- Lauren Pollack
- 3 min read
In the "Anti-Plans Social Butterfly" series, we'll explore how workplace strategy can support the spontaneity and momentum, that drives human connection and innovation.
Not Every Watercooler Moment Is Magic, But They Still Matter
Serendipity is unexpected, meaningful, and in the workplace, it’s also opportunity.
While I haven’t walked away from every coffee machine chat with a breakthrough idea or game-changing insight, I’ve never left feeling disappointed. The power of these moments isn’t in constant productivity, but in laying the groundwork for connection and the potential for an inspiring conversation down the road. As we mentioned in our last article, these experiences are ideal for Anti-Plans Social Butterflies, who thrive on in-the-moment human connection and collaboration.
Designing for Connection
Visibility, proximity, and informal interactions create the trust and familiarity that make innovation possible, at the watercooler and in the meeting room. These are the moments that strengthen what sociologists call “weak ties,” the casual connections that support collaboration, happiness, and workforce cohesion.
As computer-based collaboration increases, those ties are more important than ever, but many office designs don’t make room for this kind of interaction to happen naturally. This creates a loss of momentum, which Anti-Plans Social Butterflies need to do their best collaborative and relational work.
Hold Over Designs of Traditional Offices
Too often, we see design concepts held over from a different era of technology and work styles. Spaces are optimized for individual work while neglecting the needs of impromptu connection. This results in fewer spontaneous run-ins, less variety in who you see, and nowhere to go when a conversation sparks something worth building on.
These Spaces Often Include:
Oversized and under-occupied meeting rooms with a standard boardroom layout.
Walls that are blank or bearing unrelated artwork with no open writable surfaces, no shared huddle spots, and lack of visual cues that tell employees, “It’s okay to collaborate here.”
Check the box lounge spaces that aren't designed for connection and collaboration.
The excitement of a good idea, followed by the need to schedule time in the future due to meeting room or calendar constraints.
With Anti-Plans Social Butterflies and others, when inspiration hits, scheduling a meeting to hash it out can dull the spark. The energy of momentum-led collaboration is delicate. It needs space and permission to flourish, not a scheduling manager. As we mentioned in the first article, an event looming on the calendar can create unneeded tension and formality around a dynamic process.
What if offices were designed to nurture momentum and Anti-Plans Social Butterflies?
Low-barrier spaces you can drop into for impromptu ideation.
Flexible tools like whiteboards and sketch surfaces that signal "collaboration welcome."
Dynamic furniture layouts that can adapt to different types of collaboration
In Part 1 of this series, we explored how Anti-Plans Social Butterflies thrive in spontaneous connection. This principle can be supported through design. When people, whether Anti-Plans Social Butterflies or not, are given the resources to act on their social or collaborative energy in the moment, connection feels natural, and ideas gain traction.
With a thoughtful workplace strategy, we can elevate both the frequency and the impact of these everyday moments. By removing friction and honoring the spark of momentum, we create a culture where ideas grow, teams connect, and collaboration happens when it’s most relevant. Not every watercooler moment has to be magic, but when the environment supports them, more of them can be.
CRUX Workplace
- Lauren Pollack
- 2 min read
As workplace teams increasingly move under HR leadership, many HR leaders are finding themselves responsible for workplace strategy and real estate decisions—areas that may feel unfamiliar. But here’s the good news: this shift actually makes a lot of sense for where the future of work is headed.
At its core, the workplace is about people—connection, culture, collaboration, well-being, and performance. These are areas HR understands deeply.
When workplace and facilities teams sit within HR, it creates an opportunity to lead with empathy and intention, ensuring that space design supports real human needs. It also opens the door to more engagement-driven strategies—designing with employees, not just for them.
That said, balance is key. HR’s historic focus can create a bias to prioritize what people say they want—like holding onto private offices or dedicated desks—which can unintentionally limit how well the space supports what people need to do. That’s where your partnership with workplace experts becomes essential.
Here are ways HR leaders can support their transition into this expanded role:
Collaborate with workplace experts.
Lean into their knowledge of spatial strategy, utilization data, and design trends. They’ll help translate business goals into environments that truly work. Workplace experts care deeply about how space supports people and may challenge outdated practices that might hinder long-term success.
Engage employees early and often.
Involve employees throughout the process, listen actively, and show how their feedback is shaping outcomes. It builds trust and creates shared ownership.
Innovate how employees are supported during workplace change.
Adapting to a new way of working takes empathy and guidance. Change management, clear communication, and hands-on training help people feel informed and supported.
Shape how culture is expressed through space.
Co-creating etiquette and behavioral expectations helps teams understand how to navigate new environments and collaborate with clarity. Team agreements—an approach that naturally bridges workplace and HR—can help groups collaborate more effectively as ways of working continue to evolve.
Stay curious.
You don’t need all the answers—just a willingness to learn, ask questions, collaborate, and lead with people at the center.
This is an opportunity for HR to support the development of a human-centered and adaptable workplace that aligns with the evolving nature of work. You’ve got this.
CRUX Workplace
- Lauren Pollack
- 4 min read
“Our CEO just issued a mandate to return to the office, but attendance hasn't changed.”
Per CRUX Workplace's recent research, we've noted that organizations are still struggling to gain adoption for return-to-office policies, with compliance rates remaining low.
Here are common barriers that contribute to low compliance:
1. When the Policy Doesn’t Align with the Overall Business Strategy
This barrier occurs when the policy conflicts with how the business operates and key performance indicators, making the request for increased office presence a source of strain rather than a benefit. Here are two common ways this could present itself within an organization.
The Purpose for Being In The Office Is Unclear: Employees may struggle to recognize the broader benefits of spending more time in the office, especially while many report struggling under increasing workloads. Employees may fear that coming to the office could negatively impact their productivity or work quality by disrupting their established routines. Without a clear link to broader business objectives, leadership support enabling employees to prioritize in-person work, and flexibility to maintain balance, employees are unlikely to spend meaningful time in the office.
Team Meeting Schedules Conflict with Coming into the Office : Employees with schedules shaped by global calls or meetings that fall outside standard work hours—like early mornings or late evenings—find it impractical to commute. Without adjustments to meeting culture or timing, they may feel that working from home is the only feasible option.
2. When Policies are Created Team by Team
This common barrier arises when decisions about time spent in the office are made only by team or division leaders, without overarching goals or guiding policies across the organization. Below are three common barriers to return associated with this approach.
Cross-Team Collaborations Are Diminished Without Relevant Overlaps: When return-to-office policies are set only at the team level, they often overlook the prevalence of cross-functional interactions. Employees may find themselves in the office with their team but disconnected from other departments they work with regularly, reducing the value they receive from being in the office.
Path to Achieving Strategic Benefits of In-Office Work is Unclear: While organizations may cite innovation, mentorship, or relationship-building as reasons for being in the office, activities and interactions that produce these results often require intentional in-person time that goes beyond an individual team’s deliverables or productivity metrics. Without a broader organizational strategy, teams are unlikely to universally devote time to this effort as necessary to facilitate these benefits. Additionally, these goals require intentional programming and change management to be realized—simply increasing time spent in the office does not ensure positive business outcomes.
Inconsistent Experiences Across Teams: Employees frequently note unwarranted disparities between teams with similar roles when in-office expectations are manager driven. In some cases, we've found, leaders wanted their teams in the office more often but hesitate to enforce policies without organizational clarity. Employees, in turn, have found the inconsistencies to be unfair, wishing the guidelines had more uniformity to ensure equitable treatment across the organization.
3. When the Office Environment Doesn’t Support Modern Workstyles
This barrier arises when the office design fails to align with employees' daily activities, either because it hasn't been updated in recent years or was originally designed without engaging employees. Here are some examples of how this can manifest as barriers to return within an organization.
Outdated Technology Infrastructure: Modern work relies on laptops, mobile devices, and flexible movement within the office or between sites throughout the day. Unlike older setups with stationary desktops and landlines, today’s workplaces need to support mobility with reliable Wi-Fi, docking stations, and accessible power outlets throughout the office for employees to work effectively.
An Office Layout That is Out of Alignment with Employee Work Activities: The shift in technology and growth of dispersed teams has introduced new needs, such as private rooms for virtual calls and collaborative areas for group work. Offices that fail to provide these spaces leave employees feeling unsupported in their daily activities, driving them to seek out alternatives like home offices to complete these tasks effectively.
Isolation Created by Low Seating Density: Traditional desk assignments, where each employee has a fixed spot, can create physical and social isolation and a perception that attendance is low. This can make the office feel underutilized and discourage employees from coming in, as they are not experiencing opportunities for meaningful connection with colleagues.
In Summary
To develop and implement effective in-office policies—ones that genuinely support the success of the company rather than simply ticking the box—it’s essential to identify and reduce barriers to adoption.
Policies that clearly link business strategies and employee activities as well as those designed to enable cross-functional collaboration will be most successful. Workspaces should be updated to accommodate modern technology and role-specific activities, supported by organizational guidelines that provide employees with clear policies aligned with the company’s culture and business objectives.
Understanding the barriers to adoption within your organization can enhance compliance with office returns and make the policies more supportive of overall business objectives. Workplace consultants can assist companies in identifying these unique challenges and developing tailored solutions to address them effectively.
CRUX Workplace