In the April issue of AV News, the cover article focused on the new legislation surrounding ‘Working from Home’—the top issue for 2024 in terms of workplace influence. While most employers prefer to have their employees return to the office more frequently, many employees have become attached to the freedom they gained during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Kinly study, referenced in April, provided numerous interesting statistics, highlighting the contrasting desires of employers and employees. How can this gap be bridged? Whether you like it or not, this challenge largely falls on the employer to solve!
In a market where unemployment is low and recruiting and retaining talent is challenging, employers must make their companies attractive to potential employees. Offering hybrid work flexibility is inevitably beneficial, but how can this be effectively implemented to satisfy both parties? Enter the ‘Smart Building,’ offered by AV and IT integrators through a wide range of connected solutions to their corporate clients. However, what exactly defines a ‘Smart Building,’ -mand what components are required to create a successful work environment?
What is a ‘Smart Building’?
Smart buildings use interconnected technologies to make the building more ‘intelligent’ and responsive, ultimately improving the performance of the people using the building. Other terms would be ‘automated buildings’, ‘intelligent buildings’, or buildings that are equipped with smart technology.
Smart buildings monitor performance in areas such as energy consumption, environmental conditions, occupancy, security, and equipment performance. They are designed to detect inefficiencies, diagnose possible causes, make automatic adjustments, and alert facilities management staff to issues that can be automatically corrected. Smart buildings obviously include hybrid meeting space with tools to help staff members communicate and collaborate more efficiently. This is the area of expertise for the audiovisual and IT integrator. It is no longer a case of just offering a good Skype or Zoom connection, a video conferencing system, and a nice soundbar. Hybrid solutions should add some more ‘intelligence’ to qualify for the denotation ‘smart’.
The hybrid workspace
So what is needed when implementing a hybrid workspace? In the evolving landscape of work, where office and remote settings, employers face the challenge of meeting employees’ diverse needs. Much like Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs, where physiological, safety, and belongingness needs are fundamental, smart buildings and workplace solutions still follow the essential needs pyramid for the initial three layers.
Primary is to provide a solid foundation for both office and remote workers to have a comfortable space to work. Secondly, the employee needs to feel that there is job security and balance. When discussions of hybrid solutions talk about monitoring the employee and data-driven metrics on performance, it might give the employee an uneasy feeling if they don’t know the bigger picture. Once the first layers are in place, the foundation for the hybrid workspace is created to foster true collaboration and performance monitoring to grow collectively.
Ensure a strong foundation
Creating an optimal workspace is crucial for both office and remote workers. This includes ergonomic furniture, proper lighting, and necessary equipment for both home and office settings. Prioritize health and safety by providing resources for physical well-being, regardless of where employees work. To encourage employees to return to the office, it’s essential to make the experience compelling. This doesn’t always require significant investment; soft benefits can also make a difference. Rather than expecting immediate changes, plan initiatives over time and involve employees in the process to gain their commitment early on.
Smart office fundamentals might include:
- Offering state-of-the-art conference rooms with optimized audio, interactive displays, and advanced presentation tools to foster creativity and collaboration among in-office teams.
- Enhancing office workspace options by improving the work floor, minimizing audio distractions, providing quiet zones, and offering adjustable desks and seating. Dedicate spaces for informal social interactions, provide a designated lunch area, and ensure access to healthy food options.
- Establishing regular team meetings and departmental gatherings to promote team spirit and collaboration. However, avoid turning these gatherings into lengthy PowerPoint sessions focused solely on sales metrics. Instead, invest time in listening to employees and facilitating meaningful discussions. Technology can facilitate, but ultimately it is the right mindset that will make the most difference.
- Supporting remote workers by providing necessary tools and equipment. Ask for feedback from employees about their home office needs and offer a flexible budget to help create an optimal work environment.
Of course, with remote work comes a responsibility from the employee to be predictable and deliver results. Make clear agreements with the remote worker about what is expected from both sides. Keep focus on the results to achieve and give some empowerment to get this done. If the results are not obtained, evaluate and discuss if more time in the office would improve the results.
Safety, work-life balance, and idea protection
Providing safety in employment, promoting work-life balance, and safeguarding your company’s ideas and knowledge are crucial aspects of fostering a productive and harmonious workplace environment. A smart building or hybrid workspace can be intelligently designed to gather various data points, including monitoring work-life balance indicators. It’s essential to leverage this data thoughtfully for mutual benefit, enhancing both productivity and well-being. For instance, analyzing demographic data of building occupants can aid in scheduling joint meetings during popular times, optimizing program efficiency.
However, it’s important to avoid using data solely to identify shortcomings or correct employee behavior, as this approach may end up demotivating employees. Rather than focusing on constant monitoring, which can lead to stress and reduced productivity, smart building technologies should be utilized to improve the physical environment to support employees in performing their best work.
Drawing a parallel from Dr. Seuss’s children’s book, “Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?”, where a bee watcher fails to improve a lazy bee’s work ethic despite constant monitoring, we learn that simply watching doesn’t address the underlying issues affecting performance. Adding more monitors only magnifies the situation but solves nothing. Focus on addressing root causes rather than relying solely on surveillance.
Instead of counting every keystroke or how long someone sits at their desk, use smart building trackers to figure out how the building itself helps employees do their best work. Is the meeting room stuffy and distracting? Is the office too cold, too noisy? By using this info, buildings can be improved to be more comfortable and help people work better. After all, happy employees are the most productive ones, just like bees that aren’t being watched all the time make the most honey!
Smart technology fosters cohesion
In addition to fostering an optimal work environment, prioritizing robust cybersecurity protocols, encryption technologies, and access controls is paramount to safeguarding corporate resources and personal information. This commitment to security extends to both the smart building infrastructure and remote work environments, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive data to the benefit of both employee and employer.
A smart hybrid work landscape is all about defining how you want your employees to communicate with each other, creating an equal basis to start from, whether remote or on-site. A unified communication platform with instant messaging tools, file sharing, brainstorming tools, and possibly even virtual team spaces that bridge the gap between physical and virtual workspaces. This investment will continue to benefit the organization throughout the implementation of a smart hybrid office.
The role of AI?
The element of ‘smart’ is added through the use of AI in the tools. This is still in early phases, but there are some good examples out there where technology is used to add intelligence. Consider Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR); this started to include some AI features like speech-to-text transcription and meeting summarisation in limited capacity as well as intelligence embedded in the microphone and camera to allow better presentation of the remote worker. Microsoft Viva Engage (previously Yammer) adds the employee engagement component.
Another alternative is Zoom, which has added AI functions with its Zoom Workplace, covering areas of communication, productivity, spaces, and employee engagement. These two are just examples of technology available, but the key is to consider what the teams need to structure their workflow and how to stimulate the use of the communication tools. This, of course, heavily depends on your business model. What is common throughout is the need to recognise the power of communication, point out good examples, create a culture of sharing and openness. No tool or smart building can do this without smart people giving attention to the change management required.
Last but not least on providing a smart hybrid collaborative environment – remember to apply the basic meeting essentials: create an agenda (including topics from participants), share objectives for the meeting, and desired outcomes. It is great that AI can now take notes and allocate action points, but don’t use it instead of ensuring every meeting has chaired by a meeting facilitator. Ideally, provide training on meeting behavior so everyone is using the same terminology and meeting etiquette is respected by all participants. AI can support and enhance the outcome of the meetings, but it starts with providing the right basis.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the vision of a “smart connected workspace” encapsulates more than just the integration of technology within physical buildings; it embodies a holistic approach to work that prioritizes the human experience. By recognizing the symbiotic relationship between employees and their work environment, organisations can create spaces that foster collaboration, creativity, and well-being, whether employees are working in a traditional office setting, from home, or in other remote locations.
Embracing the concept of the connected workspace enables organisations to empower their employees, adapt to changing work dynamics, and thrive in the evolving landscape of modern work. Ultimately, the key is to strike a balance between providing the necessary tools for collaboration and monitoring while also respecting employees’ autonomy and privacy in remote work environments.
As we continue to navigate the complexities of the hybrid work era, the connected workspace serves as a beacon, guiding organisations towards a future where people and technology work seamlessly together to achieve shared goals and drive collective success.
Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs: where physiological, safety, and belongingness needs are fundamental, smart buildings and workplace solutions still follow the essential needs pyramid for the initial three layers.
Smart buildings monitor performance in areas such as energy consumption, environmental conditions, occupancy, security, and equipment performance. They are designed to detect inefficiencies, diagnose possible causes, make automatic adjustments, and alert facilities management staff to issues that can be automatically corrected.
So, what is needed when implementing a hybrid workspace? In the evolving landscape of work, where office and remote settings, employers face the challenge of meeting employees’ diverse needs.
Providing safety in employment, promoting work-life balance, and safeguarding your company’s ideas and knowledge are crucial aspects of fostering a productive and harmonious workplace environment.
