Today the office workplace must be flexible enough to be able to quickly and easily adapt to change. These are important features of an agile workplace. It must be versatile and able to support individual ways of working. It’s a place that must be able to provide the opportunity for employees to do work wherever and whenever, so long as it meets the needs of the organization.

According to an article in RFP Magazine, “An agile working environment – where some or all staff are enabled to work from any where, are not assigned to specific desks and are frequently not required to ‘check in’ to any office at particular hours but are judged instead by performance – is a popular choice amongst multinationals in today’s cost conscious and volatile environment.”

New Focus

An agile workplace is one that has moved away from traditional method of work into one that seeks to accommodate workers individual needs and focusing on productivity instead of time in the office. Some people are more productive at night while others thrive working a standard eight hours. With four generations in the workplace, much of it is generational preferences. Rather than worry about being late for work or not following office rules, the emphasis is on completing the assigned tasks and measuring employees by their productivity. Many offices who have done this report very positive results. Workers are happier, enjoy their work more, work longer hours and are more productive. Success with projects increases.

Goals

Before a company initiates an agile workplace, they need to make certain it will meet with their goals. If the everyone actually needs to be in the office, workers will have to be willing to accept a certain level of work scheduling. An office hoteling reservation system can be put in place to assure all employees have a place to work when they are in the office. The goal is to provide as much freedom for workers as possible as long as the needs of the business are met.

Technology

The only way most agile workplaces are successful is with the proper utilization of technology. Mobile and many wireless devices make it possible for people to work at any location. Technology increase communication options. It provides a way for employees to perform in whatever environment where they’re most comfortable; whether it is the office, home or any other 3rd party location.