WorkSpace Wednesday: Predicting the Future of Work

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Young businesswoman looking into crystal ball

Image: Andrey Popov - stock.adobe.com

As I discuss today on our sister site, WorkSpace Connect, global analyst firm CCS Insight has a few predictions for how the remote work experience of today will influence workplace transformation in the coming years.

The predictions come from Angela Ashenden, who leads CCS Insight’s workplace transformation research practice (and blogs on occasion for No Jitter), as shared during the firm’s “Predictions Week: 2021 and Beyond” event earlier this week. Ashenden gave a nod to the challenges businesses have experienced with supporting remote work at scale and individuals have encountered along the way, but noted that denying the viability of remote work is a bit difficult now. Overall, business leaders and employees have had their eyes opened to the possibility of remote work as a long-term opportunity, she said.

With that realization comes three workplace predictions, Ashenden said. You can get the full details in that post, “Eying the Future of Work from a WFH Perch,” but here’s the quick summary:

In 2022, more than half of all office-based employees will still be mainly working from home.
Features that track and promote well-being will appear in all collaboration and HR applications by 2021.
Online whiteboard and co-editing technologies become a hot area of investment in 2021.

If these predictions resonate with you, you’ll also want to check out additional recent WorkSpace Connect posts for related insight. For example, read:

“Working Wellness into the Workday,” for a look at why well-being needs to be on the corporate agenda
“Leveraging Collaboration Tech to Reduce Isolation,” to see how you can help ensure remote work doesn’t lead to productivity declines
“WFH vs. Return to Office: The Debate Rages On,” for a discussion of how important it is to facilitate collaboration and innovation while keeping everybody happy no matter where they’re working

Visit us at WorkSpace Connect for ongoing discussion on how IT, real estate/facilities, and HR come together in creating connected, collaborative workplaces.