Tomorrow’s Workplace

With the effects of a global pandemic causing widespread disruption and an ever-changing world, the ‘The Future of Work’ is a hot topic that sits on the forefront of discussions right now, especially AV professionals working within the Enterprise sector.

Questions surrounding the role of ‘The Workplace’ have sprung up with a large percentage of our previously office-based workforce now working from home.

We caught up with Angela Ferguson, Managing Director of Futurespace, to get her thoughts on the role of the workplace and offices in the future and how this sector will adapt and change to fit the needs of workers and businesses ahead of her Integrate Virtual Speaker Series session this week.

Q. In your opinion, what is the design of tomorrow for workplaces?

From a design perspective, culture will really drive how a workforce comes together after this pandemic. It will take time for people to return to the workplace, and when they do it will be very different from what it is today.

Through our surveying and working with others, we know that people will return to the office for different reasons, and the office will need to accommodate a variety of behaviours.

Our team developed a collection of research and ideas during March, April and May of this year. It is both the wild and wacky (because we need to remember to laugh!) as well as practical and purposeful. You will see some of our design concepts and thinking related to the Future of Work along with links to various research, products and tools to support the post pandemic workplace.

Q. How do you see companies’ renegotiating office design smartly in a COVID world, with such quick turnaround needed?

Now is a great opportunity to trial and test.  I’d caution against making decisions too quickly and rather treat this as a time to discover and strategise what your people want and need, and then design a workspace that meets those needs.  Things will change again in the future too, so flexibility is key. 

Q. Taking human behaviour into account can be unpredictable in our current climate, how do you believe this will impact workplaces reopening?

People want to feel safe, they want to know the company they work for has their back.  Culture is more important than ever now, as is wellbeing and how this plays into the new world of work. As we go forward into the second half of 2020, we will see a varied and diverse mix of what, where, when and how people work, with an infinite number of situations and scenarios being considered.  Everything to do with work is up for grabs, with individuals driving their own now unique, bespoke definition of what work will mean for them.

Q. What can viewers expect to hear from you on the “Future of Enterprise”?

Everything we do at FS has always been geared towards the future of work.  This is not how I would have wished it, but being a workplace designer in the midst of the global pandemic has been the most interesting time of my career – both the positive and negative.

Learn more from Angela Ferguson live at the Future of Enterprise panel session at the Integrate Virtual Speaker Series on Wednesday 19 August, as she discusses this topic in-depth alongside Riana Steyn, CEO of Bartier Perry Lawyers and Robert Hillard, Chief Transformation Officer at Deloitte Asia Pacific. These expert professionals will offer us first-hand perspectives of the impact of 2020 on the industry, the significant challenges that it has posed to an AV professional within the enterprise sector, and priorities for recovery.

Integrate’s Virtual Speaker Series is running this week from 19 – 21 August 2020, and offers an opportunity for the AV community to come together and look towards the future. Offering 15 sessions and access to 35+ industry experts over 3 days, immerse yourself in the future of AV and discover how to navigate business in our changing world – all for free.

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Register for the Integrate Virtual Speaker Series here!

Integrate Virtual Speaker Series will run 19-21 August 2020.

 

*Image source: Futurespace