3 things you might not have heard about hybrid

It seemed to us that there is a lot of interest about how different organisations are going about hybrid, but not much coverage that goes beyond the number of days people are being told to be in the office (and even that tends to reference single organisations).

Cue, the Six Ideas 'Hybrid Revisited' report aptly called: ‘What’s everyone else doing?’

Undertaken earlier this year, it provides a snapshot of what is happening on the ground with regard to Australian organisations and their employees. Featuring more than 1000 participants across six industries, it's an interesting read with some expected results and a few surprises.

A sneak peak at some of the top ranked results in key areas:

The full report, including insights for the future, will be available on our website next month. ?And a quick warning – it’s not all about number of days in the office.

While on the topic of work patterns

Need some practical approaches for?creating a vibrant workplace that people will want to attend? Don’t forget our Getting Back to the Office report is available.?Get your copy now.

What we have been up to recently...

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Corridor confusion

Lessons from a regional council

Sometimes the immediate concern is not the greatest challenge. ? This was the case with a recent project for a regional council looking to accommodate more staff to support expanding delivery needs.

While accommodating the additional staff was relatively straight forward, the larger challenge was dealing with a disconnected office. ?Core to this was a corridor arrangement which made the space feel much bigger and more confusing than it actually was, leading to sub-optimal outcomes in the physical layout and the processes used to operate in the space. ?? In response, we were able to offer three options starting with a low impact (minimise cost) option involving the removal of a minimal number of non-structural walls, adjustment of the layout, and introduction of process change to address the issues.?

New Projects

We have started some new exciting projects with the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, University of Newcastle,?Development Victoria and James Cook University. A big welcome to our new client partners!

To AI or not AI...

We’ve been playing around with the AI apps recently, looking at what does and doesn’t work, and how they deal with different types of information. Using it effectively definitely requires some skill and the old adage of garbage in – garbage out still applies.? ?

But when we restricted the inputs to validated data sets and applied a structured instruction and interrogation process, the results have proven quite positive in terms of workplace analysis. Stay tuned as we continue to explore its potential. All images and graphics so far in this newsletter were created through text-to-image generation tools?Adobe Firefly, and Bing Image generator.

What we have been reading...

Apparently the hottest new office is ...the gym Some people are not working in either the office or at home – instead they are heading to the gym.?This (free) Wall Street Journal article explores a concept of co-working gyms: places that provide the facilities to work (and work-out) as an alternative to the home/office blend.?Or perhaps you are a nautical type? Here is your?complete guide to yacht-desking.

What are the most important features of office design? Has the rise of hybrid working changed what staff want from an office (other than not having to go in everyday)? The latest report from Leesman The Workplace Reset?presents those minimum-viable office elements that support the current ways-of-working of the post-pandemic employee. No real surprises here though.

Is VUCA your thing? or do you prefer BANI? Have you heard about the Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear and Incomprehensible (BANI) framework??This paper argues that VUCA?(Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) is obsolete – offering no new insights to situations. ?It promotes BANI as a better framework for understanding and suggesting a strategic?response. ?

The Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity This study on implications of AI on realistic, complex, and knowledge-intensive tasks.?Consultants using AI finished 12.2% more tasks on average, 25.1% more quickly, and produced 40% higher quality results than those without. Those are some very big impacts. Check out the paper to get the nuance.

Beware of AI pitches A new RFP Genie software app aimed at generating tender proposals has hit the market.? The app scours internal files & uses AI to general a response to the tender. ? Apparently only final additions and adjustments are needed prior to submission.

Want to know anything more?

??: [email protected] ? ? ? ? ? ? ??: www.six-ideas.com