The B2C market learns us a lot about customer experience. The expectations of the modern customer are incredibly high, fed by the impressive service that some companies already deliver. If you want to order a taxi, Uber brings one immediately. Big e-tailers like Amazon and Bol.com can do same-day delivery. And many companies send you newsletters with information that only contain the offers that are relevant for you. They will not send you offers for diapers if you don’t have a baby or information about their newest lawnmower if you live in an apartment. Immediacy, context, and personalization are key and this needs to get translated into the workplace.
The customers’ desire to get personalized information becomes higher and higher. And the desired information needs to be available anywhere, anytime, and on any device. Additionally, systems need to be well integrated. You don’t like downloading five different apps while flying with five different airlines.
Apple solves this issue by providing a digital wallet that contains all boarding passes.
This solution can also be applied in the office by using a workplace application that enables employees to see all relevant tools and information in one app.
There have been some catalyzers that help companies to meet the new employee expectations. The availability of API’s make it possible for different tools and platforms to be integrated in an easy way. Besides, moving towards the cloud makes it more convenient to work from any place anywhere, and to connect all devices, all information and every person.
Moreover, cloud services can easily handle identification, reservations, data analytics and machine learning. Safety of data in the cloud shouldn’t be a deal breaker anymore, since the market for data security really matured. Continue to read this article if you want to learn more on how data technologies revolutionize the workplace design.
The key question is now: How is the increasing employee expectation related to office space? The focus is shifting from the ROI that a workplace should deliver to the fact that people should have a good experience while working as well. This shift in focus is changing the totality of workplace technology.
Think of the placement of information screens on the outside of meeting rooms, having sensors inside the office so that people can influence temperature or lighting and having kiosks that show you the way around in the building. These elements are not only helping people to work more efficient, they also improve the work experience.
If we want people to be productive when they are working flexibly or remotely we need to make sure that they have access to the right technology to do so. Then, the variety of workspaces is important. Not every task and role will be as productive in the same space. Read here more on agile workstyles like Activity based working.
Having a 1-1 brainstorm meeting requires a totally different setting than an individual task which asks for concentration. Being most productive at work might mean for many employees that they should switch places within their workplace, so that they perform their tasks in a place that suits their needs the best. And with the trend to work more and more flexibly and remotely it’s key to consider how much and what type of office space you actually need to have the most useful workplace.