What does the Office of the Future look like?
How will marketing be affected by changing office landscapes?
Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters. Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. Over time, decisions have been proved right or wrong dependant on the outcome of the original actions.
Time is also catching up on your workplace. The office of the future will look very different to the one you are sitting in now – if indeed you will be sitting in one at all.......
Hot-Desking
The scourge of the fixed desk fraternity, shared-desk policies where companies operate a first come, first served basis for legitimate desk space has seen numbers double in the past 10 years. Two-Thirds of multinational companies are expected to offer a flexible desk solution by 2020.
Virtual Reality Meetings
Big things have been expected of Virtual Reality technology since the launch of The Lawnmower Man film in 1992, but we have waited a long time to be really amazed. Fast forward to 2025 where businesses are likely to be using telepresence technology to have meetings take place from the comfort of their own office.
Family Friendly Offices
The increasing population of the earth, coupled with the rising costs of child care and the need for both parents to work, will see more offices and businesses offer flexible working hours and childcare options – with some even creating an on-site crèche to meet with demand.
AI Admins
Artificial Intelligence is already a main stay in many of your home support lives with Siri, Alexa and the Google Assistant helping you decide if an umbrella needs to come to work with you. But by 2030 we can expect AI assistants will be in full control of your work diary to act as office assistants to schedule meetings, book travel and complete administrative tasks.
Energy-Saving Buildings
Thanks to major advancements in the effort to reduce our carbon footprint, office buildings are becoming more eco-friendly than ever, with new buildings in London using sensors to adapt to changing weather conditions and occupancy levels in real time.
Biophilic Design
Offices are starting to welcome the outdoors in by implementing greener offices with plants and trees. This is starting to help persuade office workers to remain in a business if the office is more welcoming and offer natural light and live greenery.
Flexi-Benefits
Flexible remote staff working from home is fast becoming a regular trend for business needs, with reports suggesting that remote workers are 13% more productive and take fewer sick days than their office based colleagues. Remote Technology will have a bigger calling in the next few years.
3D Printed Offices
Perhaps not the pipedream that many cost saving companies imagine, offices are expected to be 3D printed in the near future at a fraction of the cost. Augment Manufacturing is fast becoming the must have tech tool for expanding businesses in tight spaces overseas
Wearable Tech for Workers
The advancement of smart phones, watches and other wearable tech for staff has seen increasing levels of higher level communication in the office. Staff being tracked whilst also being checked for health and fitness levels is a fast moving trend in the busy office space.
Chance Encounter Space
A growing trend in large scales business environments, the best predictors of productivity were a team’s engagement outside of formal meetings – office designs will increase chance encounters between colleagues to help share ideas and business growth concepts.
Bigger, Better Hardware
The trusty desktop computer long evolved into the laptop and tablet dominated market we see today, but with increasing demand for better performance on a larger scale, technology hardware is changing to offer bespoke support for individual staff team members. Bigger will be better.
Software support
With Data Security and GDPR now a part of office chat folklore, the need for upgraded systems will simply increase the levels of data administrators in the floor space, meaning more highly graded systems will be locked down with new security measurements.