The Power of Place: Why You Still Need an Office in a Hybrid World

While the home environment has proven suitable for focused, “deep work,” certain tasks and activities are better suited for co-locating teams face-to-face, at least some of the time. Here are eight common scenarios where having access to an office environment pays dividends: 

1. Fast-Paced, Mission-Critical Work For jobs with dramatic consequences or extremely high stakes, being co-located can be invaluable. Think air traffic control centres, trading floors, or operational command units where teams need to respond in real-time to rapidly changing conditions. 
2. Fostering Serendipitous Collaboration Some work environments thrive on facilitating random conversations, chance encounters, and spontaneous ideation. Environments like research labs or creative studios are purposefully designed to spark those “water cooler” moments of innovation. 
3. Access to Specialised Equipment Tasks that require specialised machinery, tools, or facilities simply can’t be performed remotely. Examples include lab work, advanced manufacturing, video/photo production, and more. 
4. Regulatory & Security Requirements For work dealing with highly sensitive data, transactions, or materials, a controlled office environment may be required for security, compliance, or monitoring purposes. 
5. Hands-On Training & Apprenticeships There’s still value in workplace-based learning models where junior employees can observe, shadow, and be mentored in-person by senior staff. 
6. Providing an Equitable Work Suite Some employees may not have adequate home setups for productive remote work. An office can level the playing field by providing the necessary resources and environment. 
7. Facilitating Social Bonds Maintaining an office helps preserve the morale and camaraderie that comes from in-person social connections. 
8. Building Trust Through Co-Presence Neuroscience shows that face-to-face interactions can help build emotional trust and psychological safety within a team. 

While these scenarios highlight situations where an office could be beneficial, each role, team, or department will have its own unique needs to evaluate. The key is being hyper-intentional about the why and the how behind utilising an office in your hybrid work model.  

The answer will depend on the nature of your work, the cadence of activities that require in-person collaboration versus remote focus time, and the work patterns that allow your teams to operate at their productive best. Here are some questions to consider: 

• What time do your teams need dedicated spaces for real-time collaboration or hands-on work versus solo tasks? 

• How much real estate do you need to appropriately accommodate those times of convergence? Do you require full-time office spaces, bookable meeting rooms, or flexible on-demand spaces? 

• Which teams have regulatory, equipment, or training needs that necessitate office space? 

• What is the right attendance cadence for your business to capture those in-person benefits while still maximising remote flexibility? 

• Does your office design and location truly optimise for the ways you need to utilise the space? 

By evaluating your specific needs through this lens, you can make thoughtful decisions around your future office footprint and better optimise the use of the spaces you do maintain.