Thanks to the continuing advancements in technology, the concept of the modern day workplace is constantly being redesigned. This constant flux makes for an exciting work environment, as well as a challenging one, as companies must continually adapt to the trends to stay relevant in today’s workplace culture and attract top talent. So what are the biggest trends reshaping today’s workplace?
Collaborative Social Platforms
We’ve been virtually connected in our personal lives for the last decade, and now that virtual connection is permeating our professional lives, as well. The rise in today’s cloud-based technology, mobile devices, and messaging apps, allows teams to work remotely with little hassle.
Since proximity is no longer a factor in team productivity, and telecommuting continues to grow in popularity, the need for a fully outfitted virtual office has presented itself. This need has been answered by collaborative platforms like Basecamp and workflow automation platforms like Gain, as well as many others. Email was sufficient when a good portion of our documents were in hard copy and we worked side-by-side with our colleagues, but now we converse and collaborate digitally, making these collaborative social platforms essential to a team’s productivity.
And it’s not just the young tech-savvy professions that are benefitting from these collaborative platforms. In the medical field, for example, internal social networks have provided improved collaboration in cross-speciality communication. There is no question that collaborative platforms will infiltrate all kinds of professions in the very near future.
A Workplace Hierarchy is Now Antiquated
The pyramid-structured workplace hierarchy, which the earlier generations like Baby Boomers were accustomed to, is slowly disappearing for good. The 9-5 workday paradigm is dying and being replaced by a flatter, more collaborative eco-system thanks to a rise in the flexible work schedule and the growth in the freelance workforce.
Now more than ever, employees are being contracted for a certain skill set rather than an impressive educational background or any other conveniences. Thus, a successful team for today’s work environment is made up of a group of people with a diverse range of skills, making each member as valuable as the other. The idea of the “boss” is disappearing within this ecosystem and being replaced by the “team manager,” if the position is being replaced at all. Maintaining a certain amount of hours per week is also being replaced with meeting deadlines since working remotely has removed the possibility of “clocking in” at the office.
What’s left is a levelled playing field, allowing teams to collaborate in more efficient ways, and allowing for more productivity and company growth.
Office Spaces Have Received A Makeover
Staying healthy and working hard are no longer mutually exclusive. The millennial generation is a picky generation when it comes to choosing a career path. They are also the generation most likely to switch careers at some point in their work life. In fact, the average recommended amount of time to spend in any position is just 3-5 years for this generation.
By 2025, millennials will make up 75% of the workforce. – Forbes
Since the millennial generation will soon make up the majority of the workforce, attracting them is paramount and offering a cubicle style office space with a break room isn’t going to cut it if companies want to attract the top talent.
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As a result, office floor plans are opening up and cubicles are being torn away, allowing employees to make a creative use of the space with modern design touches and creative functionality. Furniture that is said to increase productivity is becoming ubiquitous: i.e. standing desks, mobile workstations, yoga ball chairs. Companies like Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn already have a handle on this by even going as far as offering game rooms, spacious outdoor areas, and in some cases, even gyms, in order to liven the office environment and attract the best talent.
These collaborative trends — social technologies, a flatter ecosystem, and modernized office spaces, will continue to be an integral part of doing business in today’s world and how companies chose to adapt to these trends will affect their future growth.
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