How TomTom is redesigning its workspaces to suit everyone’s needs

Who doesn’t love a home makeover? The behind-the-scenes look at the construction. The build-up to the unveiling. The big reveal and the joy of getting to enjoy the new home. The same is happening at TomTom right now. The company is redesigning its offices. Some have been completed. Others are still on the way. But the excitement is the same. TomTom’ers are ready for a refreshed workspace that supports them on their quest to engineer the first real-time map.

Let’s rewind for a second though. Why is TomTom updating its offices? It’s more than an aesthetic choice: a lick of paint or moving the furniture around for all you Feng Shui believers out there. The reason is work flexibility.

Work flexibility at TomTom means TomTom’ers can work from both home and the office: two days in the office, and the rest are open to be worked from either location, all in agreement with their teams and manager. There's even the option to work abroad thanks to Extended Location Flexibility, which allows TomTom’ers to work from another country/state for a few months a year.

Because of these benefits, the role of the office changed for TomTom. It’s no longer about sitting at your desk, switching the computer on, going about your business and then heading home. As home is the ideal place for focus work, the offices needed to evolve to become hubs of connection, collaboration and socialization, while still serving TomTom'ers who'd like to focus in the office regardless.

So, naturally, TomTom acted. Welcome to the "Now of Work".

Modern offices that suit the now of work Office designs to help TomTom'ers find their impact

TomTom has offices worldwide and some of them have undergone significant changes to bring people together. We've created exciting, multi-functional spaces that are tailored for team meetings, community catch-ups, brainstorming and more. This way, TomTom’ers, with their teams and managers, have precisely what they need to work in a way that’s most effective for them.

When designing the interiors, the approach was the same as with our maps. TomTom took the many areas around the office and clustered them together to create modern, ergonomic “neighborhoods” for different teams. These are connected to a central hub – a “city center” – where TomTom’ers can find useful facilities like reception and, most importantly, a barista.

To deliver a workspace that fulfills all needs, each neighborhood features spaces that suit all kinds of activities. Focus booths are designed to keep things quiet, so your deadlines are met in tranquillity. There are also collaborative areas for all kinds of catch-ups, like the conference rooms for large team meetings. There are even flexible project areas for strategic thinking as well, all designed to control the acoustics so you can bounce ideas off the wall without worrying about any disturbances.

With all this, TomTom has brought flexible working to life. And there’s more to come as the planning starts for more redesigns in the future.

It all comes back to the why

TomTom identified a need. With TomTom'ers coming into the office twice a week – and the specific days varying team-to-team – we wanted to give them a workspace that meets their requirements on any given day.

So, it’s not a case of either/or. It’s important for people to have the flexibility to have a fully functioning office, tailor-made to enable collaboration, while still enjoying the freedom and focus that comes with home. The best of both worlds. You'll get that at TomTom.