As the debate over return-to-office mandates rumbles on, one question often gets overlooked: what are employees actually returning to?
The type of physical office space an organisation has can directly impact how often employees want to come into work — and how motivated they are once they’re there.
UK employees lose an estimated 68 minutes each week to unproductive tasks relating to their workspace, according to research by property management company Mitie, costing employers around £485m per week.
These tasks include finding a room with reliable Wi-Fi, waiting on poorly maintained building services such as slow lifts or searching for spaces for collaboration.
Bukky Oyedeji, assistant professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School, emphasises how important a physical office space is for employees beyond simply a location for them to work.
“Organisations need to make sure spaces are created to allow interdependent teams to communicate. Allowing onboarding, knowledge sharing, decision-making to be facilitated [physically] is so important.”
Oyedeji sat down with Sifted to unpack the role of the office space, how it can boost productivity and what an 'ideal’ space would look like.
The role of physical space
Companies usually fall into one of two camps when considering their physical office space.
Larger companies often see the office as a financial burden, says Oyedeji. But for early-stage startups, it’s a perk designed to attract employees to the company.
Although neither of these views is wrong, “your physical work environment matters to your organisations beyond those two things,” she says.
A well-designed workspace directly affects how much day-to-day work gets completed. It shapes how ideas are generated and how collaboration happens as well as the physical and mental wellbeing of employees.
“If you have people who are happy to be there, they are more likely to want to do their best work,” Oyedeji says.
For early-stage startups, the office signals more than a place for employees to work. It communicates competence and stability to external stakeholders such as clients and investors, says Oyedeji.
“It can affect the extent people see you as a credible organisation,” she says. “I’ve come across research about hospitals where patients made judgments about the quality of care they will receive purely based on what the hospital building looks like.”
“When interacting with external stakeholders, investors or even general customers, your physical space conveys credibility.”
If you have people who are happy, they are more likely to want to do their best work.
Creating an office space for hybrid work
The conversation around hybrid work remains focused on where — rather than how — work gets done.
Managers should take the time to understand what environments are best suited to how employees work, Oyedeji says.
Individual tasks can be completed easily in remote settings, whereas collaborative interactions, such as feedback sessions, mentoring or brainstorming are completed better within the office.
And so-called “unwritten skills” around office etiquette and people management are hugely important for employees to develop, Oyedeji adds, which can’t easily be taught in a remote setting.
“Observation is one of these skills. When I was starting out as an architect, just watching a senior colleague and how they interacted with clients was so important. You can't teach it, you just have to observe.”
Other skills include the ability to develop interpersonal relationships. The cost of seeking information drops as face-to-face interactions increase. When employees are physically visible to leadership, managers can informally step in to offer mentorship, advice and guidance.
Although having an entirely open-plan office space can make face-to-face interactions far easier, it also risks creating distractions. According to a survey by architecture firm Gensler’s, only 11% of office workers are unaffected by workplace noise, with 45% regularly disrupted by colleagues on phone calls.
Similarly, a report by workplace research company Leesman shows 89% of employees require quiet, individual focus spaces — while 27% of organisations design for those spaces.
When interacting with external stakeholders, investors or even general customers, your physical space conveys credibility.
Oyedeji advises teams to create ‘spatial demarcation’ — the act of setting real or imaginary limits to divide physical areas.
“For teams to function well, they need to be co-located. There needs to be minimal barriers between workers within a team,” she says.
“But for an entire firm to function well, separate teams need to have distinct locations within an office. You don't want them completely walled off, but you do want them to have that spatial demarcation to enhance their sense of team identity as well as avoid distractions. Plants, shelving and placement of furniture can help define the boundaries of a team’s area.”
Designing an ideal office
To understand if a physical office space is effective, business leaders must observe employees’ daily behaviours. They should ask themselves, ‘are employees excited to come into the office?’ ‘What kind of work gets done where?’ ‘Do teams interact?’ ‘How often?’ and ‘are the physical spaces being used for their intended purposes?’
Managers can then compare behaviours to outcomes that matter to their company: "are we getting more innovative ideas? Are we solving problems faster? Are we getting things out of the door more efficiently?”, Oyedeji says.
Not all objective outcomes matter to every company. Some companies will want to focus on efficiency more than innovation and vice versa.
When looking at the evolution of modern office buildings, many building initiatives that focus solely on environmental sustainability can actually compromise the physical comfort and productivity of employees, she adds.
“These buildings are often focused on energy efficiency and carbon emissions, which are very important,” she says. “But sometimes those goals are achieved at the detriment of the comfort of the worker.
“For example, you want to reduce the cost of your electricity or your gas, but you also need workers to be comfortable. You don't want them freezing. How can they do their best work?"
It's not necessarily about it being futuristic or having everything automated.
Offices are also continuing to evolve beyond static rows of desks into what Oyedeji describes as “vibrant social hubs” to spark more informal relationship building. These can include communal lounges or even on-site bars.
Oyedeji has witnessed office design now allowing employees control over their immediate environment in terms of temperature and noise.
For example, some buildings offer employees their own thermostat or create zones with different temperatures and windows to open.
To attract hybrid employees into the office more regularly, offices are moving away from the sterile, clinical look traditionally associated with them.
"Aesthetically the office is changing. If people are used to working from home from their couch, offices are now providing couches. They’re now providing greenery and creating zones that mimic the home atmosphere.
“It's not necessarily about it being futuristic or having everything automated. It's really about the type of spaces that are in the office environment, in terms of aesthetics, personal control and having a variety of spaces.”
