Remote working. Agile methodologies. Dispersed teams. Flexible spaces. These are all buzzwords that you’ll hear again and again in conversations about the cultural shifts that are happening in working practices.
And as those changes gather pace, the spaces we work in are being adapted and evolved to reflect them. Indeed, the workspace of today is a very different environment to most offices of just a decade ago.
The space or the place?
It’s not just the workspace itself that is changing, but the place where people work. Yes, many companies will still have a central office, but the days of it having a full complement of people, all sitting at their own desks and working
9 – 5 are long gone. Now it’s likely to be more of a hub, where workers drop in to perform certain tasks or to collaborate face to face.
Indeed, the flexibility for users to move between home, mobile, hotdesk, meeting room or coffee shop is a central theme we see emerging.
So what's the catalyst for change?
The profile of the modern workforce is changing rapidly. By 2020, Manpower Group predicts it is to comprise globally of 35% of Millennials and 24% of Gen Z.
That’s around 60% of employees who will be digital natives. They’ve been embracing technology all their lives. Mobility comes naturally to them. So it’s no surprise that they get frustrated by what they perceive as old-fashioned working practices. In a bid to attract the cream of the talent, companies need to evolve to meet their needs. Those who don’t will find they start to struggle to attract the quality staff that is essential to their success.
How is technology playing a role?
Whilst cultural and generational changes drive new ways of thinking, the reality can only come to fruition with the support of the correct technology.
As employees become increasingly dispersed, there’s a growing need to keep them engaged. The barrier of physical distance must be overcome to allow everyone to feel part of the team, to know they can contribute, and technology is the tool that accommodates this.
What’s needed is a truly unified communication platform for voice, video AND data, supported from any space, any device, anywhere, anytime - solutions that will underpin and facilitate an agile, flexible workplace strategy.
What do people need for the workplace to be effective?
Truly effective workplaces focus on the activities people are required to carry out. Any job will have multiple such activities, and employees need a choice of spaces, suitably equipped, to support the task in hand. In fact, according to workplace consultants Advanced Workplace Associates, there are up to 18 different activities and resultant spaces needed in the modern workplace.
The creation of different working zones gives staff the flexibility to work where they want, when they want, in a way that is appropriate to the task they are tackling.
