Ripples from the normalization of virtual work are still being felt by organizational space strategists, requiring ongoing navigational corrections to stay on course with business objectives. Phil Kirschner surveys leading examples of corporations pivoting toward workplace choice and how “virtual-first but not place-less” is translating into real estate portfolio composition, location, culture, and design decisions. He identifies key aspects of work models and environments being employed to attract and retain today’s workforce, and he profiles notable examples of successes as well as cautionary tales.

Hybrid work models have shifted space planning priorities and created new possibilities for achieving real estate efficiency goals that once seemed out of reach. Presenters profile a systems-based approach Sandia National Lab is using to re-evaluate strategic space planning processes and incorporate flexible hybrid work. They provide decision-making rationales used to develop, pursue (or reject) alternative solutions, iterative and human-centric strategies for building consensus from leadership and workforce, and the change management tools  and processes employed for optimal results. They identify lessons learned and the impact on strategic plans, and additional levers to pull to use space more efficiently and effectively.

One bright spot from the last two years is a fresh willingness on the part of higher ed leadership to re-evaluate how their organizations are using space and to reinvent the campus office footprint on a smaller scale. Erica Victorson charts Stanford's journey on reassessing workplace spaces and re-occupancy post-pandemic, with an emphasis on making the hybrid model “work” for maintaining collaboration and making in-person office time “worth it.” She illustrates strategies for tracking the success of fluid work models, and for getting the office environment right for employee retention and team culture.

What strategies are proving effective in drawing workers back to the office, what are the new performance goals for the physical work environment, and what workplace design features are being used to meet those goals? Carolyn Cirillo sets out research findings on the solutions companies are using to foster connections among employees while empowering them to work the way that’s best for them. She examines organizational and employee values for flexible work models, identifies new performance objectives for the physical setting, and illustrates the environmental changes needed to satisfy the primary needs of employees.

A pilot project at McGill University is helping staff transition to -- and test the impact of --reimagined workplaces aimed at making employees and teams engaged, productive, safe, and effective. Lorraine Mercier and Virginie St-Pierre report on how the New Models of Work project office is evaluating the changing needs of administrative work and spaces, and advising on alignment of university mission with hybrid work models. They set out findings to-date, including how “flexibility” is being interpreted in different contexts, the best use of technology, matching solutions with culture, and the role of “neighborhoods" in participant satisfaction and engagement.

The future of work is evolving, and data gleaned from hybrid working behaviors and preferences is critical to shaping resilient, people-first workspaces. Meg Campbell and Alex Palmisano examine a new value proposition for the workplace that prioritizes employee work preferences and fuels engagement to drive business performance over cost, occupancy, and utilization. They illustrate the data sources businesses are using to select and flesh out hybrid and return to office (RTO) strategies, align employee and employer values, and transform space use and workplace design models.

Healthcare organizations looking for some financial relief are capitalizing on hybrid and remote working opportunities to support space consolidations, cost savings, and program growth. Caryn Guajardo and Andrew Gorman profile the process and results of a remote working initiative including collaboration processes for engaging HR and IT, workforce input gathering mechanisms and results, department leadership interviews, and the resulting hybrid seat sharing ratios. They illustrate how buy-in from all levels of leadership was earned, the cost impacts of parking contracts and seat reservation software, and lessons learned to-date.

It doesn’t get much more “resistant to change” than higher education in a US Military setting, yet here you will see the new workplace environment for the US Army War College that looks like it belongs in corporate America; how was that possible? Bob Halvorson sets out leadership and project management best practices for overcoming archaic regulations and restrictive policies, surmounting difficult budgeting processes, and engaging multiple recalcitrant stakeholder organizations in productive space solutions. He relates lessons learned for consensus building, design decisions, maintaining long-term facility performance targets, and the importance of a project champion. He profiles what is being achieved: A facility that retains organizational core values while delivering modern workplace features and contemporary adult learning methodology enablers.

This end-of-day session is where key ideas, new developments, and findings that have been revealed over the course of the entire two-day conference (including sessions you may have missed) get clarified, expanded upon, and affirmed or debated. This is also the opportunity to get answers from industry leaders and the entire audience to specific questions on key and challenging issues.  

Historically slow-to-change higher ed institutions have an unprecedented window of opportunity to develop new capabilities, reconsider office needs, reduce reliance on leased facilities, and improve the performance of underutilized spaces on campus. Using a case study from Salem State University, session leaders lay out a strategy for transitioning from pandemic-induced emergency remote working to a permanent hybrid and remote model for selected functions. They detail weighting factors for the focus, collaboration, social, and learning aspects of higher ed activities in space use decisions, and the financial impacts, policy implications, and facility upgrades necessary to support the future of work.

The workplace landscape has changed dramatically, and organizations are rethinking the changing value propositions of corporate real estate. The challenges and opportunities associated with hybrid models point to coming workplace solutions more responsive to the needs of businesses, teams, and communities. Melissa Marsh contends that now is the time to shift the performance metrics from occupancy to number of people served -- including all the pertinent factors related to real estate portfolio strategy change. She examines best practices, research findings, and case studies at the intersection of workplace, social sciences, and technology design, to illustrate the environments and actions serving as catalysts for transformative change.

Cutting-edge research is revealing how workplaces, classrooms, and other spaces can be designed to maximize cognitive performance -- not only in traditional office and academic settings but also in hybrid environments with a wide range of neurodiversity. Session leaders introduce the field of cognitive ergonomics through a series of workplace case studies that examine how noise, lighting, temperature, humidity, privacy, and more, combine to influence cognitive performance. They identify the curveballs and opportunities presented by hybrid work settings, and what it all means for workplace enhancement action plans.

Historical norms of working and living have been disrupted, and the workplace value proposition – and supporting design strategies – must be completely re-imagined. Gable Clarke and Amy Hill chart the increasing demand for move-in ready, spec-suite offices that also reflect a cultural shift toward flexible, hygienic, amenity-filled spaces. They illustrate how commercial interiors are being reinvented in response including embracing mobile workstations, flexible furniture, wireless presentation capabilities, and acoustic materials - to create flexible, scalable, and hospitality-focused office environments balancing collaborative and focus spaces and supporting the hybrid-workstyle of the future.

New answers are required to solve grand challenges, and new facility concepts that eliminate silos and create out-of-the-box thinking are required to prevail. Session leaders illustrate how innovations and shifts in interdisciplinary research environments can be supported through unique governance models, change management tools for transitioning to new workplace models, and plans and designs that embrace non-traditional building users. They detail strategies for academic/corporate partnerships including a “sky lounge” membership approach, and they profile examples of leading corporate, institutional, and academic planning metrics, space layouts, and space assignments. They demonstrate what facility flexibility, adaptability, and scalability mean in this context, innovative approaches to benchmarking and space metrics, financial impacts of space decisions, and aligning space strategies with organizational mission.

Successfully competing for limited funding depends on demonstrating that 1) existing space is being well utilized, and 2) more space is needed to meet projected enrollment. Here you’ll see the methodology the University of North Carolina system used to answer those questions for STEM academic space. Session leaders detail space utilization and condition assessments, capacity calculations, and projections, as well as the critical details showing a more complete and persuasive picture of capital project needs. They illustrate how the data is now being used to create an ongoing, equitable capital funding request process.

The pandemic-induced disruption of historical space use patterns has created fresh avenues for meeting 2030 carbon footprint reduction goals, and the latest embodied carbon research, daylighting strategies, space utilization models and industry benchmarks are pointing the way forward. Session leaders illustrate the potential of campus footprint and design optimization to radically reduce carbon impacts, and they lay out synchronized strategies that incorporate space utilization, space design, and future planning to set milestones and realize goals. They illustrate new metrics being used to monitor and improve carbon footprints and communicate the value proposition.

Corporate and academic leadership are taking a long hard look at what drives decisions of their stakeholders beyond just the paycheck or the degree. How does the employee and student experience in your facility factor into the bigger picture of workplace wellness, satisfaction, retention, and engagement? John Roberson challenges session participants to consider “What story is your facility telling the people who are most valuable to your brand?” He guides the group through a step-by-step experience design exercise in how to tell your brand's story in your space in a way that moves your customers and stakeholders and persuades them to action, creating an emotional connection with your organization.

Creating work settings that promote wellness is not only the right thing to do; it’s also a key decision criterion for recruiting and retaining top talent amid the Great Resignation. But how do we know if our workspace is healthy when “workspace” can mean a commercial building, a nook at home, or anywhere in between? Session leaders introduce the latest science on healthy buildings and the sensing devices that are helping organizations and individuals adjust their workspaces for greater well-being. They delve into environmental controls such as noise, lighting, temperature, and humidity and the effects they have on human performance and well-being in space plans, and they set out practical actions participants and their organizations can take to improve EQ and well-being across their work settings.

Facilities, real estate, security, and IT are crafting responses to the hybrid work boom: Ensuring real estate portfolios are strategically sized, optimally configured, and programs optimally located to generate the interactions and activities organizations desire. Brian Haines charts the path to bringing the physical office into the digital realm with Cloud + IoT Solutions creating a connected, integrated workforce experience anytime and everywhere with optimum productivity – transforming the office into a strategic growth asset. He lays out how to prepare and manage facility portfolios for new approaches to working, policies and technologies for changing business drivers, and the use of data in creating flexible, resilient space.

How can research facilities be designed today to support the needs of research teams for decades to come? The multi-phase Next Gen Scientist initiative looks at the trajectory of automation, artificial intelligence, demographics, and research policies, and the extent to which people will continue to determine research environments of the future. Session leaders illustrate the effects of aging science leadership, brain drain, international competition, migration, wellness, and massive workplace swings, and they highlight new space types and considerations that your next capital projects should be anticipating.

What never-before-considered space use opportunities are now on the table that leverage hybrid environments to meet pressing higher ed mission needs of education, collaboration, improved space utilization, and cost reduction? Session leaders explore the results of three recent studies at higher education institutions including qualitative and quantitative data from teaching faculty and students on the effectiveness of current space types for supporting hybrid education in the future. They identify key considerations, new best practices metrics to inform and equip space planners for creating high performing, flexible spaces that meet the needs of faculty, staff and students. 

The Digital Futures Complex at University of Cincinnati isn’t just about innovation or lab space; it represents new way of working that brings public and private research institutions together with cutting edge businesses, startups, developers, and state and local leaders, to advance solutions to world’s most challenging problems. Session leaders chart the “new geography of innovation” and what it means for planning your next multi-organization, multi-discpline, innovation-driven facilities and workplaces. They contrast public and private space expectations and drill down into must-have features for attracting and retaining a curious and innovative workforce and shaping future growth.

The space requests are never-ending: Need a bigger location, bigger office, need more sunlight, my space is out-of date. How can space planners and space managers translate these types of qualitative requests into successful, data-driven, strategic solutions? Chelsea Stramel distills lessons learned from multiple campus case studies including a top research institute. She equips session participants with questions, tools, and a data-driven assessment and ranking system that combine to generate optimal outcomes for users and organizations. She illustrates the results: strategically planned environments that attract and retain top researchers, encourage collaboration, and foster productivity.

The ability to track whether new workspace strategies are delivering the desired results and iterate new solutions hinges largely on technology implementation and data quality. In this session, Kimberly Castle and Tracy Barnett set out criteria for selecting, right-sizing, and deploying space utilization sensor technologies with a view to getting actionable data ito allow real estate leaders to advise on the right-sizing of their portfolio in a post-pandemic world. They examine recent case studies and provide valuable guidance and lessons learned for managing space use technology initiatives.