How To Smarten Up Your Office

When businesses sit down to discuss planning for the future, the majority of these meetings inevitably focus on business strategy, logistics and expanding into new territories. However, very few actually consider operations, such as how to ensure their workspace is up to date with the latest technologies to facilitate the new generation of workers.

Facing Generation Y

Current work methodologies will not remain the same forever. Digital natives now entering the workspace need the latest technology to help them be at their most productive. They are accustomed to a lifestyle where they have access to the tools they want, when they want. Having grown up during the digital revolution, the way they work needs to incorporate the latest technology.

This includes tools that provide flexibility, such as remote booking of desk space and meeting rooms. Technology should assist workers as opposed to hindering them, ultimately affecting the bottom line of the business.

Mobile apps that enable people to book and manage the workspace all-in-one can greatly improve productivity. Being able to cancel or update a meeting on the go can decrease the amount of time that people waste in missing meetings or going to meetings that don’t actually happen. Changing meeting room requirements, managing hospitality issues like catering and VC equipment, and instantly integrating colleagues’ calendars in one app can save businesses time and money.

Touch screens are more familiar to digital natives than a pencil and paper, so it makes absolute sense to incorporate them into the work environment. It’s a stylish, seamless tactic to enhance productivity.

Implementing new technologies transforms a standard workspace into a smart building, which has positive knock-on effects for the business itself.

Managing the workspace intelligently can reduce energy consumption, while minimising empty, unused meeting rooms will save money on wasted power – in turn increasing efficiency and creating greener offices.

The benefits of capacity management technologies cross over into security as well. A single piece of software can show how many visitors are in the building, who’s checked in and where they are.

We have all now become accustomed to a faster pace of life than our parents, and an easy to work in, relaxing office allows us to be at our most creative. Touch screens, integrated working platforms and smart devices can create a seamless experience and, after all, happy employees ultimately increase revenue.

This article was contributed by Andrew Howells, head of Workplace Strategy at Condeco.

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