The way employees worked remotely during the pandemic has significantly changed the expectations of employees from the office.
Employees realize that they can be just as productive and more productive remotely, and that’s why it is important to design office spaces that give people the best user experience. What exactly is this about? Discover the benefits of activity-based workspaces and learn how to leverage them for your future ways of working.
People want to return to a different workplace: with more space for (in-person, virtual and hybrid) collaboration, for concentrated work, they also expect more mobile furniture that facilitates a quick change of the required work activity and fewer assigned desks, which can be substituted for seats in informal zones.
Activity-based workspaces refer to a workplace where, instead of assigning a dedicated workspace, you give people a free choice of multiple workspaces that are best suited to complete each individual work task. This means that spaces respond to the needs of fixed, hybrid, agile, flexible, distributed work, support random encounters, respond to people’s needs and wants regardless of whether you are an introvert and look for quiet areas or an extrovert and expect more openness in your workspace.
Main benefits of activity-based workspaces?
Better recruitment of new talent and retention of existing employees.
Ingenious connection of physical space and work-based technology design puts people first in the hope of delivering intuitive, immersive and inspiring experience designed to improve the work activities of individuals, teams and organizations. Last but not least, you will improve your work-life balance, making it easier to recruit new talent and retain existing employees.
Easier return to the office and greater innovation and creativity.
In an activity-based work environment, employees do not feel confined to one desk or one meeting room. Instead, they can choose the space and technology that best suits them to work throughout the day. This not only contributes to better communication, focused work, collaboration, random encounters any time and from anywhere, but also makes it easier for employees to decide whether to come to the office once a week or every day because you offer them a whole range of varied, comfortable and modern, well-equipped spaces.
Reservation system, smart office
Activity-based work increases not only employee satisfaction, but also individual and team productivity: Veldhoen + Company research.
Cost optimization.
Many organizations used 50–60% of office space before the pandemic. Now that some people plan to spend at least part of their working week working remotely, you can look for opportunities to optimize the space based on the needs and wishes of your employees.
Better working relationships.
When employees sit at the same desk, they spend most of their time talking to the same people. In an activity-based work environment, it is easier for employees to build relationships with people outside of their department.
Better health.
Long-term sedentary work is linked to heart disease, diabetes and cancer, according to the World Health Organization. In an activity-based work environment, employees have the opportunity to move around more instead of sitting in one place.
More engaging office spaces.
If you do not need desks for every employee, you get more space for collaboration and meetings. At the same time, places for engaging visual content that inform employees about your mission and important values can be appropriately included in the space. These additions give employees a sense of belonging and they support the corporate culture, and the office does not feel sterile.
How to successfully launch activity-based work and workspaces?
Engage employees
Before you start using activity-based workspaces, you need to get feedback from your employees. Talk to them about the benefits and set clear expectations.
Invest in an employee experience application
Thanks to the application, you can better connect people, parking spaces, workplaces, rooms and other services that employees need to do their best work right from their smartphones. They can easily book everything or find a colleague who is personally present in the office building.
Activity-based work helps organizations stay productive and keeps employees happy, which contributes to corporate culture. Looking for more ways to improve the employee experience? Do not hesitate to contact us or arrange an inspiring tour of our office, which is designed to suit work activities and operations.