We’re more than a year into the new ways of working, and many companies are still working out the fine balance of working from home vs coming into the office.
Apart from AI, the topic clients and even friends ask about me most often is “What’s the future workplace look like?”
Navigating the Future: The Physical Workplace and the Return to Office
Everyone is used to both the freedoms enjoyed by being able to work from home, as well as the benefits of being with an established team back at the office.
The ratio of Work From Home : In-Office days ranges anywhere from 1:4 to 4:1 in my experience.
It’s hard to argue that the in-office experience can’t really be replicated on a Zoom call, and to encourage a truly collaborative spirit, then there needs to be some office time on a regular basis.
Watch a short video where I look at the ratio of WFH : In-Office
Humans being what they are, after two or so years of being able to work from home, and enjoy the flexibility that this brings, employers must now “earn the commute” to encourage workers back into the physical space.
What we’ve learned from the post-pandemic period is that with people in the office less frequently, when they are, the physical workspace needs to be inviting and optimized for collaboration.
In this short clip below, from the TD Synnex event in London, I looked at how we need to look at the “3 P’s”
People, Place and Purpose – explained in this short clip below
So what is Technology’s role in the redesigned workplace? In an ever-evolving professional landscape, the concept of the physical workplace has taken on new significance.
No longer just a place to sit and perform a task, the space has to be visually appealing, and have the technology and the infrastructure to get the best work done.
When I was at IBM, I ran a social collaboration consulting practice where we looked at how collaboration technologies combined with the right culture can work together for best effect. My favourite phrase is “Your value is not what you know it is what you share”.
Watch this short clip on how to best collaborate with a hybrid workforce.
I was speaking about this well before the pandemic, and now that hybrid and distributed teams are here to stay, the ability to effectively collaborate when in the office is now even more important.
Technology can play a part, especially when you’re not in the office, but to effectively collaborate and drive innovation, the role of the physical workplace takes on new importance.
Collaboration and Innovation: The Role of the Physical Workplace
Workplace design has always been a science to fit as many people into the available space, but the future of the workplace may entail less desk space, and more places to collaborate. This means that fixed offices will give way to dynamic spaces to create, design and innovate.
This brings me to the need to reimagine office spaces for the future.
Some years ago now I was asked by a leading real estate firm what the office of the future would look like. The one word that I used back then and is important now is flexible.
The ability to quickly reconfigure a physical workspace and have the technology follow will be key. Not just to reconfigure space for collaboration, but to allow the space to breathe as different projects are worked on, and the needs of the fractional worker are met.
I’m currently writing a new talk to address all these issues above that will look at:
• Navigating the Future: The Physical Workplace and the Return to Office
• How the concept of the physical workplace has taken on new significance
• Collaboration and Innovation: The Role of the Physical Workplace
• Reimagining Office Spaces for the Future
I’ll look at the best practices from leading companies in this space, as well as draw on many interviews from my podcast series and anecdotal discussions with clients and colleagues about how the Workplace of the Future will need to evolve in the next 5-10 years.
Part of the drive is generational as “Gen Next” – those Gen Y, Z, Alpha and Beta expect a different, more sustainable and social way of working, and part of it will be based on new technologies.
Watch a short clip on how you can leverage the “two tribes” in every organisation
The drive towards Generational AI tools such as ChatGPT will mean that the jobs of the future will change forever. Repetitive tasks will be done by AI, and this will mean that the worker of the future will need the time and space for critical thinking.
This will require a fundamental redesign of where and how work gets done.
I can’t wait to deliver this new talk and inspire current and future leaders to design a human-centric workplace with collaboration and teamwork at the heart of the reason to come into the office to get their best work done.
Watch me talk about the need for human-centric workspaces
As with every one of my talks, I will leave the audience with actionable tips on what they can do next to make all of the content I’ve discussed a reality.
Why not get in touch to see if this talk would be suitable for your next offsite or executive retreat?