The future of teleworking and the emergence of the "hybrid office

or Anne-Laure Fayard, Assistant Professor at New York University, the answer to these questions does not lie in declaring the death of the office, but in restructuring these physical spaces. A reconstruction that she has called "hybrid office", dependent on days of teleworking and other days of interaction at the headquarters of the organisations.

In pre-pandemic research, it was concluded that "some workers in rich industrialised countries were able to work effectively from home, and 80% of these would like to do so, at least for some time "*. This type of work often favours a marked reduction in production costs and can also increase productivity. Teleworking was already an emerging trend in many organisations, but with the imposition of remote working, some problems began to arise and, "even those self-identified as introverts, who took every opportunity to work from home, discovered that it can be too much of the same good thing "*. You see, according to Anne-Laure Fayard, workers need what psychiatrist Edward Hallowell calls "human moments": face-to-face encounters that allow for the creation of empathy and emotional connection. When the only interactions with team members are via webcam, communication becomes more difficult and impersonal, as non-verbal cues and trust are lost. In addition, proximity can sharpen creativity:

"When people with different roles and from different departments collaborate, they can solve complex problems and generate innovative new ideas. This collaboration is often triggered by chance encounters - in conversations around the coffee machine or printer - in which they identify others who can help. [Studies confirm this: MIT Media Lab's The Human Dynamics group collected data from employees' e-cards and found that frequent face-to-face interactions outside formal meetings were the best predictor of productivity," Anne-Laure Fayard explained in an article published in Harvard Business Review.

The emergence of technology that allows the automation of many tasks means that creativity will be increasingly valued in the working world, but, as we have already seen, inspiration benefits from human contact. For this reason, the New York University professor argues that "tomorrow's office will have to be very different from what we're used to, and three characteristics will define it:

• Designed for human moments - the humanization of work presupposes places built to promote meetings between workers, for a small exchange of words or ideas, with a comfortable, welcoming design, and with attention to acoustic insulation.
• Customised by technology - technology can help work become more efficient and create new ways for employees to keep in touch and exchange ideas.
• Managed to encourage connections - leaders need to ensure that when workers commute to the office they feel they are allowed to socialise with colleagues. Coffee breaks and happy hours should be encouraged, for staff and, occasionally, clients. These socialising rituals, as well as 'virtual cafes', are also beneficial for increasing productivity at work from home.

"What history and our contemporary experience show is that supportive infrastructures, technologies and organisational processes are necessary but not sufficient for collaborative production. In-person meeting points are still needed, which provide opportunities to clarify and align expectations, refresh rules and procedures at work, and build and revive trust. In a world where home working is permitted and driven on a massive scale, it is increasingly important to bring people together in offices to meet these human needs "*.

*Excerpt taken from the March-April issue of Harvard Business Review, authored by Anne-Laure Fayard, John Weeks and Mahwesh Khan.