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Government organisations were ahead of the curve with regards to hybrid working when the pandemic hit . The UK public sector had already begun carefully reinventing workspaces to allow a far more flexible and nuanced approach that sidesteps the binary choice between home and office . Kieron Murphy , Director of Workplace Hubs at Matrix Booking , explains how the private sector could learn a lot from the public sector by looking at its cross-organisational sharing of workspaces .

HERE ’ S RARELY A week that

Of course , there are some ministers who have publicly called for an end to home working too . Notes were left on the empty office desks of some civil servants to stop them working from home . And in June another government official expressed a desire to see fewer people working from home .

While this rather black and white debate continues to rage , the UK public sector has been at the forefront of hybrid working for a decade . It ’ s been carefully reinventing workspaces to allow a far more flexible and nuanced approach that sidesteps the binary choice between home and office .

At the heart of the civil service ’ s plan is crossorganisational sharing of workspaces . This is where different departments and teams work in the same physical space , boosting co-operation and cutting office costs , while still benefitting from the privacy and security they need to undertake sensitive tasks .

This is perfect for businesses because it allows for more open and collaborative spaces , which is ideal when everyone is already working towards the same ultimate goals . Breaking down walls and physically merging siloes has the potential to drive knowledge sharing , quicken problem solving and ignite out-of-the-box ideas .

Yet when privacy is needed , it can still be assured in a cross-organisational space . For

WHILE THIS RATHER BLACK AND WHITE DEBATE CONTINUES TO RAGE , THE UK PUBLIC SECTOR HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF HYBRID WORKING FOR A DECADE .