Wireless technology has had a major impact on the way people work, and consequently on the layout of a modern office. Gone are the days when work should be done from a desk or office. Wireless technology has unlocked mobility and allows people to work from coffee shops, home, airport lounge or on the fly from their smartphones. The modern office has had to adapt in layout as well as in style, with more floor space allocated to work lounges, meeting spaces and coffee stations. Comfort has become the key ingredient in a workplace of happy employees and a thriving office culture.
You might expect that offices may go out of fashion altogether, however, it still offers many benefits one of which is structure and a chance to touch base. A recent study done by Turnstone, reveals that 72% of people are facing issues working outside of their allocated work environment or offices, such as printing, insufficient WIFI and access to the company server. Furthermore, the need to connect and collaborate is always there.
“Millennials” born between 1982 – 1996/7 and “Generation Z” born between 1997/8 – early 2000s are now dominating the workplace. These generations were raised with technology at their fingertips, always connected and always ready to respond, which cultivated the notion that work can be done anytime, anywhere. However, they also wish to do so in comfort, in a friendly environment with relaxed rules around when and where. I.e. set-hours and assigned workstations, which were so popular with older generations.
Work lounges are the answer to the young workforce demands and should be built into the infrastructure and design of an office. A work lounge is a break-out area where there are no desks or personal storage, rather colleagues can sit on couches, or soft-seating, there might be a coffee table or side tables, plants and the smell of coffee nearby. Incorporated into the area are power connections to enable plug-n-play or recharging of mobile devices. It is also common to have a TV screen on a server or mobile TV stand at hand for presenting or remote video calls.
The aim is to improve the balance between work and life, creating more opportunity for interaction and collaboration. Whilst respecting the need to also do private or focused work in a more structured setting. Offer options that cater to the task at hand.
There are multiple ways to create a modern work lounge area and collaborative spaces. Entrawood, can guide you in finding the ideal balance between workstations, break-out areas or work lounges and meeting areas. We have a family of products designed to cater to different tasks.
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