Part One of Three: Future Workplace will be a Network of Places

Defining Work So It Can Be Matched to Place

The Future of Work

There is quite a lot of talk these days about ‘the future of work’ and the future of workplaces. We have a strong conviction that there is no going ‘back to the way things were.’ We have a parallel conviction that the future work place will actually be a network of places. These network places will not be arbitrary or random. They will be matched to the requirements of the work and will accommodate in specific ways the personality and preferences of the worker.

 

Each Node on that Workplace Network will be Tuned to Specific Kinds of Work

These network nodes will be tuned to specific kinds of work — work that can be done by someone working alone, work that requires or benefits from intermittent interactions with colleagues, to work that requires high volume and high-intensity interactions. This workplace-as-a-network can be more flexible and adaptable than the highly constructed and highly constricting ‘central office’ with its sea of cubes in the past.

 

The Crux of the Matter will be Matching Work to Place

If each place doesn’t have to be all things to all people (like the office of the past) but can be tuned to specific kinds of work, then how do we know how to match work to place? That’s the million-dollar question! We think we have the answer — or rather we think we know how to do the work that will provide the answer. We don’t believe there is an ‘easy button’ but we do believe that there is substantial and enduring value in defining work in such a way that it can be matched to place.

 

We’re Missing a Key Ingredient from our Job Descriptions

Think of every job description you’ve ever seen, read or written. It has three things: Qualifications necessary to the role, activities performed by the role and where the role fits in a reporting/control structure. What it does NOT have is any description of the kinds of places in which those activities are best performed. (Now this makes some sense since as long as there was a word for white-collar work there was one and only one place in which to do that work — the office. So the workplace answer for every activity of every role was simple and the same — the office!).

Now imagine if that job description ALSO had a brief section that said based on the activities performed by this role:

  • x% of the work can be completed by the individual working independently,
  • y% needs intermittent interactions with colleagues, and
  • z% requires frequent and fast interaction.

With that, we should start to see how we can match work to place. Next, we’ll explore how understanding the amount and intensity of interactions required by a particular type of work can point us toward a way to match work to place.

Connect with Us

If you would like to continue a discussion on this topic, contact us by email or +1 214 292 7000.

 

About the Author

Chris Shaida, CEO and Founder

Chris Shaida is the founder and CEO of RealFoundations. Chris brings over 30 years of real estate industry experience to RealFoundations. He has played an essential role in building and managing real estate information technology consulting practices both within a “Big 4” management consulting firm and a real estate-focused professional services firm. Chris founded RealFoundations to provide a place where like-minded professionals are able to focus their deep industry and solution knowledge and passion to help improve the operations of our real estate industry and corporate real estate clients.

Chris has experience in each of RealFoundations’ defined market sectors, with depth of knowledge in the homebuilder and corporate real estate segments. Chris and his teams have served as trusted business advisors to some of the most recognized names in the real estate industry, including Kaufman & Broad, Hovnanian, Centex, Shea Homes, GIC and Simon Properties.

Shaida founded RF to provide a place where like-minded professionals are able to focus their deep industry and solution knowledge to help improve the operations of our real estate industry and corporate real estate clients.

 

 

 

About RealFoundations

RealFoundations is the world’s foremost professional services firm focused solely on the real estate industry. Through our delivery of Management Consulting and Managed Services, we help companies that develop, own, operate, service or invest in real estate make better, more profitable decisions. We are proud partners to over 500 real estate companies around the globe, providing accelerated solutions that solve some of real estate’s most complex challenges. We Make Real Estate Run Better.