Tag Archives: office

architecture, technology, urban planning, virtual reality, work

What do we mean by flexibility? (developing a new language for the future of work)

Flexibility is often used loosely to mean not working in the office. We’re all still having those, ‘How many days are you in?’ conversations as hybrid working continues to evolve. Post-pandemic, however, expectations of flexible working are much broader than before. Recognizing this, Unilever’s approach is more holistic.

External data and commentary suggest that most people look for what we call ‘everyday’ flexibility – the ability to manage and adjust start and finish times, the freedom to manage work commitments in and around life commitments and for work to be measured in outputs delivered, rather than hours worked.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/flexible-working-productivity-and-growth-davos23?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social_scheduler&utm_term=Davos+2023&utm_content=24/01/2023+05:00

Related report: Work in the Pandemic Age

cities, economics, forecasting, urban planning, work

Why Office Buildings Are Still in Trouble

“We see lots of tenants not renewing their leases, going either fully remote, or renewing their leases but signing up for less space,” said Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, one of the authors of the paper, and a professor specializing in real estate at Columbia Business School. “It all adds up.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/17/business/office-buildings-real-estate-vacancy.html
artificial intelligence, economics, education, ethics, forecasting, generations, semiotics, society, work

Analyzing Hybrid Work

I have been getting students in my Fall Analyzing Trends class at Parsons School of Design – The New School up to speed in mapping speculative past/futures over the last few weeks. We started off by looking at the topic of hybrid work that has been in the news so much of late. As companies begin to put a stake in the ground on where they might sit in designing the meaning of work.

The archetypal extremes of “everyone back” (Tesla) to “work anywhere” (Airbnb) frameworks have been getting the most attention as to where work and the office might be going next. From the evolving design of offices from open plans to the emerging new types of privacy needs, to the ways technology and human skills begin to overlap and hint at possible emerging unknowns that will impact education, skills, and sustainable investment. #work#foresight#speculativedesign#mural#midjourney

analyzing-hybrid-workDownload
artificial intelligence, farming, forecasting, manufacturing, work

Future of Work (McKinsey)

The world of work is changing. Artificial intelligence and automation will make this shift as significant as the mechanization in prior generations of agriculture and manufacturing. While some jobs will be lost, and many others created, almost all will change. The COVID-19 crisis accelerated existing trends and caused organizations to reevaluate many aspects of work. This regularly updated collection of articles draws together our latest perspectives on the future of work, workforce, and workplace.

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work
work

Workers Forced to Return to the Office Are Demanding This Surprising, Old-School Feature

Proponents of the “open” office setup might tout benefits like collaboration and transparency, but research confirms that high noise levels are as detrimental as they seem, causing physiological stress and heightening negative moods by 25%. People want the privacy and personal space they’ve come to expect at home. In fact, Kristi Buchler, principal at Interior Architects, which helps companies plan workspaces, told WSJ that “seated privacy” is the latest buzzword in office design.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/workers-returning-to-the-office-want-their-cubicles-back/435485
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/hot-desking
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=US&q=hot%20desking,seated%20privacy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_desking
cities, economics, forecasting, urban planning, work

The Office’s Last Stand

It’s been more than two years since the rules of the working world snapped. On all sides of the debate over returning to the office, the stakes feel high as ever. More than one-third of U.S. workers who can do their jobs from home want to stay permanently remote, according to recent data from Gallup. Meanwhile, executives realize that if they don’t persuade their employees to come back now, with pandemic restrictions eased in most areas, the new norms of flexible work will be hard to unstick. So, some sense a standoff coming. Bosses say the office deadlines are real; workers are testing just how much they mean that.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/28/business/the-offices-last-stand.html
apartment living, climate change, the home

Shifting cultural assumptions about the ‘right’ indoor temperature could save us incredible amounts of energy—and let us fundamentally rethink how we design offices.

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Cultural differences in atmospheres are hard to explain to outsiders, but it’s clear that culture influences our expectations for the indoors.  Read more (Fast Company)