Tell us what you think: Lack of meeting rooms and collaboration spaces - are offices fit for modern working?

Hybrid work means a lot of unused desk taking up space. What changes would you like to see?

Since the shift to hybrid working, I often think it would be appropriate to have rooms named “Hen’s Teeth” or “Gold Dust” or any other word that means “spectacularly rare and hard to find”. Photograph: iStock
Since the shift to hybrid working, I often think it would be appropriate to have rooms named “Hen’s Teeth” or “Gold Dust” or any other word that means “spectacularly rare and hard to find”. Photograph: iStock

The scramble for a meeting room or a private room to collaborate in open plan offices have become a nightmare, writes Pilita Clarke in her column today.

“Tracking down a free meeting room was hard enough before the pandemic. But it’s hopeless now that so many more people come to the office just to meet each other, or visitors, or do a Zoom call.”

Clarke notes that hybrid working means a lot of wasted space with unused desks taking up a lot of floor space.

She notes one HR executive said: “The biggest complaint I get is that the mandate is supposed to encourage more collaboration, but on some days there is nowhere to collaborate!”

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Some in Silicon Valley are now looking at ‘blowing up’ the principles of office design.

Tell us what you think. Do you need more meeting rooms or private spaces to collaborate post-Covid? Is your office space adequate for you needs? If return to the office is meant to boost collaboration, are open plan offices fit for purpose?

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