As the role of employees is being imagined beyond a static location, their spaces have become more dynamic and temporal according to the changing nature of work, often resulting in a happier human resource
Businesses today are on the constant lookout for an increasing competitive advantage by improving employee engagement, increasing productivity and expanding globally, while ensuring security and cost management. The movement from desk-first to mobile-first is the primary driving force behind workplace evolution across the globe.
The fruitful combination of real estate, technology and human behaviour results in successful workplace transformation — by crafting flexible and innovative set-ups. To truly embrace the evolution of workplaces and derive a wholesome collaborative environment, what’s required is a new way of thinking — the fruition of traditional beliefs of ‘from work being a place’ to ‘work being a concept’.
There has been a fundamental shift in workspaces from the idea of supervision to the idea of fulfilling objectives. The older format of running cubes was majorly driven by the belief that if the employees are not present in the manager’s line of vision, they must not be working. However, latest surveys show that the trust factor between employees is the primary force behind meeting deadlines. This breaks the fundamental notion behind standard set-ups, giving way to more open layouts and flexible formats.
Open plans, that are economically efficient, predicate on establishing parity across the workspace to enhance employee experience and well-being, whilst eliminating the physical metaphors of authoritarianism. It also dissolves traditional notions of professional hierarchy and embraces democratic engagement. Infrastructure, too, steers collaborative and transparent environment.
There is a growing shift towards designing workplaces that reflect an egalitarian structure through receptive design, disregarding orthodox norms. As the role of employees is being imagined beyond a static location, their spaces have become more dynamic and temporal according to the changing nature of work.
Work needs to be portrayed as something more than the confinement of a cubicle-dynamic in its fundamental approach. Cubicle set-ups are rigid, often forcing individuals to get through the assigned work from a location, which hampers human potential as different kinds of spaces that are required to drive different requirements at work environments.
The dynamic nature of spaces allows for a differentiated group formation and activity, which benefits team-building efforts. Every individual is unique and tackles situations differently. What is needed as per the ever-evolving corporate space is a way to substantiate the requirements of all, while managing to achieve the decorum of a workplace. This means providing collaborative spaces, meeting spaces, team rooms and allowing people to work from any corner of a set-up that helps them achieve efficiency. As the spaces become socially receptive, the transfer of information and networks acquires different forms, thereby inviting collaboration. Such a breakdown of hierarchy in workplaces is a new concept. Offices should be transformed to accommodate the kind of work that supports business outcomes.
Beyond developing a new mindset, these transformations are a direct outcome of three areas: Real estate, technology, and people. For the real estate, it is imperative to move away from assigned seating to open seating, where organisational teams can function together. Providing a variety of seating spaces for employees to move around and work according to their requirement is not only feasible, but is also modular. More needs can be identified using data analysis to meet the changing spatial requirements. To decouple the physical space, consumption from employee headcount to lower real estate cost is imperative to provide spaces that remain economically inclusive for smaller organisations.
With growth in consumer-based technology, the need of the hour is to leverage existing investments in wireless infrastructure and remote access control. Collaboration tools are the new meeting rooms. With employees spread across the globe, it is important to have everyone on one portal to facilitate discussions. Here, the employees’ choice of device often ends up being a vital factor in meeting deadlines with productive work. So, the choice of device is the fundamental factor behind the design of spaces, delineating the nature of their use.
The present trend of globalisation has created a combinatorial explosion of ideas amongst people, where desires, needs and choices are not defined by region, but by approach. The present rate of globalisation requires everyone to be prompt with new devices and techniques of collaboration. Training sessions to bring everyone on the same platform will enhance productivity and engagement. Collaboration is being encouraged via meeting rooms and tools. Flexible workstations are a must.
Transformed workplaces, in line with the requirements of an organisation, often result in happier employees. They also enable better hiring, thus bringing in the most qualified candidates for the position as location no longer dictates success. This also enhances space utilisation, as seating is only provided based on the employees coming in on a day, which results in greater employee engagement and competitive advantage for the business. Thus, a collaborative approach to workplaces is not only a marketing approach, but a performance-based intervention that retains creative output. Thus, workspaces are transforming from product-centric environments to customer-centric environments, being able to incorporate a research-based, operation-based and consultancy-based atmosphere within the confinements of a single space, which is evidently much more sustainable.
(The writer is COO of a design consultancy firm)