In the post-pandemic rush to reinvent the workplace, many organisations embraced total flexibility as the ultimate solution. Taking an ‘experimental’ mindset of learning and adapting, organisations post-pandemic were initially hesitant to implement strict workplace policies. While this cautious approach made sense at the time, five years after COVID first emerged, we need to question whether this hands-off approach remains effective.
Here is what workplace strategy reveals: complete freedom often leads to unexpected challenges, and the most effective hybrid workplaces actually thrive on thoughtful structure.
The Human Need for Structure
Even when given complete freedom, human beings naturally create patterns and routines. It’s a fascinating phenomenon we observe repeatedly in workplace studies: in offices with free-for-all seating arrangements, employees invariably create unofficial neighbourhoods, gravitating toward their teammates and often returning to the same desks day after day. This natural behaviour tells us something crucial about human nature – we crave a balance between flexibility and predictability.
The Hidden Costs of Total Flexibility
When organisations implement completely flexible policies without any framework, several challenges emerge:
- Choice stress becomes a real burden. Each day brings decisions about where to work, when to come in, and how to coordinate with teammates. This cognitive load can actually decrease productivity rather than enhance it.
- Collaboration suffers from unpredictability. When team members can’t reliably find each other or predict attendance patterns, spontaneous interactions – often the source of innovation – become rare.
- Team culture can fragment when there’s no intentional structure bringing people together at meaningful intervals.
One of the most surprising discoveries from our workplace research is how isolation can manifest even in bustling office environments. Our workplace studies consistently reveal that people who struggle to sit with their teams often feel more isolated in a busy office than they do working from home – a counterintuitive but important finding that highlights the critical role of meaningful connection at work.
The Power of Structured Flexibility
One of the solutions lies in what we call ‘structured flexibility’ – a thoughtful framework that provides enough structure to support effective collaboration while maintaining the benefits of flexibility. Examples may include creating designated team neighbourhoods that provide a home base, and regular team days that create predictable rhythms for collaboration while leaving room for individual flexibility on other days. Naturally the solution will vary for each organisation – following a thorough workplace strategy analysis.
The impact of in-person connection has been powerfully demonstrated by recent Atlassian research on team dynamics:
- Team gatherings boost connection scores by an average of 27%.
- The positive effects of these gatherings last approximately four months (!).
- New hires and recent graduates show the strongest positive response to in-person gatherings.
This phenomenon, which Atlassian researchers term ‘connection decay’, offers valuable insights for organisations looking into designing their hybrid work strategies – Source.
What’s the connection decay period for your organisation?
The Future of Hybrid Work – Connecting People & Place
As we continue to evolve our understanding of hybrid work, it’s becoming clear that the goal isn’t to eliminate structure but to design it intentionally. The most successful organisations are those that create frameworks that enhance rather than constrain – providing the right balance of flexibility and predictability that allows both people and businesses to thrive.
By acknowledging our human need for structure while preserving meaningful choice, we can create hybrid workplaces that truly deliver on their promise: supporting productivity, wellbeing, and connection in the modern world of work.
Spaceful’s Global Workplace Strategy Director, Tica Masuku, will explore this topic further during her 2025 speaking tour, with appearances at CoreNet Global Summit in Singapore, WORKTECH events in Melbourne and Auckland, and more.
