Planning shared workspace for a hybrid team

Organise the shared workspace around what the team does on office days. Give desk work, calls and group work clear places, then set operating rules for busy days, shared equipment and changeovers.

Map a busy working day

Walk through a normal mixed-attendance day and a busy team day, from arrival to departure. Record when people switch between desk work, calls, discussions and meetings, and where equipment and belongings go between tasks. Use this map to spot layout or operating rules that interrupt the day.

Consult affected workers about the setup, quiet work, facilities and individual workstation needs before changing the arrangement. Safe Work Australia provides consultation guidance. Identify hazards, assess risks, choose controls and review whether they work.

Australia’s model WHS laws include an Act, Regulations and Codes of Practice, with jurisdictions implementing their own laws. Victoria has similar laws under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Safe Work Australia develops WHS policy but does not regulate or enforce WHS laws; WorkSafe Victoria provides office layout and design guidance.

When work points are shared, agree how to keep them suitable and ready for the next person. For home-working arrangements, Safe Work Australia’s Working from home: PCBU information sheet is a relevant reference.

Hybrid workspace safety references

Allocate space by activity

Give each part of the shared area a clear purpose:

These are uses, not a prescribed number of rooms. One area can serve different uses at different times if changeover is practical.

Place call activity so it does not disrupt nearby quiet work. Decide in advance where calls go when call spaces are full; do not make a quiet area the default overflow for conversations.

Make shared use predictable

State whether desks are assigned, booked or taken on arrival. Write down when a booking starts, when an unused place becomes available, where belongings may be kept and how to report faulty equipment or cleaning concerns. People arriving later because of agreed hours should know how to find a suitable work point.

Set priorities for a busy team day, including which activities need people together. Make the office manager the booking-clash contact, with responsibility for deciding between competing needs and directing people to an alternative space.

For a worker with a particular workstation need, check the actual available work point with that person. A standard shared desk may not suit them.

Include colleagues elsewhere

Choose a room setup that lets remote participants hear the discussion, contribute and see shared material. Test it with sample content before relying on it, and agree how decisions and documents will reach people off site, including when discussion continues informally after a meeting.

If home working forms part of the arrangement, provide a way to raise workstation or other health and safety concerns. Consider how those risks are managed and consult workers when home-working arrangements are established or changed.

Review the working rules

Run a trial day that resembles expected demand, if one is available. Record whether people found suitable work points, took necessary calls and worked together without displacing another activity; note the task and time behind each problem.

Revise recurring points of failure, then check the changes on another relevant day.