The Importance of Private Spaces in Hybrid Offices
When people have the choice between working at home or working in the office, the people who opt for the office very often do so because of a need to connect with others. Sometimes, people simply feel lonely working at home or they enjoy the culture of being in the office. Or they may need to collaborate with people and working together in person would be more effective than collaborating remotely. With so many people going to the office for those interpersonal connections, a lot of the discussion about hybrid offices has focused on creating social and collaborative spaces. But that doesn’t mean hybrid offices should focus solely on togetherness. Private spaces can still be very valuable to have.
Ideally, a hybrid office should provide people with options for balance. While many people like to work in person for social reasons, many others may be coming in because they need quiet, private spaces to work in and may not be able to get that at home. Perhaps there’s a noisy construction project going on near a person’s house that’s making it hard for them to concentrate. Or maybe it’s difficult to work when other people are in the house. For people in those types of situations, having private spaces in the office can help them be happier and more productive than they would be at home since they’ll be able to focus better with fewer frustrating distractions.
There’s also the fact that even when people do come to the office to meet with other people, they still might need some solo work time during the day. They may need some quiet spaces where they can recharge between meetings or concentrate on something challenging without being interrupted. Before the pandemic, this was a point that came up a lot when the conversation was focused on how to make open plan offices work effectively and it remains important today. People know what types of settings help them do their best work and giving people that ability to control the settings they work in is a great way to help people feel valued, appreciated, and more engaged.
Private spaces are also important for supporting the video calls that have become a regular part of life at work. People working in the office likely don’t want to be distracted by sounds from a nearby meeting they’re not involved with and the people who are on the call likely don’t want to be a nuisance to others. There may also be times when subjects discussed during a meeting shouldn’t be overhead by others. Spaces designated for remote collaboration, offering both visual and acoustic privacy, are features that everyone can benefit from in one way or another.
Need help creating an office that helps people work more effectively? Premier Construction & Design has experience designing and building out spaces for many different companies in the metro Detroit area. Take a look at our portfolio to see examples of some projects we’ve worked on. When you’re ready to get started, contact us so that we can learn more about your project.
