How it works
Planning starts with an adjacency matrix: a grid that lists every team on both axes and scores how closely each pair needs to sit. A common approach rates each relationship on a simple scale and marks it as must, should or cannot sit close. The inputs come from leaders, collaboration patterns such as shared meetings, and which teams come in on the same days.
Planners then place teams on floors so the strongest links sit together, within each floor's capacity. When everything cannot fit, the matrix shows which links to protect first and which can span a floor. In hybrid offices adjacency also has a time element: two teams gain most from sitting together when they are in on the same days.
Adjacency drifts as the organization changes. Reorganizations, growth and new projects create new links and weaken old ones, so the matrix and the stack plan need regular review, especially before a restack or a move.
How to measure it
- Share of must-sit-close pairs that are on the same floor in the current plan.
- Co-attendance: how often connected teams are in the office on the same days.
- Feedback from teams on whether the people they depend on are nearby.
Examples
- Product and engineering share a floor with design next door, while finance and legal share a quieter floor.
- Before a restack, a planner finds that two teams created by a reorganization sit three floors apart and moves them together.
Common mistakes
- Using the org chart as the adjacency matrix; reporting lines and working relationships often differ.
- Protecting every link equally, which makes the plan impossible to fit.
- Ignoring attendance patterns: teams that are never in on the same days gain little from sitting together.
- Setting adjacencies once and never revisiting them after reorganizations.
How Kadence helps
Kadence SpaceOps places teams on floors with auto-stack, and planners can drag teams, lock them in place or close floors to keep connected teams together. Scenario planning compares layouts side by side, and the AI planning agent builds or changes stack and space plans from plain-language requests. Approved plans are published into live neighborhoods in WorkOps.
SpaceOps · Flexible office models guide · Scenario planning
Frequently asked questions
What does adjacent team mean?
An adjacent team is a team that works closely with yours and benefits from sitting nearby, for example because you hand work to each other or meet often. In office planning, adjacent teams are placed on the same floor or next to each other so that working together takes less effort.
What is an adjacency matrix in space planning?
An adjacency matrix is a grid with every team listed along both sides. Each cell records how closely that pair needs to sit, often as a score and a label such as must, should or cannot sit close. Planners use it to decide which teams share a floor.
Why does team adjacency matter in a hybrid office?
Office days are limited, so the time people spend together matters more. When teams that depend on each other sit close and come in on the same days, questions get answered in person and decisions move faster. When they are floors apart, people may as well have stayed home.
How do you decide which teams should sit together?
Ask leaders which teams they rely on, then check the answers against evidence such as shared meetings, handoffs and which teams come in on the same days. Rank the links, protect the strongest ones first, and review the choices after every reorganization.
Related terms
- Block plan A floor-level layout that assigns each team to a zone of one floor, between the stack plan and the seat-level plan.
- Stack planning A floor-by-floor plan of which teams occupy which floors and buildings, used to test moves and consolidations first.
- Neighborhood A zone of an office set aside for a team, project or activity, often on set days, so people who work together sit together.
- In-person collaboration Work people do together face to face, and the practice of measuring whether office time brings the right people together.
- Restack Reassigning teams across the floors of a building to free space, absorb growth or improve adjacency, done as a sequence of moves.
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