The hybrid-work office: Exploring the changing knowledge-work office in a living lab

Post-corona hybrid working in many knowledge-based organizations resulted in hyper-flexibility for individuals in their work situation decisions. This caused organizations to consider the facilities offered in the traditional office in a new light. The Dutch government set up a living lab to explore how hybrid working changes the physical and social needs that should be facilitated in the workplace. Living labs can be considered ‘real-life’ experiments, where monitoring, evaluation and interventions in the work environment are cyclically implemented, in close collaboration with the end-users of the office and the professionals who manage the work environment. However, moving beyond actionable micro-level learnings toward strategic input remains a challenge in living labs.

Design/Methodology/Approach: During 2023, researchers cyclically monitored and evaluated office users’ experiences in a new hybrid work environment in a living lab in Amsterdam. Lessons from end- users were placed into a framework in collaboration with facility managers and strategic managers of hybrid working.

Findings: We present a framework developed by facility and strategic managers, the micro-learnings from the end-users in the living lab, and the value of the outcomes of the living lab. Findings highlight the impact of hybrid working on social behaviour and agreements in the workplace and the changing needs in both the facilities and services in the building. The factors that enable flexibility in a hybrid work environment in organizations are discussed.

Limitations: There are numerous methodological challenges of a living lab monitoring and evaluation approach because of the constantly changing environment. However, the internal validity of the findings is very high, for precisely the same reason. Findings inform policy recommendations for the social and physical implementation of hybrid office environments; ultimately enriching the discussion on the factors impacting the balance between user’ experience of hybrid workplaces and organizational support for healthy workplaces.