Co-authored by Justin Fields, Americas Accomplice Group Hybrid Work Lead
Introduction: The Evolution of Hybrid Work
Whereas hybrid work just isn’t a brand new idea, it continues to evolve as we collect extra details about worker work preferences and prospects’ office and actual property objectives. At Cisco, we leverage the insights gained from our personal hybrid work environments, together with our places of work and collaboration facilities, to form our strategy. On this weblog, we are going to deal with two of our Hybrid Work constructing pillars—supporting hybrid work and digitizing actual property—and the way knowledge performs an important function in optimizing workspaces. The remaining pillars, company sustainability and worker well being and wellness, will probably be lined in our subsequent weblog.
Assist Hybrid Work: Designing Areas that Matter
At the same time as workers return to the workplace post-pandemic, firms are reconfiguring their actual property portfolios to align with their return-to-work methods. Cisco has been proactive in reimagining the office by investing in collaborative hubs and, in some instances, downsizing workplace areas to prioritize different areas.
Toronto & Chicago
Our hybrid work journey started with the design of an innovation heart in Toronto, aimed toward inspiring innovation and funding in Digital Transformation. This workplace, though constructed earlier than the pandemic, marks a few of our first steps in creating sensible and collaborative workspaces. By leveraging a single converged community powered by Energy over Ethernet (PoE) expertise, we linked folks, processes, and knowledge, enhancing productiveness and optimizing vitality utilization. Over time, we made changes to the house primarily based on insights gathered, together with downsizing the general floorplate. At present, the Toronto workplace serves as a studio to coach folks on the hybrid work journey.
In Chicago, our workplace format was designed to accommodate a pre-pandemic work atmosphere, with workers spending extra time within the workplace. Nearly all of the format was devoted to “me” areas (70%), equivalent to private places of work and particular person workstations, whereas the remaining portion targeted on “we” areas (30%) to foster collaboration. This workplace serves as a showcase for Cisco’s expertise and collaboration gadgets, furthering our hybrid work journey.
Penn1 & Atlanta
All through every these tasks and our work -from-home experiment through the pandemic, we collected important knowledge to tell our future house designs. A 2021 Cisco Worker Survey revealed that 81% of our workers most popular to work outdoors the workplace for 3 to five days per week, with workplace visits primarily pushed by studying and collaboration wants.
Armed with these priceless insights, we integrated these findings into our subsequent main workplace transformations, together with PENN1 in NYC and our newest workplace in Atlanta. In these areas, we purposefully designed particular areas equivalent to sizzling desks, huddle rooms, and collaboration areas to align with the recognized tendencies and utilization patterns of our places of work. Every of those places of work have been meticulously configured with layouts and expertise to reinforce productiveness and gather priceless knowledge for ongoing help of hybrid work. At each, Penn1 and Atlanta, our dedication to hybrid work is obvious within the deliberate discount of house to fulfill workforce capability, utilization of collaboration expertise, video-enabled environments, prioritization of collaboration areas over particular person workstations, and the elimination of private places of work.
The PENN1 workplace follows a 30% “me” house to 70% “we” house ratio, which is the alternative of what our pre-pandemic places of work have been designed for. With the event of our newest workplace in Atlanta, the ratio of “me” to “we” areas is now 10% to 90%. This clear shift displays our knowledge and observations on how folks now make the most of workplace house. Hybrid work means going to the workplace to collaborate with others, relatively than specializing in particular person duties. The alternatives we made in our workplace designs display our dedication to creating environments the place groups can thrive, have interaction in significant studying, collaborate seamlessly, and drive innovation.
Digitize Cisco Actual Property: Leveraging Information for Smarter Workspaces
Constructing on the earlier part, we now discover how knowledge and analytics have formed Cisco’s decision-making course of in creating workspaces that promote collaboration, studying, and productiveness. By harnessing insights from varied sources, we’ve got been capable of optimize the bodily atmosphere to align with worker wants and preferences. Listed here are a number of examples of how knowledge and analytics have guided our hybrid work strategy.
Cisco Video Finish Factors
Analyzing knowledge from Cisco Video Finish Factors revealed that the common assembly measurement consisted of three.7 in-person individuals and a couple of.5 distant individuals. Armed with this info, we deliberately designed small collaboration rooms, quiet areas, and huddle rooms that cater to smaller teams. This strategy fosters frequent and efficient collaboration inside a extra intimate setting.
Cisco Areas
Cisco Areas is the core of our Hybrid Work technique, appearing as the muse that brings all the things collectively. It transforms flat ground plans into dynamic and interactive 3D maps, serving to us to raised perceive and strategize for house utilization. We repeatedly gather knowledge across the clock from our collaboration gadgets, networking gadgets, and third-party gadgets, enabling us to realize priceless insights in actual time. This knowledge empowers us to make knowledgeable selections throughout the numerous areas of house design, security, sustainability, and worker well being and wellness. Whether or not it’s reimagining the format of a room or serving to amenities know what rooms to wash primarily based on occupancy, this knowledge supplies us with the insights drive an impactful and knowledgeable hybrid work observe.
Room Design
By using knowledge from Cisco Areas, we recognized a preferred room format at Penn1—a semi-open house with a high-top bar, low-profile seating, and restricted energy retailers. This configuration unexpectedly grew to become a most popular spot for workers, encouraging targeted collaboration and lowering distractions. Analyzing room utilization knowledge by way of Cisco Areas allowed us to acknowledge the demand for such areas, main us to implement related designs in our newest workplace in Atlanta.
Worker Information
Business requirements revealed that workers usually go to the workplace to be taught, collaborate, and socialize. This information tremendously influenced our house design, leading to devoted areas at Penn1 and Atlanta that cater to those capabilities. From massive, linked rooms for coaching and workshops to smaller breakout rooms for collaboration, our areas are purposefully designed to help these actions primarily based on worker knowledge.
By leveraging the facility of knowledge and analytics, Cisco has made knowledgeable selections about house utilization, room design, and assembly configurations. This optimization not solely enhances the bodily atmosphere but in addition ensures that our areas align with the wants and preferences of our workers, facilitating a seamless transition into the hybrid work mannequin.
You Can Be Subsequent: Translating Information into Motion
Now that we’ve got mentioned how knowledge informs our strategy to hybrid work, you might be questioning learn how to start implementing your data-driven technique. At Cisco, we acknowledge that sensible buildings and hybrid work environments require a community of trusted companions to design, construct, implement, and iterate — companions similar to you. To get began on creating a data-first strategy to hybrid work, contemplate the next choices as your subsequent steps:
- Schedule a tour: Go to our new places of work in Atlanta or PENN1 in NYC to witness firsthand the data-driven strategy we’ve got adopted and the way it can profit your prospects. If you’re an present companion, attain out to your Product Advertising Supervisor (PMM) in the present day.
- Digital tour: If an in-person go to just isn’t attainable, take a digital tour of PENN1 to preview the capabilities of our sensible constructing strategy.
Collectively, let’s leverage knowledge to create actionable insights and form the way forward for hybrid work. By creating workspaces that workers wish to return to, buildings that present the mandatory knowledge to adapt to altering wants, and environments that foster sustainability and innovation, we are able to ship the expertise that each prospects and workers want.
Keep in mind, the way forward for work is hybrid, and knowledge is the important thing to unlocking its full potential. Collectively, we are able to create workspaces that encourage productiveness, collaboration, and success. Let’s embrace the facility of knowledge and embark on this thrilling journey towards a extra linked, sensible, and versatile work atmosphere.
Coming Quickly: Sustainability & Worker Wellness
In our subsequent weblog, we are going to delve into the remaining two pillars—company sustainability and worker well being and wellness—and discover how knowledge informs our strategy in these areas. Keep tuned for extra insights on how Cisco is main the way in which in delivering a data-informed hybrid work technique.
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