What is a resilient workplace?
You may be asking yourself – what is a resilient workplace? The world is changing every day – from the multiple generations at work to rapid advances in technology to the kinds of innovative creative outputs employers are looking for. The workplace needs to not only meet our needs today, but also be able to adapt to the needs of tomorrow.
A “resilient workplace” is really a flexible workspace that can evolve over time. Resilient workplaces use real estate more efficiently and cost effectively. They support future changes, enabling organizations to experiment with different kinds of spaces and implement changes quickly. Resilient workplaces also foster engagement in employees. Studies show that engaged employees are happier, healthier, and more productive, boosting the bottom line for any organization.
How do you create a resilient workplace?
The foundation of a resilient workplace is creating an ecosystem of spaces. An ecosystem of spaces offers individuals and groups a range of settings within the workplace to perform their best work. Employees should be able to find appropriate spaces to collaborate, focus, learn, socialize, and rejuvenate at different points in their day. The following key areas should be addressed within the ecosystem:
1. Posture
The workplace should encourage regular movement throughout the day and offer options for people to work in sitting, standing or lounge postures.
SIT / STAND / WALK – Airtouch, Migration, Campfire Big Table, Think, Leap, Gesture, Walkstation
LOUNGE – media:scape lounge, Brody, Campfire Lounge, Campfire Skate Table, Together Bench, SW_1 Seating
2. Presence
Spaces should enable quality interactions with teams that are both local and distributed across continents and time zones, supporting both digital and analog communication.
IN-PERSON + VIRTUAL – media:scape TeamStudio, Microsoft Surface Hub, media:scape lounge, media:scape kiosk, SMART kapp IQ
ANALOG + DIGITAL – Microsoft Surface Hub, media:scape kiosk, SMART kapp IQ, V.I.A. whiteboard skins, Huddleboard, Verb whiteboard
3. Privacy
The work environment should provide places that offer varying ways to achieve privacy, in both open and enclosed spaces. Privacy is important to all workers and a vital component of both focus and rejuvenation, which are essential to employee engagement.
OPEN – Bivi, FrameOne, Campfire Lounge
SHIELDED – Post and Beam, Campfire Screen, media:scape lounge, Bivi Rumble Hoodie
ENCLOSED – V.I.A., Privacy Wall, Horizon, String2, Lalinea, Metaline, Panorama
If you would like to learn more about creating a resilient workplace, read our blog post Red Thread Boston Moves to 101 Seaport: The Story of Our Journey. It’s a great piece about how we underwent our own workplace transformation for our people.
