Organisations should use emerging workplace technology trends to prepare for the future workplace consisting of collaborative office layouts, integrated technology, smart security, virtual meetings, and flexible working policies.
FREMONT, CA: The working pattern is transforming every year, and emerging technologies improve the employee experience, facilitating a more flexible and dynamic working way. Businesses should invest in the right technology to get to the future workplace. The growth of flexible work models like hybrid work has led companies in the right direction. There will be new workplace technology trends that will emerge in the near future.
Smart Tech in the Workplace
Smart home technology has already started to advance into everyday life. Further smart technology enters the workplace with better efficiency. This includes controlling appliances, lights, thermostats, and other devices using voice and mobiles. New open-source software will come onto the market, replacing walled gardens, preventing workplace tools from talking to each other, and these open ecosystems will transform the workplace. This will enable an on-site experience that is personalised to people’s unique needs and preferences.
For example, this smart technology will help workers find their desks booked for the day. Like smart homes, this future smart workplace will improve efficiency in different ways, from energy to working efficiency.
Increasing Telepresence and Digital Collaboration Tools
Technology gives remote workers a true in-the-room experience. Rather than digital meeting room booking, future meeting rooms will allow people to join meetings using virtual reality devices. Although this seems like a new practice, this technology exists in many organisations. These meeting spaces will replace the standard meeting room as the most demanded place in the workplace. Every surface will be digital, including countertops, tables, refrigerator doors, and glass walls, to enable productivity and collaboration between onsite and remote workers.
Evolution of Health and Safety Technology
Today, the health and safety point solution market has grown saturated. Infrared thermometers and other touchless technologies are widely used. Workplaces worldwide have health screening and vaccine verification processes in their back pockets. This workplace technology trend will evolve into more advanced versions embedded into the physical building. This will move beyond today’s HVAC and green building technologies.
Desks and meeting rooms will provide real-time feedback on health and wellness best practices. For example, they suggest when it is time to take a break from staring at a screen. Wearable technology will advance to inform people when they are sick to avoid going to the workplace. If an employee gets sick at work, their wearables suggest they go home and update their calendars to show they took work from home or were out sick.
The workplace of the future is shaped by trends that are emerging today. Collaborative office layouts, integrated technology, smart security, virtual meetings, and flexible working policies have transformed the workplace into today’s modern workplace. Businesses can utilise these trends to prepare for the workplace of tomorrow.
