As the slow drift back to higher levels of office occupancy continues, most organisations realise that some form of hybrid working is here to stay, and the future is uncertain. For a long time, the traditional methodology for providing a workplace for your business has been broken.

Conventional media and social media have a greater focus on negative stories than positive stories – primarily because of the way the human brain is wired. Our ancestors needed to be alert to potential threats in their environment, so our brains are naturally attuned to pay more attention to negative or alarming information.

An issue that often comes up in conversations about hybrid working in 2023 is how people can best use the physical space in their office when patterns of behaviour on different days can vary so much. Some of the comments have been:

“on Mondays and Fridays, the office occupation is so low that it feels dead in here – there is no vibe or energy”

“I made the effort to come in but none of my team are here - so why did I bother?”

“Why are we spending money on running services on 4 floors of space today when we could all sit on one floor?”

“If we all share desks how can I make sure there is enough space for my team to sit together on days when we are all in the office?”

There have been many articles written about the changes in work we have experienced during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic. Much of what is gaining traction in social media delivers little insight into why we are seeing these changes.

If you are going to read just one book about the changes we are seeing in the landscape of office work, you should read “Unworking- The Reinvention of the Modern Office” by Jeremy Myerson and Philip Ross.