Andy O’Donnell, E&Y Chris Kane, (BBC) Derrick Bock, eBay Tracy Wymer, Knoll ----- Meeting Notes (6/16/15 05:28) ----- Knoll in partnership with Unwired, the London based sponsoring body of Worktech, sought to explore the distinction of the modern workplace as it is deployed around the globe. What are the various options in practice? How are they being interested locally? How is the spread of practices – distributed work, flexible work, and evolving technology – influencing employee engagement? Wait – I thought research was suppose to answer questions!

The Workplace Today One person ≠ one desk Soft collaboration Inviting cafes Tighter alignment with culture Flex work The Workplace Today – 3 tiers begin with a remnant from the past that originated in the production lines of the Industrial Revolution. The strict division of of labor meant efficiency and profit and that modeled was translated into the office planning. The Physical Present is still with us today, people show up and there is an order to things. As automation reduced task based work and increased the demand for creativity and knowledge-based work took to the forefront, a less predictable model evolved with an emphasis on unplanned and spontaneous connections. This is less predictable. There is also new thinking around where work can occur especially when you are enabled by full-time connectivity. Then you factor in the cost of supporting the physical, typically the second largest overhead expense ($18,000 for a desk in NYC or London), we then witnessed the emergence of the virtual state where the tenet of one desk = one person is broken. And utilization of the assets is low – 47% for individual desks 50-60% for meeting rooms yet people feel they cannot find a place to meet. What changed? Introduction of soft collaboration areas, a nod towards hospitality with better cafes and food and nourishment. And the changing metrics - moving from cost /square foot – cost /person; square feet /person to square feet/ group all equaling a smaller footprint. This resulted in a hybrid model that balances the benefits of being there with the freedom of choice.

g Seeing the % of Baby Boomers dip below 30% already is significant. There are some assumptions that can be made – a wider safety net for early retirement outside the US, lower health care cost… This seems to be a harbinger of trends we se in specific industries in NAmerica – consulting specifically, that recruit specifically direct to colleges and universities. We see a younger, more mobile yet connected workforce empowered with the freedom of choice as to where to work, which creates the key dilemma -

Question Can design create casual collisions and help to engineer the serendipity between knowledge workers? Thin buildings: stripped of outmoded infrastructure form cloud based work, Space and /or floors can be redeployed. .Buildings can be simple again. Places for people and not container for equipment. Thin building take up less space and need fewer technical staff. Coupled with CYOD Office Home: start up – co-working – flexibility – choice = asynchronous workforce, but to innovate, need real time connections People need a home even if they are often away from it. Higher Quality Space: must cater to locals, staff from other office, clients, freelancers (contractors), guests. And many times customers. Hosting external teams. More like a hotel – a hospitality workplace. Growing demand for quiet spaces, concentration space, analogue spaces….

Ongoing debate about the future of the office has focused on whether the office has a future. Researchers and pundits suggested otherwise – instead, we would be wandering nomads. Our reasons for commuting have change. But there is more evolution possible. Net.work experience may be in smaller space, more hospitable, and responsive than ever before. Adaptable architecture realized through Smaller – hospitable – responsive While layers of administration have ben stripped away, expanded activities occurred in other areas – sales, customer service, technology, marketing, PD, and R&D.

Office will become the main place for the realization of a new net Office will become the main place for the realization of a new net.work. This intersection of the building and the physical with the internet and the digital will unite two realms that have to date flirted.