4 minute read
Talking Point
from PSBJ July 21
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC SECTOR OFFICES LOOK LIKE?
Tim Shirt from office power and connectivity specialist, CMD, discusses emerging trends and altered working practices, reflecting on how they will change the look and layout of public sector office environments in the post-pandemic era.
Advertisement
Tim Shirt is Key Furniture Accounts Manager at CMD. His vast experience has won him national awards as one of the leading consultants in his field.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we live and work for good. Even as we begin tentative steps towards rebooting office routines and shared workspaces, there is a widespread acknowledgement that what we’ve learned from the pandemic experience will shape the way we behave and perceive our work environment for years to come.
A time of change
Over the past year, we have discovered the pivotal role of technology in contemporary working practices. From schools to local authority services, public sector environments have adapted to new tools and platforms and gained an insight into how much technology allows us to do. Collaboration across departments and sites has become easier, paperless office practices have fallen into place out of necessity and agile working has become routine.
The importance of a comfortable and welcoming work environment has also been firmly established over the past year. Many of those able to work at home have benefitted from softer surroundings and biophilia, and the experience will influence workplace trends moving forward.
Already, there was an evolution towards more agile, welcoming and tech-enabled offices, and the pandemic has escalated those trends. As a consequence, we can expect to see more use of natural materials and biophilia in public sector office environments, creating a resimercial look and feel, with layouts that enable both social distancing and collaboration.
Let’s not forget that employees have coped with a lot of disruption and anxiety over the past 18 months. Bringing a softer look and feel into the office is not just about aesthetics, therefore, it’s also about providing reassurance by articulating a caring, nurturing workplace.
The office environment
The biggest short-term challenges for public sector workplaces centre around the need to implement new working practices to enable social distancing. Potentially, depending on the size and layout of existing office accommodation, this may involve reconfiguration and equipping the office for hot desking or agile working. In the public sector, like the private sector, there is a widely-held assumption that a degree of homeworking will continue to be part of workplace culture indefinitely. To aid ease of reconfiguration, we are likely to see an increased focus on busbar powertrack systems, such as CMD’s Betatrak, or hub distribution systems, which allow electrical installations to be modified easily and occupancy to be scaled up or down. The ability to locate a tap off anywhere on the network at 30cm intervals allows versatile layouts, with redundancy and resilience built-in where required, so that layouts can remain flexible as needs change.
In the short term at least, offices will need to implement cleaning and booking regimes to enable social distancing and infection control. And if hot desking remains a feature of public sector work patterns, booking systems for hot desking are likely to remain. This has implications for workstation connectivity, smart technology and on-desk equipment, including the use of Bluetooth and RFID technologies to allow automated registration of personnel at the workstation.
Technology enabled
Alongside the need for booking systems and trackand-trace functionality, the need to drive down overheads in public sector buildings, and for transparency on carbon emissions, means smart systems will be more widely adopted.
We have also reached a period where digital natives, who have grown up with digital devices and internet use, are a key part of the workforce. For generation Z, there is an expectation that technology is part of every environment, and, as tech continues to advance, they will be quick to adopt and demand it.
This means bringing together power, charging and data, not just at the workstation, but also in breakout spaces and throughout public sector buildings. Apple’s adoption of wireless charging technology has been a game changer in terms of homogenising the tech required for wireless charging of any device. As this technology has become more robust, enabling charging of both phones and tablets, there is a more compelling case for integrating it within furniture, alongside USB charging and power sockets. With a move away from traditional desk layouts towards formal and informal collaborative and quiet working spaces, we are also likely to see powerbank functionality built into furniture for breakout areas and acoustic meeting/isolation booths.
In addition to the power, charging and connectivity, the technological evolution of the office will also require a focus on enabling multi-location collaboration via online platforms. Whether teams are collaborating across locations or from both office and home environments, buildings will need to be equipped with sufficient data capabilities and A/V equipment to facilitate real-time communication. This will include increasingly sophisticated document sharing platforms and collaboration software tools, along with A/V equipment. Consequently, compact units, such as the CMD Linear, which combines power, charging, data and media, and the four-sided CMD Inca, which combines power, charging and data in a compact unit, will be go-to solutions.
Capitalising on change
Public sector office environments have seen substantial change over the past two decades. The pandemic and increasingly available complex technologies have created a perfect storm to escalate the pace of change, creating an opportunity for more connected, collaborative and caring workplaces.
