2021 marked the beginning of safe, collaborative, integrated, and hybrid workplaces. But how do you combine "hybrid" with "integrated" and "collaborative"?
The answer: technology.
While technology has driven the development of offices and workplaces in general for almost 25 years, it is playing an even greater role in 2022 and beyond.
The COVID-19 outbreak has boosted the adoption of remote working as it has allowed businesses to continue operations during national lockdowns and restrictions. For some organizations, remote working during lockdown has proven to be so beneficial that they are now asking employees to work remotely at least part of the week, also known as hybrid working. Big companies like Twitter are offering employees the opportunity to work from home forever, and Facebook even thinks it “could get to about half of the company working remotely permanently” within the next five to ten years.
Hybrid work is on the rise
However, the traditional office is not going away anytime soon. While CCS Insights anticipates that more than half of all office-based employees will still mainly be working from home in 2022, and Forrester believes that we will witness a 300% permanent increase in remote workers, other surveys show that more than half of office employees want to return to their workplace. As a result, hybrid working is on the rise.
One of the most efficient technologies to facilitate hybrid working is a dynamic mapping platform. A dynamic mapping platform is a platform that provides you and your employees with a map of your facilities. For most people, a map is used for navigation purposes, but a mapping platform offers more than just wayfinding. A dynamic mapping platform like MapsIndoors easily integrates with your third-party data systems, such as booking systems and occupancy sensors, allowing you to add real-time occupancy data to your map. This means that employees will be able to see available and booked desks and meeting rooms on the map and even book a desk or room for their purposes directly through it.
Hybrid working is the combination of working from the office and working from home. Hence, it is not a new phenomenon. But with more people working remotely more often, keeping collaboration at its highest can be a real challenge. In addition, most hybrid workplaces make the switch from dedicated to shared desks in order to reduce costs and optimize office layout, making collaboration even more difficult. That is why offices need to invest in technology that boosts collaboration (and not only productivity like before) and makes it easier for employees to combine remote working with in-office days.
Allowing staff the freedom to work from anywhere has the potential to isolate them from their colleagues, which could make it difficult to maintain collaboration. But if staff have a straightforward and streamlined indoor map that tells them where their coworkers are and allows them to book spaces, collaboration could be heightened, not just maintained. As a result, ‘find my colleague’ solutions are on the rise. While location sharing may be a controversial issue, new technologies allow you to show employees’ locations without compromising on data protection. Just like booking systems and occupancy sensors, location-sharing solutions can also be combined with a dynamic mapping platform. This way, employees will be able to see their colleagues’ location in real-time (if they have location sharing enabled, that is), making it easier to work together.
Hybrid working disrupts the understanding of a physical office. This year, corporate offices will transform into collaboration centers instead of productivity hubs. The physical office will continue to be important for the social work life. However, organizations (and employees) will start using it for meetings, conferences, and co-working activities instead of day-to-day tasks.
A good mapping platform helps you adapt to new types of work. It can also help you increase safety and create an integrated and worker-centric office. If you want to know more about how a dynamic mapping platform can help you adapt to the 2022 challenges and harness the opportunities, download our free guide “The 2022 Office: Safe. Collaborative. Hybrid.”.
March 9, 2021
