The future of work is more about people than it is about work.
Talent, competition, mobility, collaboration… The common theme here? People. Technology is an enabler and will remain an important tool in the progression of knowledge and creativity but in many ways the conversations around the future of work tend to revert to the people driving changes – the workers and the users.
When people work together, they are better prepared to ask questions, problem-solve, and innovate. A different lens through which to view the future of work can be through people. By bringing people together, increasing interaction and deepening connections, we can begin to push the limits of innovation to create new services, products, share knowledge and provide solutions.
To solve today’s problems, we need new ways of thinking and as we are faced with some of the biggest global challenges to date, it is important to evolve our approaches to solving past challenges and building and strengthening communities is one solution. Collaborative spaces provide greater choice and flexibility to workers but they also function as part of a social economy, providing space and infrastructure for people from different industries and backgrounds to create new and diverse communities.
Community is important because it provides the diversity needed to tackle problems from different angles and allows the accumulation of individual efforts to contribute towards a greater common purpose – often needed when tackling challenges such as socio-economic instability, food insecurity, energy access, rising poverty and inequality.
“What we want to achieve with the HX experience is the fact that human experience is not going to work if you do not have that spirit of community within your workplace. It’s very important to have a culture that encourages communities to be creative, to let them be.”
Dr Marie Puybaraud, Global Head of Research, JLL Corporate Solutions.
Connection between people in the workplace will be a key determinant in the success of future of work strategies going forward. Community will help create and nurture responsive workplaces capable of tackling the biggest challenges we are already facing.