Creating a New Ecosystem
A challenge for enterprises today is understanding people’s individual needs in the workplace. Especially because we’re now saturated with technology connections as well as in-person connections, most of today’s workers are operating in a dense informational landscape. Gaining the broad perspective of collaborative work is more important than ever. At the same time, this intensity makes having places for private refuge more important, too.
Achieving the right balance between privacy and collaboration is fundamentally about empowering individuals with choices and some measure of control over their environment.
No single type of work environment can provide the right balance between collaboration and privacy. But when workers can choose from a palette of place —an ecosystem of interrelated zones and settings that support their physical, cognitive and emotional needs —they can draw inspiration and energy from others as well as be restored by the calm of privacy.
Finally, the workplace needs to accommodate for a palette of presence —to allow teams to connect easily both in person and over distance through technology-based communication options to match their collaboration needs and their privacy boundaries.
Insight from research suggests that fulfilling work is defined by opportunities and experiences that enable people to do their best work, acting alone as well as engaging in collaboration with others. Throughout the world, there’s growing awareness that privacy at work shouldn’t be rationed as merely a symbol of status or a reward for a select few who are given private offices. Instead, by providing places for moments of privacy for all workers throughout the organization —in every country, every position and every demographic — enterprises can realize significant rewards: higher engagement, stronger collaboration, better productivity, improved worker wellbeing and, ultimately, innovation at the pace and scale that defines business success today.
People are social creatures. We don’t like to be ostracized. So when we’re in a group setting, our brains will easily change our minds to agree with others. That’s a danger of constant collaboration. It’s very important to also give people the chance for privacy, so they can form their own ideas to bring to the group.
MELANIE REDMAN
CONTRIBUTORS
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Donna Flynn An anthropologist by training. Donna Flynn leads the 19 member global Steelcase WorkSpace Futures group, a research team that innovates around insights into how people work, especially the intersection of spaces, people and information. Work is influenced by constantly changing trends, she says, but human nature evolves much more slowly. That’s why, especially now, when trends such as technology and mobility are dramatically affecting how we work, solving for people’s basic needs is crucial. |
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Melanie Redman A senior researcher for Steelcase, Melanie has first-hand experience with international cultures, having completed indepth human-centered studies in China and North America. She was a principal researcher in several recent Steelcase research quests, including investigations into the post-1980s generation in China, the impact of culture on workplaces in 11 countries, and collaboration among distributed teams. |
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Wenli Wang As part of Steelcase’s research node in Asia Pacific, Wenli works on formulating design principles that lead to new applications, products and strategy for this market. She has participated in projects focused on Asian office environments, as well as healthcare and higher education industries in China. |
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Meike Töpfer Taylor Based in the San Francisco Bay area, since October 2012 Meike has been a design researcher for Steelcase’s Coalesse brand, investigating the new imperatives of work and life as the division between them blurs. |
Company Informations:
Le Office Furniture Manufacturer
www.letbackrest.com
Address: No.12, Nanhua Road, LongJiang ,Shunde,Foshan, Guangdong, China (Mainland)
Email: sale@letbackrest.com
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