Reimagining the Hybrid Working Environment: Creating Collaborative and Engaging Workspaces

Written by: Nathan Ashby, Cisco Solution Specialist

 

The way we work has evolved dramatically in recent years. With the rise of hybrid working, we’re attending more meetings than ever before, and the challenge is ensuring that our teams can collaborate effectively, no matter where they are. While remote working offers fantastic individual flexibility, it can reduce opportunities for social interaction and team-building. Many employees feel they miss out on learning from colleagues or collaborating with other departments.

How do we create a hybrid working model that supports collaboration, agility, and team spirit, while maintaining a positive office culture?

From my conversations with many organisations, enforcing a blanket return to the office is not the solution. Instead, the key lies in creating a desire for employees to come together, driven by the experience and value of the office environment.

This requires collaboration across multiple departments, including IT, HR, facilities, compliance, and infosec, working together to make the office a magnet for staff while fulfilling the organisation’s goals.

To achieve this, we need to rethink what the working environment should look like, especially when considering the hybrid nature of work today. The way people work has changed, and so must our office spaces. Here are some critical aspects for departments and management teams to consider:

 

Designing Office Spaces for Collaboration

• Make the office a hub for collaboration and team bonding: Design spaces that encourage interaction, from casual huddle spaces to formal meeting rooms.
• Meeting room considerations: You’ll likely need more meeting rooms than before. Think about different sizes and types, from small huddle spaces to large training rooms or boardrooms.
• Desk arrangements: Is it necessary to assign desks to individual employees? A dynamic, open-plan office supported by a desk booking system might better suit a hybrid workforce.
• Desk quantities: If you have a defined home/office working policy, you may not need a desk for every employee.
• Pods for private calls: With hybrid work comes the need for privacy in busy office spaces. Consider creating pods for private or confidential conversations.

 

Hybrid Meetings: Keeping Everyone Connected

When planning your meeting rooms, remember that nearly all meetings will have hybrid participants. In fact, recent research from Cisco and Microsoft shows that 98% of meetings will include remote participants.

Before the pandemic, most meetings were held in person, with little or no remote participation. Today, meetings may involve multiple platforms—Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex, Google Meet, and more. It’s essential that the technology in your meeting rooms can integrate seamlessly with these platforms, ensuring a smooth experience for all.

The design and functionality of your meeting rooms are critical to success.

We can’t just place a camera and screen in the room and expect optimal audio and visual quality. Much of the value of video meetings comes from non-verbal cues—facial expressions, body language, and other visual signals. This makes it important to ensure that everyone, regardless of location, has an equitable experience during hybrid meetings.

 

Creating Engaging and Inclusive Meeting Experiences

When designing meeting rooms, think about:

• Multiple screens, cameras, and microphones: A single camera won’t suffice for a large meeting room. Multiple systems are needed to ensure that all participants are visible and heard clearly.
• Smart technology: Systems should be able to recognise human faces and speech, while filtering out background noise like air conditioning or traffic.
• Fair screen real estate: Remote participants often view meetings on smaller screens. Ensure they can see everyone clearly, especially when attending a meeting with many in-person participants.

These statistics underscore the importance of robust cybersecurity measures and the need for compliance with directives like NIS2 to protect critical infrastructure and sensitive data.

 

Device Management in a Hybrid World

Once your office is thoughtfully designed and equipped with great technology, it’s crucial not to overlook how you manage it all. Meeting room technology needs to be kept up to date and functional across all spaces—whether that’s in one location or across multiple global offices.

Key management considerations include:

• Devices: Software and firmware updates need to be rolled out across all meeting spaces. How will you manage this for dozens or hundreds of rooms?
• Platforms: As new versions of meeting platforms are released, are you ready to apply updates while ensuring minimal disruption for different time zones?
• Peripherals: Issues like disconnected HDMI cables or display adjustments can cause disruptions. How will you remotely manage and monitor these systems to ensure everything works smoothly?

Organisations, particularly those with a global presence, need to choose management platforms that give visibility into all rooms, even in locations without onsite IT support. Having a management system in place ensures that executives or key team members are never left stranded in meetings due to technology issues.

 

 

Book a call to see if your organisation is set up for optimal collaboration and hybrid working success, get in touch with us for a free workplace assessment. Let us help you create an office environment that enhances teamwork and productivity.

 

Get in Touch with Cisilion

At Cisilion, we understand the vital role that effective collaboration and hybrid working environments play in today’s business landscape. That’s why we’re dedicated to helping organisations like yours design workspaces that foster teamwork, flexibility, and productivity.

Don’t miss the opportunity to transform your office into a hub for collaboration and innovation. Contact Cisilion today to discover how we can support your journey towards an enhanced hybrid working environment.