Metamorphosis Of The Indian Workspace | Godrej Interio

Designing People-centric Workspaces

The ever evolving workspaces

Work as we know is forever evolving and so is the need for workplaces to transform. Organisations have been on the constant lookout for increasing competitive advantage by increasing productivity, improving employee engagement, and expanding globally to achieve their business objectives.

2020 brought about a conspicuous and abrupt change in the way we work – remote work was deployed en masse; technology adoption advanced and employee wellbeing came into the forefront. This introduced new working objectives — collaboration, effective communication and productivity through digitisation. Undeniably, technology inversions have driven remote work and is the primary force behind the current workplace evolution across the globe.

Now, with physical offices reopening, the combination of space, technology and human resource policies can result in a fruitful workplace transformation.

Over a period of time, the need for flatter organisational structure, technological advancements and diverse workforce pivoted the workspace away from cubicle-based to more open and flexible layouts. The trend will continue in the post-pandemic era, where workspaces will play a significant role in fostering innovation and reinforcing organisational culture and self-identity. Designing beyond spatial efficiency to put people at the heart of workspace design will not only improve spatial utilisation and return on investment but improve employee engagement metrics.

People-centric workspaces support connection, communication, and rejuvenation to ensure employees give their best at work, strengthening the growth and development of the organisation.

Expectations from the workspace, technology, behaviour and policies have transformed, creating a new set of standards about work. Given the current pixelated scenario, distinct employee expectations from organisations have emerged that will impact workspace design.

Trends Influencing Indian Workspaces:

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Employees increasingly seek higher autonomy

The role of an office is changing Technology will take organisations’ places

Holistic employee wellbeing will be at the centre of the evolution

Employees increasingly seek higher autonomy

Remote working has altogether altered employees’ expectations from work as well as their priorities. Today, everyone wants to work at their own time, from their desired space and on projects they enjoy. Since every employee has a different personality and priorities, employers cannot treat them as a homogenous group. Instead, employees expect them to offer an environment that accommodates the preferences of each of these cohorts.

Achieving higher autonomy at workplace

Work from anywhere will be the norm

Work from anywhere

Satellite and smaller offices

Today, senior leaders are more open to the idea of adopting flexible work schedules and WFA (Work from Anywhere) for all or part of their employees. It is evident that going ahead, organisations will have to allow their employees and their managers to decide the extent of working either from home, office or anywhere. Our recent study found that more than 70% of company leaders were considering flexible work at a scale greater than they had before and more than half of them planned to make the cultural changes necessary to embrace hybrid work.

Explore setting up satellite and smaller offices

“Is the office going to disappear?” We believe that the office is not going to disappear, but its role has been cemented as an anchor, where employees will come together to connect, and innovate. The office will undergo a change. Organisations will move from having multiple large footprints in metros to satellite offices in areas convenient to their employees. Satellite offices may turn out to be the best solution to an evolving dynamic work landscape, allowing the organisation to expand without moving their current headquarters.

The role of an office is changing

While remote work offers flexibility and a greater work-life balance, it has its limitations. It hinders some key benefits of collaboration like innovation and creativity that is amiss in remote working. Going ahead, the role of an office will be akin to a buttress, supporting and strengthening organisations and employees.

Reinforcement of collaboration corners

New role of an office

Shift to unassigned desks

Multiple use of spaces

Reinforcement of collaboration corners

Organisations will need to take a fresh and transformational approach to create spaces specifically designed to support spontaneous interactions that cannot happen virtually.

69% of the respondents we spoke to missed the face-to-face interactions they once had at the workplace, from casual conversations to formal work collaborations. Recognising this need, more than 55% of the facility heads anticipate an increase in the space allocated for collaborative work.

The workplace is likely to become a social environment where employees come to interact and collaborate with co-workers. Formal meeting spaces interspersed with informal collaboration spaces will allow employees to choose the best zone for their interaction needs. In addition, these physical spaces must also support virtual collaborations. Thus, audiovisual technology and enclosures that ensure visual and acoustical privacy will gain importance.

What people miss the most out of office

69% Face to face

65% Formal work

50% Casual conversations

41% Coffee breaks with colleagues

Shift to unassigned desks

To rationalise overheads of fewer people in the office, organisations will have to move to more flexible ways of working. A reduction in the area for workstations, coupled with increased space for collaboration zones and technological support, will pave the way for unassigned desks. Organisations will have to adopt desk reservation solutions to balance space utilisation and employee schedules with health and hygiene considerations.

Multiple use of spaces

With the flexibility to work from anywhere, employees will come to the workspace to collaborate and innovate with their colleagues instead of working alone in a workstation. This will bring a fundamental shift in the way office space is consumed. Collaborative lounge spaces take up more floor space over an array of workstations. The flexibility in the way of working will reflect in the workspace environment too.

Lightweight and flexible furniture that is easily movable, reconfigured, and sanitised will ensure occupants modify the space according to their needs. For instance, lounge spaces earlier used for relaxation can be repurposed as collaboration space with portable whiteboards and screens for meetings. Electrical point accessibility will be a hygiene factor in all such flexible work hubs.

Technology will take organisations places

Organisations are relying on technology more than ever. It serves everyone’s need to stay connected, and influences operations in every workplace. The way organisations work is changing, and keeping on top of this transformation, organisations need to incorporate technology into their post-pandemic office planning.

Incorporating technology in office

Inclusive work environment Smart workspaces

Creating an inclusive work environment

The hybrid working models will ensure that some colleagues are physically present in the workspace and others, remotely. Thus, acceleration of collaborative technology adoption is at the core of the new workspace. This is reflected in our study where more than 60% of organisations we spoke to are planning to increase their spend on virtual collaboration tools.

Today, the success of virtual meetings depends on the clarity of its visuals and sound. The meeting must be engaging despite technological issues and a lack of non-verbal cues. Currently, in mixed presence meetings, virtual attendees cannot see the physical attendees and the notes jotted on the whiteboard clearly. Going forward, there will be a need to establish equity for mixed presence. Improved audio-visual technology will become a hygiene factor especially in meeting and conference rooms. Adding room cameras that detect the speaker visually, and speakers for audio clarity will increase involvement in the meetings. Smartboards that convert handwritten scribbles to text or shape to brainstorm will also help establish equity. In addition, sightlines, audio, and lighting will be designed to create an inclusive experience for all attendees, irrespective of location.

Organisations will also have to extend the equity to people’s homes by investing in tools and resources to optimise work from home setups, such as monitors, improved Wi-Fi, and office furniture.

Emergence of smart workspaces

Technology will not only be used to improve meeting environments but be extended throughout the workspace to empower the employees and workspace. The incorporation of sensors and AI assistants will benefit the users and the facility managers to improve efficiency, health, and productivity.

• Touchless/hand-free control and command

Touch screens were becoming ubiquitous in our workspaces, from elevators to conference rooms. But in the post pandemic era, touchless technology will rule the roost in commercial and retail spaces. Hands free technology will be used in lights, elevator buttons, and washroom faucets to help curb surface transmission and promote infection control.

• AI assistants as office support

AI assistants like Alexa or Siri that many have become accustomed to at home, can also be deployed in an office environment to reduce metawork (work about work). An AI assistant can help with routine tasks such as setting up meeting rooms, recording meetings and taking notes, freeing up time to productively work. In addition, AI in tandem with occupancy sensors, can regulate airflow into the space depending on the number of persons in the space.

Occupancy management systems synchronised with a hot-desking app will book workstations and collaboration rooms according to the employees’ schedules. Optimisation of space will reduce costs, boost flexibility, collaboration, and productivity. The pandemic increased consciousness around the health and wellbeing of self and the environment. Mindful of this, adoption of sensor-based monitoring systems that measure, monitor, analyse and optimise spatiotemporal parameters will be deployed. Parameters like temperature, humidity, air quality (CO2 PM2.5, TVOC), air pressure, noise to occupancy and energy will be monitored in real-time to benefit both health and productivity.

Along with space consumption, it will also become imperative to proactively manage energy consumption. These monitoring solutions in conjunction with building management systems will enable facility managers to monitor and pre-empt pain points.

SenSING Dashboard

Holistic employee wellbeing will be at the centre of the evolution

The 2021 Wellbeing Diagnostic Survey conducted by Willis Towers Watson highlighted that 85% of employers in India intended to use their wellbeing program as a differentiator in the next three years compared to 18% doing so currently. In addition to these programs, organisations will have to improve the health quotient of their workspaces to promote holistic wellbeing. Steps taken to improve the indoor environment and facilitate lifestyle changes will benefit their employees personally and professionally, consequently boosting the company’s bottom line.

Improving workspace environment

Outdoor workspaces

Indoor areas that evoke nature

Workspaces that encourage movement

Outdoor workspaces for work and rejuvenation

Semi-open spaces (terraces) and open-air spaces (gardens and atriums) will be considered alternate places to work and revitalise. Ergonomic work set-ups, access to power and privacy will be a hallmark of these outdoor workspaces. Spaces that create serendipitous encounters to promote strengthening relationships in an informal setting will act as the backbone of the office.

Indoor areas that evoke nature

A study by Human Spaces showed that a Biophilic office increased health, wellbeing and creativity by 15% and productivity by 6%. Cognitive functions improved, blood pressure and resting heart rate levels were reduced. While biophilia has existed for a long time, it has started to gain importance as a design philosophy. Green walls and planters distributed throughout the office space will provide respite to the users of the space. Patterns like nature-inspired spirals and ripples in artwork, furniture, furnishings, and floorings will also improve the connection to nature.

Workspaces that encourage movement

Workspaces equipped with a wide range of furniture, offering choice and control to users will be prevalent. Furniture should promote postural change by accommodating multi-dimensional movement to reduce stress on the body, and improve blood flow, in turn improving concentration and productivity. These coupled with correct postures will help reduce the occurrence of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) and improve physical health of the employees.

Going ahead...

Employee expectations about how and where work is done is the crux of the metamorphosis of the workspace. Organisations will have to support staff in providing new ways of working that not only bring down costs but also increase business resilience. They will have to proactively embrace these changes to be at the forefront. A starting point to reinforce work and culture is the physical workspace. A well-designed environment aids all possible intersections of people, processes, and technology to boost productivity and wellbeing.

As employee expectations change, the workspace will have to keep evolving. Today, a new vision of the workplace is where employees spend less time commuting, doing routine tasks and in discomfort and more time creatively collaborating. Designing a people-centric workplace will give employees a safe working environment where they enjoy their work, collaborate, stay healthy and achieve the objectives of their organisations.

About Godrej Interio

Godrej Interio (GI) is India’s premium furniture brand in both home and institutional segments with a strong commitment to sustainability and centers of excellence in design, manufacturing and retail.

Led by the largest in-house design team in the country in the furniture category and awarded with 42 India Design Mark Awards till date, GI aims to transform spaces with its thoughtfully designed furniture to create brighter homes and offices with products that have the highest design quotient in aesthetics, functionality and technology. With consistent pursuit of excellence and a special focus on health and ergonomics, GI’s product portfolio comprises a massive range.

Today, we design and manufacture furniture for office spaces, homes, educational institutes, healthcare facilities, laboratories and more. Along with furniture we offer Audio Visual and 360 Degree Turnkey solutions. Each of our product range revolves around comfort and aesthetics while delivering well-designed, fun and functional furniture solutions. Briefly, Godrej Interio transforms dream spaces to life!

GI commitment to the environment has resulted in manufacturing products with lesser environment footprint. Our pioneering efforts include designing less environment burdening products, usage of eco-friendly materials and setting up less polluting and consuming processes, ensuring eco-friendly packaging and transportation and finally the extended responsibility of recycling/reuse of used furniture and scrap, thus ensuring a lifecycle approach to green.

Currently present in over 650 cities with 250 exclusive showrooms and 800 dealers, GI is one of the largest divisions of Godrej and Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., part of the Godrej Group, one of India’s largest engineering and customer product groups.

Disclaimer

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