Great tech-spectations: the future of workspace

Picture the scene: your tenant has booked a meeting room in your flex space office, and their team are sitting waiting, but they can’t get their laptop to work with the big screen for those dialling in.

It is frustrating and not productive, particularly when they are on a clock. They just want to walk into the meeting room, plug in and start.

There have always been seismic shifts in technology that have changed behaviour and expectations in the workplace. The arrival of the internet and wi-fi are probably the biggest example, giving way to hot-desking, breakout areas and collaboration space, among many other things.

Being able to easily log on to wi-fi is now the expected norm, and post-Covid, there are ‘new normals’ that workplaces and tech need to deliver.

Take the rise of flex working and video meeting tools like Zoom and Teams. How often were we on video calls before the pandemic?

With everyone forced to work from home, talking to people on screen became part of the working day, just as email is, and the tech evolved very quickly to match the behavioural shift.

The role of Zoom and Teams has not diminished with the return to the office; hybrid working is here to stay. Having meetings with a mix of people in the room and dialling in is now the norm, and with that comes the expectation that meeting room tech will easily support this way of working.

Occupiers want to be able to walk into a meeting room, plug in and get on with business. The problem for flex space operators is that delivering ‘plug and play’ is less simple because of who uses the space and how it is used.

In a traditional office space, employees will generally use the same laptops and video call platform. It means everyone can download the same software to match the video conferencing kit in the meeting rooms.

However, each business in a serviced office or co-working space will have its own IT and equipment preferences. A one-size-fits-all solution for shared workplace tech is therefore more challenging. However, it is vital for delivering on occupier expectations, particularly at a time where there is more choice of workspaces on offer.

Avoiding that scrabble under the desk or tech fail at the start of the meeting requires you to have the right tech in place. That spells opportunity for savvy landlords and flex space operators.

Tech introduced in workplaces during the pandemic is evolving. For example, when social distancing was in force, office managers needed to monitor how many people were in the building and where they were sitting for health and safety. The tech that enabled this hasn’t become redundant as restrictions have lifted but is being developed to help drive cost efficiencies and more sustainable operations.

If you can monitor which spaces are used and which aren’t then things like heating, lighting and cleaning can be adjusted to avoid waste.

Looking ahead, good wi-fi – which is a given – offers an array of opportunities and potential differentiators for office operators. Will your customers be turned on by a posh coffee machine that enables them to order from their desk and then collect without queueing in the café bar? It could be part of the service offering.

 The pressure is on landlords to make sure what their building delivers meets occupier expectations and demands. The prize is occupiers that are delighted with services that truly meet today’s changed needs.