- 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
- FAQs
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.
With the rise of hybrid working, how we work has changed over the years. It’s evolved from traditional office setups to remote and hybrid work strategies — and companies must adapt to stay relevant.
From Olio to Taskrabbit, our flexible workspace platform has helped thousands of businesses with their workspace strategies. Whether it’s giving teams access to flexible workspace or mandating set days for employees to come into the office, Hubble is here to help.
Below, we list four top tips on how you can land a workspace strategy that’ll align with your business goals and employee preferences. Let’s go! 👇
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 dive into 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. For example:
- You may opt for a remote work strategy and have employees work from various locations — such as local, flexible workspaces — instead of a centralised office. Olio has made a real success of this, giving its employees on-demand access to flexible workspace around the world via the Hubble Pass.
- Alternatively, you could decide on a hybrid work strategy where employees split their time working from the office and remotely. For example, a time-based hybrid work strategy is where employees allocate their time based on predetermined schedules or designated days.
- Or you could choose a fully office-based strategy and require all employees to be physically present in the office five days a week during regular business hours.
Each strategy comes with its own unique set of pros and cons, and decision-makers must be aware of them before deciding on a strategy. Keen to learn what they are? We’ve got you covered. Check out our quickfire article!
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. Just take a look at Taskrabbit!
By not taking a full-time office for the whole team and, instead, opting for a remote work strategy, Taskrabbit has saved an estimated 87% — all via the Hubble Pass!
Similarly, the Hubble Pass helped Olio save an estimated 95% compared to the cost of having a full-time office for all its staff. Check out their remote work story below!
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! Or, if you’re keen to quickly learn the pros and cons of five popular workspace strategies, our guide has you covered.
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!
FAQs
What are the benefits of workspace strategy?
A workplace strategy helps align the businesses’ processes with the physical work environment. Not only does this help create better results and lower costs, but it can also boost productivity and employee engagement and retention.
How does workspace affect productivity?
A carefully considered workspace strategy leads to a less stressful and more productive workplace. By giving employees access to flexible workspace — whether it’s the hybrid office or a local coworking space — employees feel calm and comfortable knowing that their chosen environment is designed to produce their best work.
What is ‘hybrid working’?
Hybrid working combines both in-office and remote work, allowing employees and the organisation to determine how employees split their time. These hybrid working solutions are typically bespoke to each company, considering their business goals and employee preferences.
What are the goals of workspace strategy?
It’s worth remembering that the specific goals of workspace strategy will vary from company to company. But in a nutshell, the purpose is to ensure that the physical spaces support the long-term business goals — whether that’s to build company culture, boost productivity or save money.
What is ‘flexible workspace’?
Flexible office space, or ‘flex space’, is an all-encompassing term for several types of workspace, including serviced offices, part-time offices and on-demand workspace. What makes these types of workspaces ‘flexible’ is their low-commitment terms and increased levels of agility.
