Planning in an unpredictable era

The radical switch to working from home due to the corona pandemic has sparked a debate on whether working with other people in office spaces isn’t perhaps outdated. Particularly because the outcome was better than expected. 

But it’s important to note that however professional the home set-up is, it’s no substitute for a real workplace’s atmosphere, team spirit, spontaneous brainstorming sessions or face time with colleagues. In other words, all the aspects that appear more important than ever in view of the imminent transformation processes everywhere.

All over the world, businesses from every industry are asking similar questions:

• How can an office environment be made more appealing to attract the talented people and experts sought?
• How can innovation and the ability to change be boosted?
• How can health and fitness be maintained as a valuable resource?
• How can purpose be conveyed to the next generation? 

The human-centered workplace is an ingeniously simple, integrated tool that offers reliability and a point of reference for progressive office environments in view of the volatile nature of challenges on the horizon.

Above all else, it focuses on people’s personal and social needs. Well-being in the workplace is fostered by prompting people to move, the ease with which furniture is handled and acoustics. The open office space and the furnishings encourage social contact and collaboration. Various collaborative spaces merge seamlessly with one another and can be adapted by users themselves as desired.

The approach takes into account relevant mega trends and indicates what needs to be observed at the planning stage and each time a decision is taken. We developed settings as examples with renowned design studio 1zu33 to illustrate what a workplace could look like in which people like to be and, above all, are productive.

Communicating and collaborating are considered the keys to meeting the upcoming challenges that digitalisation presents to nearly all aspects of the working environment more quickly, more cost effectively and, above all, more successfully. 

However, the right combination of communication and deep work is required to create added value productively. Which is why the human-centered workplace offers a range of different spaces to suit the job at hand and preferences, so that people can reflect, conduct research, create documents or complete projects.

Working for hours at a computer requires a large display, peace and quiet and furniture that counteracts the chronic lack of physical activity that’s associated with these types of sedentary jobs. Because people’s bodies need a diverse range of small but frequent movements to keep their joints and muscles healthy. Even our brains shut down if they’re not stimulated by movement now and again. 

Which is why we furnished the human-centered workplace with dynamic and mobile furniture:

• Desks are paired with AT free-to-move office chairs that automatically translate small, undeliberate shifts in weight into three-dimensional movement. Because the backrest’s counter pressure adjusts automatically to different users, several people can use a workspace easily and exceptionally cost effectively.
• Electrically height-adjustable tables motivate users to alternate between sitting and standing.
• Acoustic panels cut down any distractions from noise.
• Stand-up stools and Insit benches are ideal for areas destined for breaks and meet-ups because they generate collaboration and a community spirit. 

Project teams, who sometimes work at computers, can pick a workspace in the versatile project office, which is partitioned off with highboards. In this case however, the space is furnished with flip-top Timetable desks. As a result, it’s easy to add or take away desks, push them closer or further apart, depending on what the team requires at the time. 

Spare tables nest compactly into one another in the storeroom and Sitzbock pommel-horse-like seats are ideal for impromptu chats. The opportunity for people to configure their workspaces themselves makes them fitter, boosts team spirit, engagement and identification with the company’s objectives.

In executive offices, the principle of transparency and the overarching range of materials, colours and designs also apply because they convey a sustainable mindset, well-being and energy. Managers need to communicate a lot more, so meetings lie at the heart of the workspace concept. 

There are no big screens to get in the way, but a dynamic office chair is a must. ON has distinctive upholstery and supports healthy changes of posture. Our Occo conference chairs with their active rocking technology make sitting at the Versa table a motion-driven option. As the table can be removed quickly, the setting is reconfigured in no time.

The human-centered workplace’s room-in-room solutions are ideal for anyone seeking a haven of quiet to take part in laptop chats or prepare presentations. The Occo high tables and bar stools with their appealing solid wood frames are normally destined for team meetings and video conferences. With the curtains closed, this type of space is an inspiring, screened-off environment.

By providing maximum flexibility, fostering initiative and motivating people to configure their own workspaces, Wilkhahn’s human-centered workplace can unlock brand-new potential and ensure maximum sustainability.

It boosts engagement or empathy, appeals to many of the senses and misunderstandings are easier to rule out. And alongside official meetings, it’s those spur-of-the-moment encounters with people from other departments that are becoming an increasingly important way of finding new ideas and questioning old ones. Encouraging people to talk to one another and the potential involved are probably the key reasons why working in the office will still be essential in the future.

Which is why the human-centered workplace offers both versatile and single-purpose spaces. In this case, the design of the conference room symbolises an open and approachable type of corporate culture. 

• The design concept featuring our contemporary Graph range offers well-being, purpose, corporate identity and superior collaborative options.
• In order to underscore the feeling that everybody’s part of one team, whatever their position in the hierarchy, the choice of materials and colours is based on the overarching design concept.
• The Occo conference seating is a good match with the ON office chairs and shows that meeting attendees are valued.
• Both models encourage users to keep fit by moving, which is an integral component of the furniture concept as a whole.

Pods in the space can be reserved and are equally ideal for planned meetings where further attendees join remotely. If necessary, these areas can be screened off to offer acoustic and visual privacy. Occo high tables and Occo bar stools are also ideal for meetings requiring a more relaxed touch and greater engagement. The colours and materials chosen have a natural, emotive appeal, which is becoming more and more significant in an increasingly technology-driven, abstract working environment.

With the same Occo furniture, the open-plan meeting zones are equally informal and perfect for brief stand-up meetings where neither visual nor acoustic privacy are required. Making these areas part of an open office fosters transparency and understanding across departments and allows spontaneous chats without disturbing others.

An in-house kitchen doubles as a venue for planned and unplanned interaction where people arrange to meet for a bite to eat or a cup of coffee and others join them spontaneously. These types of encounters are always informal and therefore exceptionally important for creating a team spirit and building trust. 

• Graph tables and Insit benches bring people together.

• The Occo high table is a good choice for anyone who prefers to stand for a quick chat and snack. 

On the other hand, the public café on the ground floor is a place where guests can see and get to know new faces. The café is a bright and cheerful venue which also allows people to engage with others outside of their organisation.

The ability to adapt to a situation, which is in a constant state of flux, and to come up with new ideas for future-proof business models in all areas, has never been more crucial. In light of these challenges, boosting innovation should be the design focus of shared office space.

Innovations are produced when two or more pieces of information are pooled in a new way. In other words, when information from all sorts of disciplines is provided more often, it’s more likely to lead to an innovation. 

Research on innovation shows that over 80% of innovations result from people interacting, often spontaneously, with each other. And psychologists tell us that human beings are wary of change and trust is required in order for them to embrace it. Engaging with other people in person is the only way of conveying a feeling of assurance, appreciation, support and belonging.

Therefore, designing offices as interactive spaces underpins successful innovation and change management. Employees that are stimulated and feel appreciated are happier and healthier. 

Navigation throughout the workspace is devised so that people repeatedly bump into one another at particular points and the backdrops are so diverse that these encourage interaction again and again. The attractive furniture creates points of reference, trust and assurance.

Innovations are produced when two or more pieces of information are pooled in a new way. In other words, when information from all sorts of disciplines is provided more often, it’s more likely to lead to an innovation. 

Ensuring that employees no longer just observe but are actively involved in change means providing an array of different spaces for them to collaborate in. And, above all, these areas require chairs and tables that they can reconfigure themselves as required. 

People who rearrange the settings themselves help create a process from the word go and quite literally get to grips with it better. As a result, passive consumers become active agents of change who enjoy contributing their skills and potential. At the same time, concerns and obstacles standing in the way of change are effectively swept away.

The innovation space on the ground floor of the human-centered workplace comes with all the tools that are so helpful in the creative process. 

• The mobile Timetable lift tables offer cordless, electric height adjustment for meetings held standing up or sitting down. The magnetic table tops can be written on and serve as a joint work surface. Flipped up, they become presentation and projection screens and can be photographed in order to record any results obtained.
• Sitzbocks and Stand-up stools can be placed spontaneously in groups and foster a change of posture and therefore mental agility too.
• A range of different materials can be displayed on the perforated wall panels for creative methods such as design thinking.
• Displays fitted flush with the walls integrate the digital information space and translucent wall panels in ceiling tracks divide up the space into flexible zones with more privacy if people want to work in small groups.

Now more than ever, it’s vital to use the time to remember the advantages of collaborating together in one office space and make the appropriate concepts available. As more people will opt to work from home in future too, (particularly if they really need to concentrate) some of the workspaces in offices can be repurposed to encourage collaboration. 

Anyone who spends weeks working from home, starts to lose their bond with colleagues and the organisations they work for too. Because workplaces are, first and foremost, communities made up of the people who work there. 

Remote workers often feel out of touch with workplace dynamics and possibly their own role in a team. Therefore, encouraging a sense of community is vital because many segments are currently having to adapt to the changes imposed by the market quickly. 

A community is the foundation for any form of constructive collaboration and processes of change and innovation in particular. As an integral part of its culture, a sense of community is key to an organisation’s identity and an important means of setting an employer apart from others. 

And in a knowledge-based economy, it’s crucial to achieving an organisation’s goals and engendering a sense of purpose that goes above and beyond just profit. Therefore, nurturing, maintaining and developing a community is one of the most important roles the office has to play.

But space, in all senses of the word, is required to generate a community. A community can’t be dictated, but it can be fostered:

• Rituals in meetings are important so that colleagues feel they are in a familiar environment.
• Celebrating successes or events together is another key way of strengthening a sense of community.
• Eating and drinking together is also one of the most beneficial and sociable ways of forging a bond with others.
• Impromptu encounters with others that forge and strengthen relationships.

In a knowledge-based economy, the community is crucial to achieving an organisation’s goals and engendering a sense of purpose that goes above and beyond just profit. Therefore, nurturing, maintaining and developing it is one of the most important roles the office has to play.

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.

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.
• Depending on the weather, the patio can also be used as somewhere for group work, or for breaks. Chassis chairs and small, round Aline tables for outdoor use are ideal.

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.