Quiet, focused workspaces are sprouting up as companies incorporate a wider variety of spaces to cater to employee demands in returning to the office.

Last year, four in 10 companies surveyed by JLL added more dedicated focus areas, such as semi-enclosed booths and soundproof pods, in their offices.

This shift marks a move away from the “collaboration-first” office layout towards an environment that accommodates more individual work.

“Companies now understand that fostering collaboration shouldn’t come at the expense of individual needs,” says Gonzalo Portellano, Head of Design Solutions, Asia Pacific, JLL.

Recent trends have favored collaborative workspaces to entice people back to the office with its unique benefit: face-to-face interaction with colleagues.

However, data from JLL suggests that individual work remains the dominant activity in offices, consuming at least half of employees' daily schedules.

“This shows the importance of offering diverse work settings that can replicate the most natural space for every task an employee performs in the office,” says Portellano. “The right space for each task is required to achieve deep work and flow states that wouldn’t be possible without a certain sense of privacy and individual focus.” 

A prime example could be incorporating more smaller, non-bookable meeting rooms with house rules to prevent overuse and with incentives to encourage more or less usage during specific time periods.

“The physical changes required to optimize a space are less drastic if we possess the right utilization data and can identify utilization patterns,” Portellano says. “By leveraging predictive AI analytics, real-time sensor data, and personalized workspace recommendations, we can create office environments that truly cater to employee needs while also boosting their performance.”

This aligns with the findings from a years-long study by JLL, which shows that employee performance thrives when they have control over their environment — including factors like the choice of space, privacy, and access to quiet, focused work areas.

Employees crave a holistic experience the moment they step into the office, one where the workspace adapts to their needs, as an employee and as an individual, throughout the day.

“The office should be a space that eliminates friction and provides the tools and environment they need to perform at their best,” says Portellano. “Consider the office a gym for the minds, where a well-equipped gym with a personal trainer can improve someone’s physical performance.”

In the Asia-Pacific region, where the return to office is largely stable, Portellano believes the time is ripe to take longer-term decisions on changing workspace configurations to cater to the new employee demands for workplace use.

“This could be through increasing the number of focus areas or rethinking collaboration areas, driven by data findings and user experience, not anymore by pre-conceived industry standards or assumptions,” Portellano concludes.