The rise of the open office setting was rooted in the social understanding that the office is the “physical representation of an organization’s culture.”1 Recent research has shown that the design and physical makeup of office space can either hinder or promote organizational changes.2 Regardless of design, the ideal goal of these workplace evolutions has always been for organizations to reduce bureaucracy in the office environment and allow for increased communication between employees. This is accomplished by a physical arrangement and visual hierarchy to communicate an organizational movement in the group.1

Presently, several factors are influencing current workplace trends. Companies are looking to workplace culture as a tool to attract and retain team members in an increasingly tight labor market. The physical organization of a space can be influential in the decision of a potential new employee to choose to join a company. The design of the workplace becomes even more critical for recruitment and retention when trends suggest shorter employee tenures and the candidate’s holistic focus on employee quality of life. Places that are designed for users and stakeholders, using flexibility and engagement to develop community, result in workplaces that are tailored for employees to be as successful as possible.

The design process must be collaborative, data-driven, and iterative; the process should be curated to collect, analyze, and implement the information received from the users. We find that a “blue sky” series of visioning and data gathering sessions allow for a wide range of ideas and priorities. By collecting this data before the development of the program, the users have agency in the process. Not every idea makes it into every project. There is a range of factors that impact workplace design and balance user input to provide guide rails for the effort. The design process should question and test several components including how the user provides input, existing organizational structures, established processes, behavioral science, team performance, the impact of technology, change management, and demographic information affect the workplace.

Flexibility is critical to more than just the final space. Adaptability in programming and design is critical for cultivating the necessary data and maximizing how that information applies to workplace design. Flexibility must be kept at the forefront of stakeholder analysis as well; this is how we find our spaces in a constant state of evolution.3 The ability to makes these adjustments requires that the design be responsive to meet evolving workplace needs yet be flexible enough to create minimal disruption. It is essential that modern workplace design creates a series of spaces and opportunities to leverage the latest technology for optimal collaboration.

Flexibility generates engagement. Employees need to experience a level of opportunity while still feeling connected to the space. Maintaining worker agility, while being respectful of the nuances of different cultures, generations, and modes of works requires a thoughtful, inclusive process. Some employees want to work at the same desk every day; some do not feel the need to have an assigned space. There are several different design responses to these situations. Organizations have created employee “neighborhoods” that do not utilize designated desks but use technology to maximize shared resources and provide amenities that have not traditionally been offered.3 That allows for a home base and group identity, while still maintaining the organizational flexibility that can help provide positive employee engagement. For collaboration and cultural strength, these resources can benefit from adjacencies with other departments and within varieties of building spaces.

The level of adaptability that generates employee engagement requires the implementation of spaces that respond to varied tasks. The employee experience must come into focus at the forefront of the programming process. How will employees be comfortable? How can they access the tools necessary to be the most productive? Mobility and technology are crucial; employees need to feel empowered to accomplish their work wherever they are, including workstations, conference spaces, and collaboration areas. The ability to customize the work environment and have the freedom and latitude to adjust the physical space with an employee’s workspace to pace with changes in the workflow is paramount.

As the workday has become more flexible and the lines between work and life are increasingly blurred, workspaces need to be responsive to that expectation. Employees need to have a connection to their organization, their cities, and their colleagues. These connections further enhance engagement by demonstrating that an employee’s organization shares similar values. Workspaces have evolved to become part of an employee’s community.

The traditional eight-hour workday has transformed into the mix of work/life balance. Longer days and longer hours need to be met with flexible offerings. Not only in touchdown spaces or desks, but also in areas where they can relax and unwind: a cafe, wellness facilities, a game room, etc. Just as healthcare is transitioning to an outcomes-based wellness model, workplaces are investing in employee wellness and quality-oflife enhancements. Organizations want their employees to be healthier when they go home than when they arrived at work that day.

As the pool of top talent is shrinking, it is important to find and keep skilled employees. Employees are looking for choices on where, when, and how work happens. This idea of flexibility is attractive to bright minds. This puts pressure on employers to provide a total work experience that is attractive to potential team members and gives employees contemplating exiting a reason to stay. The best workplace design process engages employees in finding what is most valuable to their success in a work environment.

New generations are looking to find meaningful connections in an informal and collaborative environment. Graduates are entering their respective fields with new preferences and needs. Spaces must be designed to meet their needs while still being sensitive to other generational modes of working. Again, we see that the biggest constant in workplace design is the need for continual evolution. Workplaces that engage the majority of one generation may not be resonant for the preceding or subsequent generations. Their definition of community may be different, and workplaces need to be flexible enough to adapt to fit a wide variety of emotional and physical needs. We can anticipate that the next generation of the workforce will have grown up with a different version of technology and social engagement with one another, and this will perpetuate the need for a workspace that is not static.

An adaptable workplace accommodates collaborative and focused work while an adaptable design process allows for a broad range of user input and consensus. Ultimately, flexibility accommodates engagement. Engaged team members work harder, have a more positive attitude, are more easily retained, and recruit other high-performers from their social networks — engagement results in a community. The constant in the workplace is change. As these evolutions and revolutions continue to impact the built environment, a strong organizational culture that thinks of itself as a community will be agile enough to embrace these changes and carry the common culture of the organization forward.