Technology helps companies offer a never-seen-before experience to their employees by simplifying business operations and creating a perfect work environment. Cafeteria tables have emerged as a transformative element in office design, revolutionizing the way employees interact, collaborate, and socialize. Cafeteria tables in office spaces create a shared space where employees can gather, collaborate, and exchange ideas. It helps in better office space management by enabling companies to automate certain functions and provides employees with a comforting, wellness-focused, and hassle-free work experience. 

In this post, we shall learn how to transform traditional office spaces with the help of technology to deliver a relaxing and modern work ambiance that increases employee productivity.

How Traditional Offices Can Be Transformed Using Technology?

1. Install Tech Gadgets to Modernize Office Spaces

Incorporating technology into office space design is the first step to transforming traditional office spaces into modern ones. Implementing the right mix of technology in office design helps in creating better experiences for the employees and improves their performance at work. Understanding the employees’ needs is crucial to building technology-enabled office spaces. 

Here are a few solutions that might appear simple yet add a ton of value and flexibility to the lives of your employees.

• Install an automated door-locking system to avoid unauthorized access to your office spaces. These smart locks approve, deny, or monitor access to various areas in your office space to ensure safety. 
• Leverage devices, such as IoT sensors to control the office lighting, air conditioning, and more by automatically detecting the room’s occupancy. These sensors will help you transform your workspaces and also, save energy.
• Capture employee attendance using facial recognition or biometric technology and reduce the dependence on manual systems. Track the clock-in and clock-out times, breaks, and time off, and more efficiently.
• Utilize personalized lighting systems to provide optimal illumination to the employees. A scientific study by Nature.com revealed that older adults require significantly more light and illumination as compared to younger adults to see the same detail.
  
  The image below shows how The Address, a coworking space, provides various lighting options for different areas in its workspaces.

Source: https://www.gototheaddress.com/

The employees do not always know about the various gadgets and flexibility options your workspace offers. Hence, employers must create an effective onboarding program or an employee handbook informing employees about the features and benefits and offering guidance on properly utilizing them.

2. Invest in Flexible Workspace Management Tools

Running a successful workplace can be challenging. With hybrid work culture becoming the new normal, employers are usually not clear about how many employees might show up on a particular day, how long they would be staying, or what type of workstation they would need. Technology plays a major role in converting your traditional offices into flexible workspaces. 

Let us now understand how technology helps businesses to utilize custom software solutions, such as on-premise software or SaaS tools to manage their day-to-day operations. 

• Screen, track, and monitor who comes into your office with the help of visitor management software. This solution gives you a bird’s eye view of who is present in the office. It also offers you a means to screen visitors before they enter your office. 
• Use desk booking software to allow employees to book workstations according to their needs. Manage your workstations with more flexibility and encourage flexible working in your organization. 
• Leverage workspace management software to manage the hybrid schedules of the employees and avoid workplace-specific problems, such as overcrowding, overlapped booking, underutilized spaces, and more.
• Use a space scheduling platform to eliminate the hassles of managing and booking meeting rooms, conference rooms, training centers, workshop halls, and studios. The self-service bookings reduce the burden on your admin team and speed up the meeting scheduling process.

Today, many businesses are switching to coworking spaces due to the flexible working options they provide. The coworking spaces offer state-of-the-art facilities that employ modern technology solutions and provide outstanding amenities, such as ergonomic furniture, high-speed internet, a cafeteria, gyms, and more for the betterment of the employees. 

No wonder, 96.9% of professionals are satisfied working in coworking environments and prefer the same. 

3. Keep Security Breaches in Check

The introduction of technology has reduced the risk of IT failure, data thefts, malware attacks, and other security leaks for many organizations. With the right security measures, businesses are now able to keep their important business information safe and manage their workplace security effectively.

Businesses today are proactively planning their security efforts with the help of advanced technology solutions. Every modern workplace relies on technology to ensure both physical and digital security of the workplaces. Most businesses already have secured systems to ensure digital security. However, they fail to realize the importance of the physical security of workspaces.

Physical security refers to the security of the physical assets of your workplace, such as your office, your equipment, your employees, and more. Your office might be frequented by numerous people, such as employees, candidates, clients, and more. Hence, ensuring security in your office by setting up access control is crucial.

Set up access control for your office space to manage security in all your office locations. Invest in badges, smart cards, QR code access, facial recognition-enabled security cameras, or biometric access to control who can enter your work premises and keep unauthorized access at bay. 

Boost your security plan with the right technology and convert your office space into a safe and secure one. 

4. Focus on Employee Well-Being and Wellness

A healthy workplace contributes to a productive workplace. Creating wellness spaces within the office helps employees to wind down their busy work schedules and fosters a positive culture. Tailoring these spaces with technology takes employee well-being and wellness to a whole new level.

Wellness spaces at work help employees to feel their best and create a comfortable environment that boosts their morale.

• Create wellness spaces, such as meditation zones, nap pods, exercise areas, and more in your office. Emphasize calming color palettes for these areas. Install voice-assisted devices in these areas to play some soothing music, or adjust the lighting to create a relaxing environment.
  
  Google has installed nap pods in its offices to help employees restore alertness and focus at their work. The image below showcases a nap pod in one of Google’s offices.

• Design dedicated areas in your office that offer the employees the comforts of a private workstation. Ensure that these private desks are equipped with soundproof walls, power outlets, and adequate ventilation. These workstations will help employees concentrate on their important tasks by eliminating unnecessary interactions with coworkers, workplace noise, and other distractions.
• Allocate an area in your office space for conducting fun events, seminars, workshops, training, and more. Install tech gadgets, such as laptops, projectors, screens, sound systems, and more to help the employees host the desired events without any difficulties.
• Sign up for an employee engagement tool to keep your employees engaged and happy at your workplace. Recognize the employees’ efforts by monitoring their performance and rewarding them accordingly. 

Wrapping Up

Technology can help transform traditional office spaces into a modern digital workspace that runs more efficiently and provides an excellent environment for employees and visitors. It portrays your company as one that fosters innovation and leaves a positive impression on your guests. 

We are certain that this post has helped you understand how you can revamp your workspaces to build a tech-powered modern office.