Rethinking the Workplace

I've had the unusual experience of helping plan office space for not one, but two organizations during my career. Both were long before COVID, back when "going to work" usually meant actually going somewhere.

The first was during my radio days in the early 2000s, when iHeartRadio acquired several stations, and we consolidated six of them—and all of their wonderfully different personalities—into one office on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Suddenly, people who had worked for separate stations were sharing hallways, conference rooms, studios, and probably a lot of coffee.

There was something exciting about having everyone together. You'd run into someone from another station and have a conversation that never would have happened otherwise. Ideas crossed formats. Relationships formed. Collaboration happened simply because people were in the same place.

Of course, there's another part of that story. Technology and automation eventually changed radio dramatically, and consolidation ultimately meant fewer people were needed to do the work. I watched firsthand as technology changed not only how we worked, but the relationships and communities that formed around the work.

Years later, I had another opportunity to help think about workplace design when we doubled our footprint at Allstate's Merchandise Mart office. By then, workplace thinking had evolved. We weren't simply creating places for people to sit. We were thinking about how people would experience the space.

Yes, we needed desks and meeting rooms, but we also wanted places where people could connect, recharge, and occasionally have a little fun. Ping pong, anyone? There were spaces designed for collaboration. We even created quiet rooms with massage chairs where employees could step away and reset during the day.

I ultimately changed organizations after that, but then COVID happened, and everything we thought we knew about "the workplace" changed.

Today, when organizations think about space planning, the conversation can't begin with square footage and end with a seating chart. In fact, it can't be limited to a physical office at all.

Our workplaces now exist wherever our people do.

That might be a corporate office, a home office, a customer site, a coffee shop, an airport lounge, or a Teams meeting with twelve little boxes on a screen. The challenge for organizations isn't simply creating a great office anymore. It's creating a great work environment—physical and virtual—that helps people do their best work and stay connected to one another.

Give People a Reason to Be There

If employees have flexibility in where they work, the office has to offer something more than a desk and Wi-Fi. It needs to provide something employees can't easily replicate at home: connection, collaboration, access to people, shared experiences, or simply a change of environment.

Seating is an obvious starting point, but it should be considered through the lens of choice. Assigned desks can provide stability, while flexible seating can encourage collaboration and autonomy. Employees should feel like there is a place for them without feeling confined to it.

More importantly, they should be able to choose the environment that best supports what they're trying to accomplish. Sometimes that's heads-down concentration. Sometimes it's brainstorming around a table. Sometimes it's sitting beside someone and solving a problem together.

Choice is a powerful design element.

Layouts matter for the same reason. Open floor plans once symbolized transparency and teamwork, but we've learned that openness without boundaries can create distraction and fatigue. Thoughtful workplaces blend collaborative areas with defined workspaces, natural light, clear pathways, and places where employees can step away from the activity around them.

When a space feels intuitive, it reduces friction—both mentally and physically.

Don't Forget the People Behind the Work

Ergonomics should never be treated as a luxury upgrade. Adjustable chairs, appropriate desk heights, monitor arms, and supportive equipment send a very simple message: We care about your wellbeing.

And that shouldn't stop at the office door.

If employees regularly work remotely, think about the experience you're creating there, too. Do they have the equipment they need? Are there resources available to help them create an ergonomic home workspace? Are meetings designed so remote participants have the same opportunity to contribute as the people sitting together in a conference room?

A beautiful headquarters doesn't mean much to an employee who spends most of the week struggling at a kitchen table—or feeling like an observer during every hybrid meeting.

That's why modern space planning needs to include virtual space planning as well.

Your Virtual Workplace Is Still a Workplace

We put tremendous thought into physical environments. We choose furniture, lighting, signage, paint colors, conference room layouts, and even where the coffee machine should go.

Then we sometimes create our virtual workplace by adding a hundred Teams channels and hoping people figure it out.

Our digital environments deserve the same intentionality as our physical ones.

Is information easy to find? Do employees know where conversations should happen? Are there virtual spaces for community as well as work? Can someone who joined the organization remotely easily figure out where they belong?

Think of your digital workplace the same way you'd think about an office. There are places for focused work, places for collaboration, places for learning, and places where people can simply connect.

The virtual equivalent of the break room might be an employee community where people talk about books, pets, travel, music, or whatever else brings them together. A virtual learning space can create the same kind of spontaneous cross-department interaction I saw when those six radio stations suddenly shared an office.

The walls are different.

The opportunity isn't.

Sometimes Productivity Looks Like Silence

Whether people are working in an office or remotely, they need permission to step away from constant interaction.

In physical workplaces, phone booths, library-style rooms, wellness spaces, and low-stimulation areas can provide refuge from the buzz around them. These spaces acknowledge that productivity doesn't always look like conversation. Sometimes it looks like silence.

The same principle applies virtually. Back-to-back meetings aren't connection. Neither is spending eight hours watching notifications appear on a screen. Organizations and leaders can help protect focus by being thoughtful about meeting cadence, respecting status indicators, creating meeting-free blocks, and recognizing that being digitally available isn't the same thing as being productive.

Creating space sometimes means literally giving people space.

Design Places That Encourage Connection

On the other end of the spectrum, the workplace should also create opportunities for people to come together.

Creative meeting rooms, writable walls, lounge-style seating, outdoor meeting areas, and recreational spaces can turn routine interactions into more engaging ones. A quick game of ping pong, a comfortable seating area, or even a hydration station can become a natural gathering point.

The key isn't the ping-pong table. Trust me, we've had enough workplace conversations about ping-pong tables.

It's what happens around it.

People talk. They meet someone from another department. They laugh. They exchange an idea. They have a conversation they probably wouldn't have scheduled on a calendar.

That's exactly what I remember happening when those six radio stations moved together all those years ago. Proximity created opportunities for relationships that hadn't existed before.

Today, we simply have to work harder to create those opportunities when proximity isn't guaranteed.

That might mean bringing people together intentionally for an in-person event. It could mean creating cross-functional virtual communities, employee resource groups, informal coffee chats, learning sessions, or spaces where employees connect around interests that have nothing to do with their job descriptions.

The goal isn't forcing connection.

It's creating the conditions where connection can happen.

Design for Humans, Not Headcount

Ultimately, I think the goal of modern workplace planning is fairly simple: create environments people want to use, but don't feel forced to use.

A welcoming office invites presence. It offers comfort, tools, variety, and opportunities for connection. A welcoming virtual workplace should do exactly the same thing. It should be intuitive, inclusive, easy to navigate, and designed to help people participate regardless of where they're sitting.

I've watched workplace design change tremendously since we brought those six radio stations together on Michigan Avenue. I've helped design spaces built for collaboration, fun, wellbeing, and productivity. And I've watched the definition of "workplace" expand far beyond four walls.

What hasn't changed is the human being at the center of it.

People need places to focus. Places to collaborate. Places to recharge. Places to laugh. And places where they feel like they belong.

The physical space may have changed.

The need hasn't.

Final Thoughts

Space planning isn't really about space. It's about experience. Whether you're designing a new headquarters, rearranging an existing office, or cleaning up a chaotic virtual workplace, start with the people who will actually use it.

Ask how they work. Ask what gets in their way. Ask where connection naturally happens and where it doesn't. Then design around those answers rather than assumptions about what a modern workplace is supposed to look like.

Imagine what could happen if we stopped designing workplaces around where we expect people to sit and started designing experiences around how we want people to feel, connect, and work. What ordinary space—physical or virtual—could you rethink to make someone's workday extraordinary?