Technology-enabled innovation has altered office architecture and the whole approach to it, assisting the new-age workforce in reaching higher productivity through improved user experience as well as physical and mental work-life balance.
Whatever workplace trends emerge post-COVID, one thing is certain: flexible office spaces and smart office technology will enable a changing workforce to have safety, flexibility, efficiency, connectedness, and comfort.
The move toward smart offices has accelerated, and it is all about leveraging technology to make the workplace more efficient and employee-friendly. This can be accomplished through the use of health-promoting furniture or voice-enabled settings that facilitate communication. Let us look at how smart workplaces will change our businesses.
Improved workspace utilization
Businesses are growing without taking up as much room as they once did. With the advent of cloud and mobile computing, workplaces have begun to maximize space use. It’s all about taking your device to work, as it minimizes the need for conference rooms, and server closets.
Large corporations will downsize their workplaces and make educated judgments on how to best utilize the space they have. It will also assist to establish an appropriate workplace atmosphere that allows for easy productivity and team engagement. Managers can watch how their employees move about the room by using activity and motion sensors, and they may adjust workstations accordingly.
Smarter desks
The future of work will revolve around standing and sit-stand desks, as they have grown in popularity during the last few years. Businesses recognize the significance of employee health and well-being and are taking appropriate actions to ensure it. Switching between sitting and standing can boost productivity, boost creativity, and lessen neck and back discomfort.
Standing at your desk will help keep you attentive and enhance your productivity. There are desks that provide notifications or reminders if you’ve been standing or sitting for an excessive time. Accessories can also be used to achieve the most from standing workstations. For example, monitoring arms can boost your productivity while reducing strain-related problems.
AI health alerts can be your personal trainer
AI-based fitness notifications function very much like a personal trainer since they constantly remind you of your objectives. You may also set your fitness milestones, and indeed the technology will help you attain your goals. Corporate wellness programs are interested in AI on standing desks since it has the potential to tackle numerous problems associated with employee inactivity.
Standing desks are beneficial to one’s health. Employees may break up the routine of sitting by embracing an active work atmosphere. However, workouts, yoga, and diets are required to live a life free of pain and exhaustion.
An AI fitness notification on a sit-stand desk is among the well-liked developments that have gained widespread approval among health enthusiasts. If you’re a health-conscious runner, sit stand desks help runners decrease the negative impacts of sedentary lives.
Enhanced productivity
Flexible workforces may be readily managed in terms of scheduling, cooperation, delegation of tasks, and supervision by utilizing software solutions that assist to enhance corporate efficiency. There are several methods for businesses to use technology to boost employee productivity.
Apps or standing desks that take into account employees’ work preferences might be implemented in organizations. For instance, those that need to fully collaborate on specific projects can do so in the conference rooms, while those who have a preference for standing desks can do so.
Collaboration tools
New collaboration programs, tools, and software allow for real-time project tracking, simpler document review and editing, and more effective job management. The usage of collaboration technologies like these will undoubtedly rise as the workforce transforms and the number of remote employees increases.
Voice-enabled office
The workplace future is smart, and there is a way of making conference rooms smarter. Voice-enabled offices will make life easier for both employees and employers. When an employee enters the workplace, they may activate the system with their voice.
Now employees will be able to multitask by utilizing their voices for responsibilities, data requests, and calendars. It will assist in reporting problems, ordering supplies, and holding conference calls within the facility.
Wireless charging
Nobody loves the appearance of unsightly cables, and finding an available charging outlet in a crowded office might feel difficult. These obstacles are no longer an issue thanks to wireless charging. There are products and smart furnishings available that offer the functionality and allow charging of electronic gadgets at the office easy for everyone.
Meeting room and video conferencing technology
With the growing number of remote employees for businesses of all kinds, it is an essential piece of technology that links both teams and distant workers in all places. Many smaller conference rooms that are suitable for remote work will be required. These digitally integrated rooms should include:
- Smart conference tables
- Superior camera equipment
- Video conferencing software that is simple to use and completely integrated
Energy-efficient workspace
Many people believe that industrial units consume a lot of energy, however, the commercial sector consumes a lot of energy on a worldwide scale as well. Energy efficiency is perhaps the most popular IoT function being investigated by enterprises worldwide.
Smart sensors in the future workplace will monitor energy use and enable you to regulate it efficiently. Energy efficiency may be improved by incorporating technology into businesses.
Immersive technology
Immersive technologies like mixed reality and virtual reality will continue to boost engagement and revolutionize how people interact and collaborate across all workplaces. With the growing impact of millennials in the workplace, that generation feels compelled to communicate in real-time on designs inside a virtual framework.
Internet of Things sensors
IoT sensors may turn on lights, operate HVAC systems, and do other things. Because IoT sensors may detect occupancy and motion, it is simple to configure utilities, fixtures, and devices, to switch off or enter into power-saving mode if no one is there.
This enables business leaders to make environmental enhancements like lighting, cooling, and heating, all of which have a substantial influence on employee well-being and health.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI will become the most transformative technology of our time. AI consumes examples and works out the guidelines on its own. It may assist firms in developing new business models, markets, goods, and experiences; improving employee experience, and streamlining processes. It may be used as a predictive engine to forecast what will happen next.
Endnote
To be relevant, the smart office must provide the appropriate smart office technology and atmosphere for hybrid workers, while helping people reach their full potential. With the introduction of remote working, the desire to go to the office must be developed in employees for offices to remain significant.
Businesses are considering how each type of tech — hardware, cloud, software, and services – must integrate to provide the rewards of the smart office. Utilizing modern technology to assist workers is a game-changer. Organizations that do it right will be able to recruit, engage, and ultimately retain top personnel.
