Whether you’re working from your laptop in the front seat of your Chevy van or tied into a high-rise cube, your work environment is changing.
No longer can you do just the “9 to 5” thing. And just because you’re an outside salesperson doesn't mean you aren’t expected to quickly respond to customer requests.
Just by taking a look around you’ll see that everyone’s looking at their digital device OR looking for a place to plug in said device to keep it powered up.
So “get excited about the future of the work environment,” says Doug Mockett of Doug Mockett and Co. during his presentation at Neocon 2015.
And start by asking these all-important questions:
- What is your office culture?
- Who works in the space?
- How is the work done?
- What kind of environment is it?
Whether you’re a large corporate entity or a one-woman show, thinking about how technology will evolve plays into creating your effective work environment today. Decisions about buildings and location of equipment and electrical as well as how much collaboration needs to take place all play into the decisions you’ll make because they are typically long term decisions. And this holds true whether we’re talking about desk space or machine space.
Most of us are familiar with “screen to machine” technology, but what about work surfaces that are all LED? You won’t have a desk, you’ll have a surface.
Mockett made note of the following things to pay attention to:
- An emerging technology called uBeam that uses ultrasound for things like charging electronic devices at a distance.
- A company called Qi (pronounced “Chi” - love that) that uses Inductive technology that transfers power from the base to the receiver of electronic devices for charging purposes. There are several major hotel chains as well as McDonald’s and Ikea that are offering this technology as a service to their customers according to Mockett.
So for the man who made his name with grommets and wire management, isn’t he a bit scared that the technology is going to put him out of business? It doesn’t seem so. Like any true entrepreneur, he’s looking to the future and thinking of ways to incorporate the technology into his product lines.
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