- What is ‘workspace strategy’?
- 1) Decide how often you want your team in the office
- 2) Establish how distributed you are and where you want to hire
- 3) Ask yourself how much costs influence your workspace strategy
- 4) Decide how key it is for you to be able to adapt in the future
- Download your FREE guide to workspace strategy
Looking to reinvent your company’s workspace strategy but unsure of how to make it a success?
We don’t blame you. Whether you’re an ambitious startup or a flexible enterprise, it can take a few attempts for decision-makers to land on a workspace strategy that truly serves your business and employees. But it’s crucial to get it right.
Below, we list four top tips on how you can land a workspace strategy that aligns with your business goals and employee preferences—backed with stats from our 2025 Workspace Satisfaction Survey!
What’s the definition of ‘workspace strategy’?
‘Workspace strategy’ is a term that gets thrown around a lot. So, let’s briefly define what it actually means.
Simply put, a company’s ‘workspace strategy’ refers to how decision-makers configure, manage and utilise the physical work environment.
This is not to be confused with workplace strategy. Yep, these definitions might seem remotely similar. But workplace strategy refers to a more holistic approach to creating a productive and engaging workplace for employees.
| Workspace Strategy | Workplace Strategy |
| A strategic approach that focuses solely on the physical work environment: | A holistic approach to creating a productive and engaging workplace for employees: |
| The location(s) | The physical work environment, including location(s), desks, amenities |
| The number of desks | Policies and processes, such as flexible workspace arrangements, health and safety, redundancies, diversity and inclusion etc |
| The specific amenities, such as meeting rooms, on-site gyms or childcare facilities | Employee engagement initiatives such as wellness programmes, learning and development, and access to on-demand workspace |
| Additional ‘third spaces’, such as on-demand workspace, for employees to access whenever and wherever they choose and share with other companies | Performance measurement and evaluation, including establishing metrics and KPIs and measuring the impact on the business goals |
But at Hubble, we believe every workspace strategy should be unique. In the hybrid working era, there is no one-size-fits-all definition.
Our advice? Tailor your workspace solution to match your company’s culture, financial constraints, and employee preferences. Don’t let others dictate your strategy!
1) Decide how often you want your team in the office
So, let’s explore how you can start creating a new workspace strategy that works for your business.
One of the first things you’ll want to ask yourself is how ‘office-based’ your business will be. This refers to the primary location where teams will collaborate with one another and get work done under the same roof.
1) Opt for a remote work strategy and have employees work from various locations
Since the pandemic normalized remote work, this strategy has continued to thrive. In our Workspace Satisfaction Survey, 22% of respondents have chosen a remote work model.
One CEO of a 50-249-person remote company shared that they adopted this strategy to attract top talent and promote diversity: “We work this way to attract the best talent (not restricted by geography)… it also creates a more diverse team, which enhances the quality of the organisation).”
2) Choose a hybrid work strategy where employees split their time working from the office and remotely
Hybrid working has become one of the most popular workspace strategies since the pandemic. In fact, 71% of respondents in our survey have adopted a hybrid work approach.
This strategy can take various forms. For instance, a time-based hybrid work model (or “set number of days”) involves employees allocating their time according to predetermined schedules or designated days. In our survey, 16% of hybrid companies have chosen this method.
You could also consider a “set day strategy,” where employees have specific days assigned for working in the office and remotely. This approach is the most popular form of hybrid working, with 42% of hybrid companies in our survey choosing it.
Alternatively, you can opt for an “employee-choice” approach, where team members have the flexibility to decide both where and when they work. This method was chosen by 35% of hybrid companies and also scored the highest in terms of employee satisfaction.
3) Choose a fully office-based strategy and require all employees to be in the office five days a week during regular business hours
One of the most controversial workspace strategies is a fully office-based approach. While it has sparked frustration and resignations among employees globally, some companies have seen significant rewards from it.
For example, although only 5.8% of companies in our recent survey are fully office-based, this approach scored the highest in employee satisfaction, averaging 7.7 out of 10.
2) Establish how distributed you are and where you want to hire
Next, you’ll want to establish how dispersed your business is, considering where your employees are located and where you typically hire from. For example:
- Are your employees concentrated in one location, like London, creating a centralised talent hub?
- Do you have hybrid employees in multiple locations within the same country, bringing diverse perspectives from cities like London, Manchester or Bristol?
- Does your business have a global reach, with employees based in cities such as London, Paris, and New York?
By taking the time to understand the geographical makeup of your organisation, you can design a workspace strategy that’ll align with your current (and future!) needs.
3) Ask yourself how much costs influence your workspace strategy
Then there’s the cost-sensitivity aspect of your workspace strategy. This reflects your overall approach to office-related expenses and how much you balance cost with quality.
You could fall into a range of differing attitudes towards office spend, each helping to guide you towards an affordable workspace strategy that’ll work well within your budget. For example:
- Money matters, but it’s not a huge concern. If the flexible workspace matches your vision, you’ll invest without hesitation.
- You’re conscious of costs, but it’s not always the first priority. Instead, you want to focus on finding the right office — even if it means occasional empty desks or less flexibility.
- You prioritise cost heavily. You seek to cut expenses and avoid unnecessary spending — even if it means compromising workspace quality, amenities, or location.
The exact workspace strategy you opt for will depend on the attitude you adopt. But rest assured, plenty of them have the potential to help you make impressive savings.
4) Decide how key it is for you to be able to adapt in the future
Lastly, we come to the level of flexibility and agility in your future business plans. This explores how much confidence you have in predicting work patterns and future workspace needs.
To evaluate, ask yourself: How certain are you about the work methods you and your team will adopt in the next 12 months? Your answer will most likely land you in three different camps:
- You have strong certainty of where you’ll be in the future. With a clear vision for your team’s preferred workspace, flexibility may be less of a priority.
- You have moderate certainty about where you’ll be in the future. You prefer flexibility as a safety net, even if you have a good idea of your employees’ future work preferences.
- You’re unsure of where you’ll be in the future. Flexibility is essential for exploring work style and embracing new possibilities while you navigate the business’s evolving needs.
For us at Hubble, pursuing options that allow for a healthy amount of flexibility is always smart. Not only can it help you save money, but it’ll provide enough scope should you change your mind.
Luckily, there are plenty of workspace solutions out there that cater towards this. Discover them here!
The Ultimate Guide to Workspace Strategy
There you have it! If you want a deeper look at establishing a workspace strategy that suits your business and the solutions that’ll complement it, download The Ultimate Guide to Workspace Strategy.
It’s free, it’s concise, and it addresses the common pain points experienced by businesses today, introducing you to a plethora of possibilities for creating a workspace strategy that works for your team. Grab your free copy today!
