In this whitepaper:
Allsteel organizes workplace technology into 2 key categories: User Experience and Real Estate Performance Improvement.
What you will learn:
- How new workplace-user interfaces create better experiences for both individuals and teams
- Why continuous data collection is needed to truly understand utilization and occupancy in today’s changing work environment
- How intelligent work environments not only collect data, but translate data into actions that can improve experiences, maximize efficiency, and reduce operating costs
- What failure modes to avoid when defining and implementing new workplace technologies
From sensors to sense-making
Workplace technology is not only changing the way we work, it’s making a sizeable impact on the way we use, measure and manage our workplace environment. It gives us the capability to work anywhere and communicate with anyone regardless of location. It also helps remove 'the friction' when we access and use resources in the workplace. And it can help an organization assess and manage their real estate portfolios more efficiently and effectively. In short, it supports making the workplace a tool to support the business, not simply a cost to be managed. And the experience of COVID-19 is reinforcing this.
Workplace technology is outpacing change in the physical environment
Technology is arguably the most powerful driver for workplace change. While the physical workspace is changing faster than ever, the rate of physical change remains at a snail’s pace relative to technology. Consider that the earliest mobile technologies were embraced at ten times the adoption speed of personal computers; during a similar time frame, the basic components of the physical workspace changed very little.
While we typically think of a high-tech workplace in terms of what we can see - hardware such as large external monitors that make viewing data easier or mobile devices that allow us to work anywhere - it is also the software operating 'out of sight' that has a more pervasive impact on the way we work. Today, wireless networks and the cloud allow teams to share information across geographies, and those same underlying technologies that are rapidly changing the way we experience, measure, and control the workplace.
And users are demanding the best tech in the workplace
But it’s not just the technology that’s changing – it’s the way businesses adopt the technology that is changing as well. Until recently, new technologies were adopted by businesses first. An individual might receive a new computer at work, and then later have access and resources to purchase a similar computer for their home. This flow has completely reversed. Today, the consumer market has access to the cutting-edge technologies first, which in turn raises workforce expectations, and is then followed by demands that similar technologies are available in the workplace.