Learn

Even just a few decades ago, people used to think they were done with learning once their training or college course had finished. Back then, it was commonly thought that all the skills and expertise learnt at a young age would last all of your career. 

Nowadays, virtually unlimited access to the internet has ensured that information overload is increasing exponentially and the shelf-life of any knowledge we have is decreasing by the same token.

© Concept development and planning: 1zu33, Image: 1zu33 / Wilkhahn

The office as a market place for expertise and community learning

Research into the brain has long since confirmed that people learn better if several senses are stimulated. Nowadays, expertise can also be conveyed digitally, and therefore remotely, via adaptive self-learning programmes. However, for new expertise in the form of new skills to stick, lots of different kinds of interaction with other people is required. Which is why Wilkhahn’s concept of a human-centered workplace turns the office into a market place for shared expertise and learning as a community.

Training and upskilling

Scheduled communal training sessions and upskilling programmes in dedicated spaces are special types of learning. Furniture in the human-centered workplace’s seminar area can be quickly and easily adapted to group sizes, methods and multimedia equipment. 

  • In terms of their durability and ease of use, the mAx folding tables really stand apart. They nest into one another compactly and connecting leaves allow tool-free linkage so that a range of different table configurations are created.
  • The stackable Metrik cantilever chairs are colour-matched with the white table tops and easy to grab hold of. They come in a contemporary design and are comfortable to sit on.
  • Insit benches arranged in groups adjacent to the glass facade invite people to work in small teams. The firm, ergonomic upholstery enable working for long periods of time and can be combined with Metrik chairs to respond flexibly if numbers change.

Learning by doing as a team

Innovation spaces are primarily areas for learning. Methods such as design thinking focus on people developing, experimenting and teaching each other skills together. Positive group experiences, direct feedback and diverse types of hands-on interaction encourage people’s desire to be receptive, engaged and to recall what they’ve learnt. Participants organise the changes between settings and methods themselves.

  • Timetable Lift tables are mobile, cordless and come with electrically height-adjustable, flip-top table tops that can be written on. They can be used as conference tables to stand or sit at, as surfaces to write on, or as screens for presentations and photos to document results.
  • Mobile Stand-up stools encourage a change of posture to keep body and mind on the ball. They help people forget hierarchies and learn from one another, just like the fun Sitzbocks, which can be perched at or sat on.
  • The space’s wooden wall panels and the laid-back meeting spot with Occo chairs and a Confair folding table behind the translucent partition have a natural, warm look.
  • The partially perforated walls improve acoustics and can accommodate screens and material for workshops.

Learning in hybrid teams

Learning from one another in interdisciplinary project groups is vital, as is integrating joint learning phases into everyday working lives. The increase in remote working is also transforming the way people learn in offices. Instead of spending one or several days at a time away on training courses, digitalisation allows people to teach and learn in short modules without wasting time travelling to other locations. In the future, learning in teams will automatically involve coaches and other teams in different geographies joining a virtual meeting and project room.

In offices, learning in small groups has proved to be very efficient. Which is why small, multipurpose meeting rooms are integrated at the core of the human-centered workplace. These rooms come with large wall displays and cameras so that they can also be used for video conferences or seminars. 

  • Occo high tables and bar stools foster interaction and engagement. At the same time, people are much more energetic when they stand in front of the camera.
  • If required, the sound-absorbent glass panels and curtains provide privacy and prevent people in the surrounding workspaces from being distracted.

We hope that this tool will be a real help in designing working environments where people remain productive and enjoy working in tomorrow’s world too.