The workplaces of today will likely look very different in five years. More organisations are starting to look to digital as a mechanism to create a better, more agile and collaborative workplace. Digital has always had a role in the workplace, but with the evolving world of social tools and new technologies, there is a different kind of workplace emerging, one that is likely to change the landscape for how many businesses operate.
One of the biggest drivers behind this revolution is likely to be cost; businesses are starting to recognise that the cost per head of the traditional workplace is significant. Moving towards a more agile way of working, where employees are provided with the tools and judged on outputs can be a more cost effective, and efficient way of doing business.
What is agile working?
There is probably a misconception that agile working is purely ‘working from home’, but it is more than that. Agile working is about being able to work from any environment and location – whether that is at home, in the office, on a train or in the North Pole! It is also about putting employees in control of when they work – although loosely based on a typical working week; agile working gives employees more choice about when they work – as long as outputs are delivered by agreed deadlines.
Agile working is enabled by digital; if you are agile then it is likely that you will have less time to connect with colleagues in the office. So, those important business relationships and networks are now being built more virtually, through social tools for the workplace.
The office of the future
In the future it is likely that a lot of employees will be equipped with a hot desk, laptop, tablet and smartphone – replacing the desktop PC’s and telephones at a fixed desk. This is already the norm in some organisations, and the trend is growing quickly.
For the full article please see the Progressive IC book.
Agile IC 