Reshaping the Workplace: How Tech Companies Can Reopen Offices
A review of the steps to take to re-open your tech company office in a manner that delights management and employees.
Advanced technology infrastructure is making the modern workplace more productive than ever. See which futuristic trends you should implement today.
Originally published by sme.org. Republished with permission.
The workplace and the office atmosphere started to get immense attention in the past three decades. Employees started demanding posh offices with luxurious facilities to work, pushing behind the concept of dingy desks filled with files. Modern employees emphasize workplace aesthetics as it influences their mood and enhances productivity.
Advanced IT infrastructure
The boom of the IT industry and the companies coming forward to make their offices look inviting to work happened simultaneously. Several newly arriving IT offices followed the trend creating stunning workplaces which are pioneers for today’s employee expectations. Today’s offices have posh interiors and excellent IT infrastructure with automatic kiosks and self-serving panels.
Greetly provides advanced visitor management software, allowing guests’ contactless entrance into the offices. They can capture all the details of the guests, from the ID card to their badges, and track where they are inside the office. Similarly, other software to do the advanced job scheduling, CRMs, and manage different aspects of an office get incorporated in the IT infrastructure of the workplace.
No more opens offices
The concept of open offices spread through a vast hall, and several people working behind their desks, lost its fascination by the beginning of the 90s. Today’s workplaces emphasize personalization and privacy, making the office cubicles more customized. Modern designers divide the office into different departments, and each one gets connected through a utility area or a lounge.
There are cafés and reading areas dividing different departments, enabling the employees to relax, mingle, and conduct events. Today’s offices are designed with refined taste to showcase each department’s inherent value, which inspires the workers.
All facilities under one roof
Futuristic offices have all the facilities under one roof, making the office a second home or a small city for the employees to dwell comfortably. The office premises have shops, kiosks, food and drinks, massage areas, nap tables, fitness centers, and daycare. The employees have to name it, and the huge corporate companies are ready to arrange for the facility in the workplace.
Bringing all facilities from gardens and sprawling greeneries to fitness centers and hospitals under one roof is beneficial to the company in various ways. The employees come to the office for every need and finish their work, logging in for office hours. There is no need to take sick leave to get tested in the office. There is no need to pick up children from daycare, visit a gym, or go shopping as everything gets arranged around the office.
Environment-friendly designs
The modern offices are calling for environmentally friendly designs which consume less electricity and cost less for heating and cooling. The offices get filled with recycled materials, furniture and designed to utilize maximum natural light and air. The designs of futuristic offices compare with contemporary artistic villas in their interior, exterior, and the various things stalked in them.
When it comes to the utility of the workplace, companies like to have many lounges and wide common areas to prove their majesty. They also try to incorporate new and exciting things in the office interiors like ceiling fish ponds, LED walls with changing sceneries, and floors that light up with motion sensors.
Faux walls and seamless connection
Faux walls, which can be changed easily, are the first choice of futuristic offices. Since more employees come and go, the faux walls get used to adjust the interior accordingly and accommodate everyone. The faux walls are cheap and often allow easy customization for employee preference or setting up a theme or color for a department.
Another main thing every futuristic workplace must have is a seamless internet connection as the entire IT infrastructure and most of the digital designs work only with the internet. Designers avoid thick walls and make the internet reach every nook and corner of the office with the right connections and booster installations during the design process.