The 7 Best Hybrid Work Models for Your Company

Hybrid work has become a standard part of modern working life, but there is no single approach that works for every company. Some businesses require employees to be in the office on set days, while others give teams complete flexibility over when they work remotely.

In a 2024 global survey conducted by Reworked INSIGHTS and Zoom, 64% of leaders said their workplace had adopted a hybrid work model. The same research found that 82% of leaders planned to make their working styles more flexible over the following two years.

The best hybrid work model depends on your employees, workplace, company culture and business needs. Getting it right can improve collaboration and employee engagement while helping you make better use of office space and other shared resources.

In this guide, we’ll explore seven of the most common hybrid work models, compare their advantages and disadvantages, and explain how to choose the right approach for your organisation.

Defining a Hybrid Work Model

A hybrid work model combines on-site and remote work, giving employees the option to work from the office for part of their working time and remotely for the rest.

Hybrid work also doesn’t necessarily mean an equal split between home and the office. According to CBRE’s 2025 workplace research, 96% of organisations have targeted in-office policies, with 66% expecting employees to work from the office three or more days per week. That’s up from 53% in 2024 and 49% in 2023. Meanwhile, organisations with a 50/50 office-to-remote split fell from 33% to 23%.

There are further nuances beyond this: some companies may require employees to be in the office on specific days, while others allow employees to choose when they come in. Some teams may spend most of their time on-site, while others may work remotely most of the week.

Simply having flexible working hours or part-time employees does not make a workplace hybrid. If employees work different hours or work part-time but always work from the company premises, the organisation has a flexible or non-traditional work schedule, not a hybrid work model.

Why Choosing the Right Hybrid Work Model Matters

There is no single hybrid work model that works for every company. The right approach needs to balance employee expectations with the practical needs of the business.

A well-designed hybrid work model can provide employees with greater flexibility while still creating opportunities for face-to-face collaboration. There’s good evidence that hybrid work can offer benefits beyond flexibility:

• Zoom’s 2024 survey found that 84% of employees said they get more work done in a hybrid or remote setting than in an office/on-site setting, while 82% of hybrid employees said they felt connected to their teams or managers.
• Gallup’s research showed 64% of employees were able to use their time more efficiently, and 61% reported less burnout as a result of hybrid work.
• Owl Labs survey of found that 62% of managers find their teams more productive when working hybrid or remote, yet staff still preferred in-person team meetings (49%), mentoring (51%) and introductions with new people (55%).

The wrong model, however, can create many of the problems hybrid working is supposed to solve. Employees may struggle to coordinate with colleagues, offices can become overcrowded on certain days while sitting empty on others, and shared resources such as desks, meeting rooms and parking spaces can become difficult to manage.

From an administrative perspective, a hybrid model enables a company to optimise its office capacity. Depending on the chosen approach, staff can be physically present on different days. Compared to a traditional office, this enables the same space to support a larger workforce. Moving way from daily office attendance enables companies to avoid costly expansions whilst still retaining and growing a productive workforce.

Choosing the right model therefore means considering more than simply how many days employees should work from home. Companies also need to consider how their teams collaborate, how much office space is available, what employees expect and how easily the workplace can adapt as the organisation grows.

The 7 Best Hybrid Work Model Examples

If your company wants to avoid working in the office full-time, but also doesn’t want to be fully remote, there are many different ways to achieve this. In general, you can consider the 7 following examples as broad archetypes; it’s important to adapt and tailor any system to the needs of your business.

Fixed Hybrid Model

In a fixed hybrid work schedule, employees attend on predetermined days. Typically, these on-site days are set by management or agreed at the team level.

This approach prioritises predictable and manageable office occupancy rates whilst still offering employees some degree of flexibility.

Example

A team works in the office every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for collaboration and meetings. On Monday and Friday, the entire team works remotely.

Advantages

• It’s easier to plan office space capacity.
• Staff know exactly when other hybrid employees will be present.
• It encourages face-to-face collaboration.
• Managers can easily monitor attendance.

Disadvantages

• It’s less flexible for employees.
• Offices can become crowded on required days.
• Parking and desk demands can peak on specific days.
• It doesn’t accommodate individual working preferences.
• Enforced too strongly, it can create distrust between the company and its staff.

Best Suited for

• Larger organisations can use a fixed hybrid work model to better manage physical presence and office capacity.
• It also suits companies with collaborative teams. Businesses with a higher degree of cross-collaboration can also use a fixed hybrid model to ensure teams that commonly work together have the required overlap.
• This is also useful for companies transitioning from full-time office work helping teams get familiar with a hybrid approach.

How to Make it Successful

Even predictable attendance can create resource bottlenecks. Desk booking, parking reservations and meeting room needs spike when everyone is in the office at the same time. Office booking software can ensure employees arrive knowing they’ll have everything they need.

However, there will always be an upper limit on capacity. When this occurs, consider scheduling different teams across different periods to reduce this pressure.

Flexible Hybrid Model

Rather than assigning office days, flexible hybrid models let employees choose when they come into the workplace. They can make this decision based on meetings, workloads or even personal preference. Naturally, this is often paired with minimal attendance requirements.

The flexible hybrid model is the opposite of a fixed hybrid work environment: it gives a greater degree of freedom to the workforce, at the cost of significantly less predictable in-office time.

Example

Employees are expected to spend at least two days in the office but they’re free to choose which days suit them the best.

Advantages

• It’s highly flexible for employees.
• It supports a better work-life balance.
• It increases employee satisfaction.
• It can improve employee retention.
• It builds trust between employers and their hybrid workers.

Disadvantages

• It’s difficult to predict office occupancy rates.
• There’s a stronger risk of overcrowding on the most popular days.
• Teams may struggle to coordinate amongst themselves.
• Parking, desk and meeting room shortages are much more common.

Best Suited for

• This is best suited for companies or teams that mostly hire knowledge workers: staff that simply need a workstation to apply their expertise.
• Organizations with a mature hybrid culture can also take this approach, as the workforce is experienced and trusted to manage their own time.
• Similarly, companies that have a flexible work culture can also consider this approach. When productivity is measured by deliverables, rather than checking off attendance numbers, more flexible approaches enable staff to work the way they do best.

How to Make it Successful

The most flexible hybrid models are closer to hot desking more than anything else. That’s why workplace technology is critical: staff should be able to reserve desks, parking spaces and meeting rooms before they arrive, making their daily starts smoother. This also gives managers the occupancy data they need to not only ensure the policy is being followed, but to also better plan future capacity and growth.

Hybrid Team-Based Model

Instead of giving individuals complete freedom, each department or team agrees on common office days. Employees work remotely outside of those agreed periods.

This preserves flexibility while ensuring colleagues are able to work in the office together, further facilitating team building and collaboration.

Example

One team attends the office every Monday and Tuesday, whilst another department comes in Wednesday and Thursday. A third team also comes in every Tuesday and Wednesday, as their work often requires overlap with the first two.

Advantages

• It builds stronger collaboration between team members.
• It enables easier project planning.
• It supports better attendance for team meetings.
• It maintains flexibility across the overall workforce.
• It enhances team culture.

Disadvantages

• Different teams may rarely interact: this is a critical challenge for teams that often collaborate with other departments on a frequent basis.
• Shared resources can become unevenly distributed. Departments may compete for meeting rooms when in-office days overlap.
• Requires careful coordination.

Best Suited for

• Medium and large organisations can use this model to ensure team collaboration whilst balancing demand on available office space.
• Cross-functional businesses can also deploy a team-based model to ensure relevant teams have the time and opportunity to work together.
• Companies organised into different departments can use this approach to provide a flexible hybrid structure that still retains team unity.

How to Make it Successful

Neighbourhood-based office layouts can provide the workspaces for teams to work together, without dedicated private offices. Team leaders can also facilitate a greater role in desk booking, working with their team to ensure the policy is being followed, as well as reducing confusion about where and when everyone is working.

Remote-First Hybrid Model

In a remote-first approach, remote work is considered the default. Staff only visit when in-office collaboration, workshops or social events require.

Example

Employees work from home most weeks, but visit the office once or twice a month for planning sessions or team meetings.

Advantages

• In-office work is minimised, ensuring maximum flexibility.
• Office costs can be lowered, due to a decreased need for space.
• Companies can access a wider talent pool when recruiting remote workers.
• It offers a high degree of employee autonomy.
• It reduces commuting and can improve employee satisfaction.

Disadvantages

• It’s harder to build company culture.
• Communication gaps can occur across the organisation.
• There’s less spontaneous collaboration.
• New employee onboarding can be challenging.

Best Suited for

• Companies that already have a distributed workforce can easily adopt a remote-first work model.
• Companies that have multiple locations, where teams already work in different cities, can also benefit. In these cases, on-site collaboration is much less important or easy to achieve.
• Teams that hire remote workers can also use this approach, ensuring physical attendance is only required for the most important needs.

How to Make it Successful

When employees do visit the office, the experience should be seamless. Reserving desks, parking and meeting rooms in advance ensures valuable collaboration time isn’t wasted searching for available space. Likewise, the company should give clear notice when attendance is expected. In the case of companies that hire remote workers from further afield, accommodations should be made regarding commuting to and from the office on these days.

Office-First Hybrid Model

An office-first system treats the workplace as the primary location for work whilst allowing occasional remote days. Employees spend most of their week in the office but enjoy a degree of flexibility, when required.

This approach appeals to organisations that value face to face meetings and collaboration while recognising the need for adaptability.

Example

Employees work from the office four days each week. In some companies, they may be free to choose their remote day each week, whilst others might require a consistent schedule and/or approval from a team leader or manager.

Advantages

• This approach is the most effective at developing company culture.
• Communication is easy due to the focus on in-office workers.
• It fosters a greater atmosphere of collaboration.
• It makes occupancy rates highly predictable.
• It simplifies management.

Disadvantages

• This is one of the least flexible options for workers, due to the focus on having a physical presence.
• Office costs are higher, as the space is frequently used.
• Regular on-site days increase time spent commuting for employees.
• It’s less attractive for employees seeking fully flexible work.

Best Suited for

• Customer-facing organizations that want to offer some flexibility can use this model to ensure that the majority of the workforce is available for public interactions.
• Professional services or businesses requiring regular collaborations or meetings can also use this approach to ensure on-site collaboration, whilst still offering staff some remote work options.

How to Make it Successful

Even with higher attendance, workspace management tools improve the employee experience by eliminating competition for desks, parking and meeting rooms. Depending on the nature of your business, you may want to give staff the freedom to book days off themselves, or via approval. In either case, advanced notice is often essential to ensure that the minimum on-site criteria are being met.

However, when staff spend most of their time in the office, shared resources will stay at a consistent high. Be aware of this as time goes on: when demand starts to become difficult to meet, you’ll need to either consider expansion or moving to a more flexibly hybrid work model.

Split-Week Hybrid Model

The split-week model divides each week between office and remote work using a consistent schedule. This can work on an individual employee or team level. Alternatively, companies might simply ask everyone to attend the same days, similar to the office-first model.

You might also hear colloquially shorthanded to the actual split in days. For example, 3 days in the office could be referred to as a three-two split or three on, two off etc. A four-one split, similarly, would mean staff are required on-site four days a week.

Example

In one office, employees work every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on-site, working remotely every Thursday and Friday.

In another office, every team works three days a week in the office. Some choose to work Monday to Wednesday, whilst others prefer to work the midweek: Tuesday to Thursday.

Advantages

• It can keep attendance highly predictable.
• It’s easy for employees to understand, as schedules stay consistent.
• It enables facilities teams to better plan.
• It provides consistent collaboration opportunities.

Disadvantages

• Office demand can remain high, especially when all staff work the same days.
• It offers significantly less flexibility than employee-led approaches.
• It may also not suit every department’s needs equally.

Best Suited for

• Organisations that are new to flexible workstyles can use this approach before considering more advanced types of hybrid work.
• Small and medium businesses can also benefit, as the simple schedule works well for smaller workforces.
• Companies that want a simple schedule can also use this approach.

How to Make it Successful

If everyone is attending the same days, you can use permanently assigned desks. However, when schedules become a little more dynamic, bookable desks can help ensure office space is used optimally. Of course, demand for meeting rooms and parking spaces will also fluctuate with attendance rates.

Activity-Based Hybrid Model

Rather than following a fixed schedule, employees choose when they work on-site based on the tasks they need to complete. Focus work might happen at home, whilst team meetings and other collaborative tasks take place in the office.

This model focuses on choosing the right environment for each activity. The exact nature of this hybrid work strategy might differ between teams, as each department has its own tasks and workstyles that should be taken into consideration.

Example

An employee works remotely whilst preparing reports, visits the office for brainstorming sessions, and books meeting rooms for client presentations. They coordinate workshops within their team, ensuring everyone can attend on the relevant day.

Advantages

• This is one of the most flexible approaches.
• It supports employee productivity by pairing the right location to each task.
• It encourages purposeful office visits.
• It supports a work-life balance and improves employee satisfaction.
• It also optimises office utilisation.

Disadvantages

• Requires careful planning, as workloads and task needs can rapidly change.
• Managers need good visibility of attendance.
• Employees need a means to book and reserve resources.
• Can be confusing without clear workplace policies.

Best Suited for

• Mature hybrid organisations can make the most of the activity-based approach; their staff is adjusted to hybrid work, and they have the culture, policies and tools to facilitate it.
• Knowledge-based businesses that can work from anywhere also benefit, as this model puts a greater degree on focus work and employee productivity.
• Companies that embrace agile working, asynchronous communication and employee ownership can also use activity-first systems to better support staff.

How to Make it Successful

This model depends on workplace technology. Employees need to quickly reserve desks, parking spaces, meeting rooms and other resources, while managers need occupancy data to understand how office space is being used.

You should also check attendance rates, as you may find some days continue to prove the most popular. This will put a bottleneck on resource availability, and you may need to take further action to encourage a broader spread of activity across the week.

Comparing the Best Hybrid Work Models

The differences between hybrid work models aren’t just theoretical. CBRE’s 2026 Global Workplace & Occupancy Insights found that average global office utilisation rose from 38% in 2024 to 53% in 2025, while peak utilisation reached 80%. As more organisations adopt flexible schedules and shared workspaces, choosing a model that matches actual workplace demand becomes increasingly important.

 *Space efficiency depends on how the model is implemented, occupancy rates, office layout, and the availability of workplace management tools.

Can You Use More Than One Hybrid Work Model?

Yes. In fact, many organisations use a combination of hybrid work models rather than following one approach across the entire company.

The seven models above aren’t completely separate categories. There is considerable overlap between them because they describe different ways of organising hybrid work. Different teams also don’t necessarily need to follow the same hybrid work arrangement. In fact, CBRE reports that 83% of organisations now factor job function into their desk-sharing ratios, recognising that different roles can have different workplace requirements

For example, a company can be both team-based and remote-first. Remote work might be the default, while individual teams decide when they need to meet in person. A company could also use a fixed and office-first model, with employees expected to work from the office most of the week but following a predetermined remote day.

Different Models for Different Teams

It’s also possible, and often practical, for different teams to follow different hybrid work arrangements.

For example, a company might have:

• Sales: Office-first, because regular face-to-face interaction is important.
• Software development: Remote-first, with occasional team days.
• Marketing: Team-based, with everyone attending on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• Customer support: Fixed hybrid, ensuring enough employees are available on-site each day.

This approach allows companies to adapt their hybrid strategy to the way different teams actually work rather than imposing the same rules on everyone.

However, multiple models can make workplace management more complicated. Employees may have different attendance patterns, office occupancy can become harder to predict, and demand for desks, parking spaces and meeting rooms can vary significantly between teams and days.

This is where workplace management tools become particularly useful. Clear policies, team-based booking options and visibility over workplace occupancy can help businesses maintain flexibility without losing control of their shared resources.

Think of Hybrid Models as Building Blocks

Rather than asking “Which one of these seven models should we choose?”, it can be more useful to ask “Which combination of approaches works best for our organisation?”

The right combination might change over time as your workforce grows, teams evolve and your workplace needs change. What matters is creating a hybrid setup that gives employees the flexibility they need while supporting collaboration and making effective use of your available workplace resources.

Challenges All Hybrid Work Arrangements Face

No matter which of these hybrid work examples you choose, every company faces similar operational challenges. While hybrid work offers greater flexibility for employees, it also makes managing office spaces, parking and workplace resources far more complex than in a traditional office.

Hybrid work can deliver significant benefits, but it also creates new challenges. Gallup’s research found that 64% of hybrid employees say they use their time more efficiently and 61% experience less burnout or fatigue. However, 31% report less access to work resources and equipment, while 24% report decreased collaboration with their team.

Without clear processes and tools, businesses can quickly find themselves dealing with inefficiencies that frustrate employees and increase operational costs.

Desk Shortages and Empty Workstations

One of the biggest challenges with hybrid work arrangements is balancing desk availability. On popular office days, employees may struggle to find an available workspace, while on quieter days large areas of the office remain empty.

This unpredictability makes it difficult to optimise office space and can leave employees with a poor workplace experience.

Underused Office Space

Many companies reduced their office footprint after adopting hybrid work, only to discover that utilisation varies dramatically throughout the week. Tuesdays and Wednesdays may be close to capacity, while Mondays and Fridays are significantly quieter.

Without reliable occupancy data, it’s difficult to know whether you have too much office space, too little, or simply need to distribute attendance more effectively.

Parking Conflicts

Parking often becomes one of the most overlooked challenges of hybrid working. When employees choose the same office days, demand for parking spaces can exceed supply, leading to frustration before the workday has even begun.

A reservation system and clear parking policies help ensure available spaces are allocated fairly while giving employees confidence that a spot will be waiting when they arrive.

Meeting Room Availability

Hybrid work changes how meetings are organised. Teams often schedule collaborative sessions on office days, creating peak demand for meeting rooms at certain times of the week.

Without a booking system, double bookings, unavailable rooms and last-minute disruptions become increasingly common.

Employees Can’t Find Their Colleagues

One of the biggest advantages of coming into the office is collaborating with coworkers. However, if employees don’t know who’s in the office – or where they’re sitting – that benefit quickly disappears.

Interactive office maps, office neighbourhoods and seating plans make it much easier for employees to locate teammates and plan productive office days together.

Inconsistent Attendance Patterns

Flexible hybrid work models give employees greater freedom, but they also make office occupancy much harder to predict. Managers may struggle to plan facilities, while employees may arrive expecting to collaborate only to discover their colleagues are working remotely.

Clear workplace policies, shared schedules and booking systems help create better visibility without sacrificing flexibility.

The Right Technology Makes Hybrid Work Easier

The good news is that these challenges aren’t caused by hybrid work itself—they’re usually the result of trying to manage a flexible workplace using processes designed for a full-time office.

Modern workplace management software helps organisations coordinate desk bookings, parking reservations, meeting rooms and office maps from a single platform. It also provides occupancy data that helps businesses understand how their hybrid workplace is being used and identify opportunities to improve space utilisation over time.

If you’re looking to optimise your workplace further, you may also find these guides helpful:

• Does Your Hybrid Workplace Need an Office Seating Chart? — Learn how seating plans improve collaboration in flexible offices.
• What Is Office Mapping? — Discover how interactive office maps help employees navigate shared workplaces.
• Parking Capacity Management — Explore practical strategies for making better use of limited parking spaces.

How to Choose the Best Hybrid Work Model

With so many hybrid work models to choose from, it’s easy to assume there’s a “best” option. In reality, the right model depends on your company’s people, culture and workplace. What works well for a fast-growing technology start-up may not suit a customer-facing professional services firm or a global enterprise.

Don’t forget: a hybrid policy doesn’t necessarily have to come entirely from senior management. Gallup found that employees whose work team decides its hybrid policy together are more likely to say the policy is fair (55%) and has a positive impact on collaboration (90%).

Before deciding on a hybrid work model, ask yourself the following questions.

How often do employees need to collaborate?

If teams regularly work together on projects, hold workshops or meet with clients, a model that encourages employees to attend the office on the same days, such as a fixed or team-based hybrid model, may be the best choice.

If most work is completed independently, a flexible or remote-first approach could provide greater benefits.

Is office capacity limited?

Many organisations have reduced their office footprint as hybrid work has become more common. If desk space is limited, choosing a model that spreads attendance throughout the week can help avoid overcrowding and make better use of available workspaces.

Do employees compete for parking?

Parking is often overlooked when designing a hybrid workplace. If your office has fewer parking spaces than employees, unrestricted attendance can quickly lead to frustration on busy days.

Introducing parking reservations or assigning office days can help manage parking capacity, distributing demand more evenly and creating a fairer experience for everyone.

Are meeting rooms frequently overbooked?

If employees mainly visit the office for collaborative work, meeting room demand can quickly exceed supply. In this case, you’ll need a hybrid model that supports advance planning and reliable room booking to prevent scheduling conflicts.

Do teams need fixed seating?

Some departments benefit from sitting together every day, while others are happy using any available workspace. Understanding how your teams work will help determine whether assigned seating, office neighbourhoods or hot desking is the best fit for your organisation.

An office seating chart can also better facilitate these needs, helping teams to plan together, supporting team-based and activity-based hybrid work models. Similarly, you can configure your office into hot desking or team neighbourhood layouts to better support the chosen approach.

Do managers need utilisation data?

Choosing a hybrid work model isn’t a one-time decision. As your workplace evolves, you’ll want to understand how office space is actually being used.

Workplace analytics and office metrics can reveal trends such as peak occupancy, desk utilisation, parking demand and meeting room usage, helping managers make informed decisions rather than relying on assumptions.

Is flexibility a priority?

Employee expectations have changed significantly in recent years. Many employees now value flexibility alongside salary and career development opportunities. If attracting and retaining talent is a key objective, a more flexible hybrid work arrangement may provide a competitive advantage.

However, flexibility should always be balanced with the collaboration and operational needs of the business.

Will your hybrid work model scale as your company grows?

A hybrid work model that works well for a team of 30 employees may become difficult to manage once the organisation grows to several hundred people or expands across multiple offices.

When planning for the future, consider whether your chosen model can adapt to changing workforce sizes, new office locations and evolving workplace policies without creating unnecessary administrative work.

Finding the Right Balance

The best hybrid work model is one that supports both your employees and your business goals. Rather than focusing solely on flexibility or office attendance, aim to create a workplace that encourages collaboration, makes efficient use of office space and provides employees with a consistent, positive experience.

As your organisation grows, the right workplace management tools can help you adapt your hybrid strategy by simplifying desk, parking and meeting room bookings while providing the data needed to continuously improve your workplace.

Technology to Support Your Hybrid Setup

Choosing the right hybrid work model is only the first step. To support a more flexible workstyle, businesses need a simple way to share workplace resources.

In Zoom’s 2024 survey:

• 72% of employees said their organisation needed new tools or technologies to support remote working.
• 75% said their current remote-work technology needed improvement.

In most hybrid arrangements, employees need to secure a few essentials before coming in to the office. They first and foremost need a desk to work from, but they may optionally need to book meeting rooms, equipment or even a parking space. Likewise, the company needs a way to avoid conflicts, track office usage and understand if the new system is effective.

Desk Booking Software

As hybrid working becomes more common, permanent assigned seating is also becoming less universal. CBRE found that the share of organisations using assigned seating fell from 83% in 2021 to 55% in 2025, while the use of hybrid and desk-sharing models rose from 12% to 36%

With a desk booking app, instead of arriving and hoping to find a suitable workspace, employees can see what’s available and reserve a desk in advance. Managers can also use booking information to understand demand and make better use of their available office space.

Parking Booking Software

Parking can become a major source of frustration when employees have different schedules, but a limited number of parking spaces.

Parking booking software allows employees to reserve a space in advance and gives managers greater control over how parking is allocated. It can also help organisations identify peak demand and make better use of underused spaces.

When staff know a space is secured, they’re able to drive to work. When spaces aren’t available on a given day, this advance notice enables employees to make alternative arrangements.

Meeting Room Reservations

Meeting rooms are often in high demand on office days, particularly when teams use the workplace primarily for collaboration. Even when the entire department is working on-site, meeting rooms are still essential for one-on-ones, breakaway sessions and even calls with clients.

A meeting room booking system allows employees to see availability and reserve an appropriate space without relying on emails or spreadsheets. This reduces double bookings and makes it easier for teams to plan productive office days.

Interactive Office Maps

When employees don’t have permanent desks, finding the right workspace can be surprisingly difficult.

Interactive office maps give employees a visual overview of the workplace, helping them find desks, meeting rooms, colleagues and other resources. They can also make it easier for workplace managers to plan and organise changing office layouts.

Occupancy Analytics

Hybrid workplaces are constantly changing. A space that seems large enough today may become overcrowded as the company grows, while other areas may remain underused.

Occupancy and utilisation data helps managers understand how the workplace is actually being used. This can reveal peak attendance days, underused areas and patterns in desk, meeting room or parking demand.

Rather than guessing how much space the company needs, managers can use real usage data to make more informed decisions.

Workplace Neighbourhoods

Adapting your office layout into workplace neighbourhoods give teams or departments designated areas of the office without necessarily assigning individual desks. The neighbourhood approach needs technology to help it work. Teams need to coordinate amongst themselves, and the wider workforce needs to be able to see when a given neighbourhood is in use.

This approach can provide employees with a sense of belonging while retaining the flexibility of hot desking. It can also make it easier for colleagues to find each other when they come into the office.

Workplace neighbourhoods work particularly well alongside desk booking and interactive office maps.

Visitor Management

For businesses that regularly welcome clients, candidates, contractors or other visitors, visitor management can be another important part of the hybrid workplace.

A visitor management system can help coordinate arrivals, notify employees when guests arrive and provide a smoother experience for everyone entering the workplace.

Bringing Hybrid Workplace Management Together

The challenge with using multiple workplace tools is that employees and managers can end up having to switch between different systems for different resources.

One platform might handle desks, another might manage meeting rooms and a separate system might be used for parking. This can make the workplace more complicated to manage rather than less.

Parkalot brings several of these functions together in a single workplace management platform. Employees can use it to book parking spaces, desks and meeting rooms, while workplace managers can manage resources, create interactive maps and use the dashboard to see how shared spaces are being used.

This means businesses can support different hybrid work models without having to redesign their technology every time their workplace strategy changes.

For employees, the benefit is simple: one place to find and book the resources they need. For workplace managers, it means greater visibility and control over how the office is being used.

Finding the Best Hybrid Work Model for You

The best hybrid work model is the one that fits the way your people and business actually work. For some organisations, that may mean fixed office days, while others will benefit from flexible, team-based or remote-first arrangements. In many cases, different teams may need different approaches.

Whatever model you choose, the workplace needs to support it. Giving employees simple ways to book desks, parking spaces and meeting rooms can make hybrid working easier to manage while helping businesses understand how their space is being used.

As your organisation changes, don’t be afraid to review your hybrid work model. The right setup today may not be the right one as your workforce, workplace and business needs evolve.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best hybrid work model?

There is no single best hybrid work model for every company. The right approach depends on factors such as how often teams need to collaborate, office capacity, employee preferences and the nature of the work. Some businesses may benefit from a fixed or office-first model, while others may be better suited to flexible, remote-first or activity-based working.

What is a flexible hybrid work model?

A flexible hybrid work model gives employees greater control over when they work from the office and when they work remotely. Instead of assigning specific office days, employees may choose their schedule based on their workload, meetings and personal preferences. Some companies still set a minimum number of office days per week or month.

What is a fixed hybrid work model?

A fixed hybrid work model requires employees to work from the office on predetermined days. For example, employees might work remotely on Mondays and Fridays and attend the office from Tuesday to Thursday. This provides less flexibility than other hybrid models but makes office occupancy and team collaboration easier to plan.

What are the most common hybrid work model examples?

Common hybrid work model examples include fixed hybrid, flexible hybrid, team-based hybrid, remote-first, office-first, split-week and activity-based models. These approaches can also overlap. For example, a company can be both remote-first and team-based, with teams choosing specific days to meet in person.

How do companies choose a hybrid work model?

Companies should consider how their employees work, how often teams need to collaborate, office and parking capacity, employee expectations and how much flexibility the business can support. It’s also important to consider whether the model can scale as the company grows. Tracking workplace utilisation can help businesses adjust their approach based on actual usage rather than assumptions.

Which hybrid work model works best for employee engagement?

There is no universal answer, but models that provide employees with meaningful flexibility while still creating opportunities for in-person collaboration can support employee engagement. A team-based or flexible hybrid model may work particularly well when employees value autonomy but also benefit from regular face-to-face interaction.

Which model is best for employee retention?

A flexible hybrid model can support employee retention by giving employees greater control over where they work and helping them balance work with their personal lives. However, flexibility is only one factor in retention. Company culture, career development, compensation and opportunities for collaboration also play important roles.

Does a hybrid work schedule require desk booking software?

Not necessarily, but desk booking software can make hybrid workplaces much easier to manage. When employees don’t have permanently assigned desks, booking software lets them reserve a workspace before arriving at the office. It can also help managers understand demand, avoid overcrowding and make better use of available office space.