

For generations, the workplace has become an environment for individuals to interact, communicate, collaborate and advance their careers. The Covid-19 pandemic is reimagining the world of work for many, but businesses can still get optimum value from their real estate footprint whilst embracing a hybrid working model.