Re-define Workspaces

In the past, workspace was mainly considered as a place where work was performed. From putting telephones and computers into offices to installing video and audio technologies in conference rooms, most organizations focused their technology integration efforts on developing workspaces that boost productivity and efficiency. In recent years, however, there is an increased interest in understanding how workspace affects employees’ mental health and physical well-being. People start to ask questions such as how workplaces can be designed and technology can be used to help employees cope with stress, increase job satisfaction, spark creativity, and generate great ideas. Many organizations going through digital transformation are striving to construct a digital ecosystem to help address these issues. Their efforts range from simple technology integration (e.g., adjustable computer tables) to the construction of an entire building to help employees develop healthier working lifestyle. The most pioneer examples of the latter efforts can be found in the workspace design concepts embedded in several giant technology companies’ headquarter office buildings, including Google, Apple, Amazon, Netflix.

Inside Google’s Headquarters

Inside Apple’s Headquarters

Inside Amazon’s Headquarters

Inside Netflix’s Headquarters

Obviously, not every organization needs to spend billions of dollars to build a new office building and there is also not a one-size-fit-all workspace design. Depending on the mission and vision of the organization, the products or services they provide, the types of workforce and talented people they want to attract, and the budgets they have, different organizations need to adopt different workspace designs. Many educational institutions, public libraries, and learning centers, for example, build multipurpose makerspaces where learners can create, collaborate, explore, and share. A fire in 2018 provided an opportunity for The K-State University to redesign and build a modern library where students can find several state-of-art makerspaces to use: https://lib.k-state.edu/technology/innovation-lab/.

The COVID outbreak in 2020 further challenged how we should define workspaces since many people had the opportunities to not work at a fixed location (e.g., work remotely from home). There are many successful examples of how allowing employees to work from home helped them with their physical well-being and mental health without decreasing an organization’s productivity. Letting employees work from home also benefits an organization in the long term as they can save more office workspaces for other uses. For an educational institution who allows their instructors to work from home and only go to campus for classes and meetings, for example, they can have several instructors share one office space and convert other office spaces to classrooms or study spaces to benefit more students. In fact, more people are looking for the types of jobs that provide flexibility to work from home post COVID. This trend will continue to grow, which means those organizations that have technology and policy infrastructures in place to allow employees to work from home will be in a better position to attract talented people who have the need of working remotely.