The future of the workplace is hybrid and so is the future of collaboration. Sixty-eight percent of global organizations are planning to experiment with hybrid work, allowing employees to work partly in the office and partly at home or a third place to varying degrees. Even companies who will primarily be in the office will encounter hybrid work — some partners, suppliers and customers will expect to connect over distance — and that means people will be collaborating with a blend of remote and co-located teammates more than ever before. ​

​To create the best possible hybrid work experience, organizations will want to offer a range of spaces and technology solutions to easily support diverse types of collaboration — from a planned creative session to an impromptu one-on-one and everything in between.​

​Steelcase researchers, designers and technology experts have developed collaboration solutions for global teams for more than a decade, aggregating key learnings about how to help teams work across distance. These insights can help organizations prepare for a future in which daily collaboration happens among a blend of co-located and remote participants, using diverse technology and high-performing spaces. Steelcase offers three key concepts to connect in office and remote teams:

EQUITY – Strive for equity and inclusion despite location. ​
ENGAGEMENT – Design experiences across a range of settings that are human and engaging.​
EASE – Design a variety of intuitive virtual and physical experiences that are easy to navigate.​

Pilot. Participate. Pivot. ​

As people begin to test out how to collaborate in new ways, technology and the workplace will continue to evolve. It’s a great time to test new types of experiences by setting up a pilot that braids together the physical and the digital. The best advice is to invite employees to participate in any pilot. Participation and open channels for feedback will send a message that nothing is set in stone. And, be prepared to pivot. As people experience the hybrid workplace, they’ll make adjustments to how they are working and their environment, process and protocols will need to adapt as well. A flexible workplace designed to evolve and adapt as people’s needs change will help poise organizations to compete and grow in the future.

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Contact our team to discuss hybrid collaboration solutions for your organization.​

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