Interview with: Niraj Dangoria, Associate Dean, Facilities Planning and Management, Stanford University. Dangoria is a speaker at the marcus evans University Leadership Summit 2023.

1. Can you explain what these four
buckets are?
The first bucket is focused work, where
we produce material or immerse in self-
education. We know from past experi-
ence that this kind of work can happen
anywhere. The second bucket is
engagement, which can happen elec-
tronically but there are times when
face-to-face engagement is important.
The third bucket is service, whether it is
for internal or external customers. While
we have served our customers electron-
ically for the last 2.5 years, we know
that face-to-face interaction also makes
a difference. The fourth bucket is
community, where people come togeth-
er and the ethos of the organization
comes to be real.
How should university facilities be
designed based on these buckets?
What did you do?
Different jobs fill these buckets differ-
ently. So why have we historically given
everyone the same kind of space to
work in? Have we got this wrong all
along? Sometimes 90 percent of space
is dedicated for focused work, and the
office kitchen becomes the community
space. If that is the most important
function of why people come together,
why do we pay the least amount of
attention to it? We redid our own
workplace, doubling capacity. We
assigned 36 people to a room of 18
desks. All the desks are now free use,
but everyone has assigned storage and
personal areas. We know that a maxi-
mum of 10 staff come in every day. We
compensated for this lack of ownership
by creating more opportunities for social
interaction. We reengineered our culture
and leadership style to fit the hybrid
work situation, and adapted to the new
reality to hold on to our most valuable
asset, our people.
People have become comfortable with
how their quality of life has evolved and
universities, more than other employ-
ers, have to respect that. We live in
such a competitive environment,
especially us in Silicon Valley. We
cannot compete on salary alone. We will
lose out to the tech industry every
single day. So we have to provide a
better quality of life. Forcing people to
come in five days a week will have a
terrible impact on staff morale and
retention. People are exercising a
The Future of Hybrid Work & the Lessons
to Learn from Stanford University
Interview with: Niraj Dangoria,
Associate Dean, Facilities Planning
and Management, Stanford Univer-
sity
“With hybrid work here to stay, univer-
sities need to rethink how they are
using their space. Real estate is expen-
sive. If they can optimize or shrink their
facilities, they can spend more on
benefits and opportunities for staff, and
create a better learning environment for
their students,” said Niraj Dangoria,
Associate Dean, Facilities Planning and
Management, Stanford University.
Dangoria is a speaker at the marcus
evans University Leadership Sum-
mit 2023.
What is your hypothesis on hybrid
work in the university setting? Why
do you think it is here to stay?
At the start of the pandemic, we
transitioned quite immediately from five
days at the office to five days at home.
This was the case for higher education
as well as many other industries. Six
months into it, it looked like university
staff were getting reasonably proficient
at remote working and there was no
real loss of productivity. People became
very comfortable with the idea of
working remotely, not wasting their
time on commuting. But the one thing
that was missing was the people
connection, the feeling of a community.
That was very clear to me. Pre-
pandemic, I made sure to touch base
with everyone in my team at least once
a week. That was missing. I started
thinking, what is behaviorally driving
how we work? That led to my hypothe-
sis that most white-collar jobs, especial-
ly in the university setting, fit into four
buckets.
degree of independence that was
unusual prior to the pandemic. Hybrid
work is here to stay, and university
leaders have to take this into account.
What is the future of university
campuses?
Some smaller institutions are struggling,
but campuses are going to continue to
play an important role in the fabric of
society. It is a place of transition in
terms of education, intellectual growth
and social growth. That is not going
away anytime soon.
Technology has enabled education to
reach tremendous masses, but at the
same time, it has not replaced campus-
es. Universities have expanded in the
last 20 years. However, if we are smart,
we can shrink the footprint for staff
workspace, and reuse the footprint to
better support students. That will only
make for a better learning and academic
environment. Instead of capital being
spent on new buildings, it is always
cheaper to repurpose them.
Hybrid work is
here to stay,
and university
leaders have to
take this into
account

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by successful pioneers.
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