Workplaces are no longer rigid, and we now have a new definition of office spaces. Work culture went through change decade after another. The work culture that we have now cultivated, is in favour of modern and Tech-enabled offices. Modern-Day offices dominate the majority of traditional workplace practices.

Office designs in the Past 

The open floor concept was part of the workplaces back in the 1950s. What productivity meant back then; is not how we perceive ‘productivity’ today. The open floor concept was to ensure all the employees are visible, which was in itself the definition of productivity. The higher-level authority took over the private offices that were a status symbol. 

However, the culture of employees standing in an assembly line with hierarchy and status was eventually left behind. Robert Propst introduced and publicized Office plans with cubicles, which became the mainstream office structure in the 1960s. These cubicles were open three-walled spaces, providing privacy to individual employees.  

For the 1970s decade and thereafter, ergonomic designs grew into prominence. 

Offices in present 

Corporate culture eventually crawled in the scenario, where creativity was publicized. A unique description of the word—productivity came up. Definition of productivity now signifies collaboration. Technology has led us to adopt a separate office design trend comprising modern aesthetics. The materials used are glass and concrete. 

Open and aesthetic office spaces eventually became prominent and the reason for their popularity was collaboration and interaction. The present-day office set-ups are Innovative, offices in residential buildings, unique offices, and flexible workspaces.  

Coworking spaces belong to the category of flexible workspaces. Coworking spaces are very popular as they give equal opportunity to remote professionals and independent workers. Some of the reasons why flexible workspaces are so popular are sustainability, wellness, and community. 

Modern-day offices 

The most significant trait of Modern-day offices is flexibility. Modern-day offices are designed and built to introduce creativity, productivity & agility, ease of working, and intuitive solutions. Modern-day offices are built to ensure that they enhance employee’s performance, and help them collaborate easily. How modern offices are built barely focuses on infrastructural issues. 

A flat organization is now the way to go, which provides a great deal of flexibility to the employees. The previous work culture which was about getting work done by employees is not the same anymore. Irrespective of the designation people hold, collaborating on projects is common and constant, which maximizes the efficiency of output. 

How are companies evolving their office designs? 

The work environment defines the workforce to a great extent. This has influenced managers to come up with the right environment and provide growth, collaboration, and productivity opportunities. Some of the innovative add-ons to the office spaces recently are: 

• Hot-desking - is a no designated chair rule, where employees can come to the workspaces and choose to work from any desk or area. Such a work set-up exclusively has desks with cables and separate seating areas such as couches and chairs. 

• Movable Desks - Modern offices also comprise movable desks, allowing employees to create a collaborative or individual workspace, as per their personal preferences and needs.

• Overlap zones - It is about building a common area that all employees would use, and can spark collaboration when employees bump into each other. Companies like Apple, Netflix, and so on have areas where employees would more often run into each other. It ignites a sense of collaboration and creativity. 

• Recreational zones - It is yet another aspiration of companies, as a part of their offices. Depending upon the complexity of core operations of a business, companies want to set up certain recreational zones such as music room and gym set-up, for employees to blow off some steam. 

• Other features are pet-friendly and offices with greenery. 

Prominent brands such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and others have vowed to bring in the perfect blend of open areas and collaboration. Such companies value Art, building designs that enlighten a sense of ‘work first’ attitude. 

Inculcating innovation in design 

Pandemic has led us to shift to sustainable living and we are in the era of digital nomads. Digital transformation would indeed introduce a drastic change to our work set-up and make innovation a massive part of infrastructures. 

Workspaces are an amalgamation of exclusive designs and vibrant colours; keen art details are the latest addition. Creativity is used to introduce a lively work environment alongside biophilic design aspects. When we speak of a smart office, we refer to a workplace where digitalization goes hand in hand with sustainable living. This means while crafting infrastructure-related ideas, companies would look to access natural daylight, access to an outdoor environment. The exact idea is to stay rooted to nature, in a perfect sense. 

Factors that contribute to futuristic designs 

Infrastructural investment in the future would be worth any penny put into it. As a matter of fact, futuristic designs of workplaces would be crafted on the basis of certain principles. A rough brief of such elements would be - Natural Elements, vibrant colours, open areas, versatile desks, collaborative cabins, ergonomic designs and furniture, private spaces like a phone booth, solo pods. All these elements would introduce a home-like comfort. 

• Futuristic work design would comprise open floor plans. The interior or colour would be selected on the basis of the psychological impacts and how it would change the employees’ mood. 

• Elements that give the touches of a home would be an addition. 

• Areas within a workplace would be of multipurpose use, featuring collaboration and versatility. They would be no designated areas exclusively for an activity, 

• Furniture of workplaces would have a modern aesthetic, and the office premises would accommodate natural elements. Also, amenities that allow privacy would be a part of the workplace just to keep up with flexibility. Such amenities would include phone booths, solo pods, and so on. 

• Recreational activities within the workplace would become the trend of the future. 

• Companies would mostly prefer outsourcing infrastructural needs and would thrive to enhance three elements of modern office space – work area, technology, and the workforce. 

Building sustainable and futuristic offices 

Companies need to provide a better infrastructure if they want their employees to move out of their homes and work from offices. This is exactly why exclusive infrastructure workplace solution providers would become the hottest and happening industry in the market. 

Health, social, and economic upliftment is what a futuristic office would portray. This would in turn change the design aspects of the present buildings and urban planning. Including the ‘smart’ element in workspaces would change the requisites of any workplace. Smart workplaces would have sustainability as one of their features and would comprise elements that endorse sustainability.  

An example would be, devices that monitor the air quality within and outside the office premises. Smarter metrics would also be a part of futuristic offices, which would make monitoring the movements of employees easy. It would also map out the happenings of the workplace. 

Future would also accommodate free-range workplaces to ensure it would spark off innovation and creativity. After all, it is odd places and times which sow the seeds of the best ideas. 

How innovation is critical in office design? 

Technology breaks or makes up an organization, and employees lead the way. This is exactly why they only deserve the right space to work at. Choosing to set up a vibrant workplace that is much more inclined towards flexibility is the way to go. Employees who get the liberty to decide where and when to get things done are the brightest of bulbs. 

Workplace solutions must thereby include reliable and secure communications channels both inside and outside the office. Comfort and heightened productivity would be the major benefits for companies availing themselves of flexible workplace solutions.

Author Bio: Parth Shah, Co-Founder, COO DevX accelerator 

With 10 years of experience in operations and training, Parth is a go-to person for his team and even a multitude of growing start-ups.

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