Summary of regional co-founder - David Canta's presentation at 'Outsourcing Today: Workplace of the Future', Nov 2017
I believe that we are at the foothills of a workplace revolution which will redefine the way people and corporations are designing and organising their professional environment. We discussed at Outsourcing Today how the workplace of the future will look like and what it’s impact will be on the bottom line!
Let me highlight a couple of thoughts regarding these paradigm shifts:
- From HEAD count to HEART count: designing the workplace by having the organisational chart as the guiding 'architect' is a thing of the past. Performing today's added value tasks requires ingenuity and teamwork. We cannot treat people like cattle (how the term headcount was initially coined) but rather cherish each one's individuality and uniqueness. We should not see people as commodity but rather as community
- From big HQ to big COWORKING: organisations are not linear or static entities, but rather living organisms. They grow, shrink, are made up of different organs (functions), perform well at times and go through rough patches at others - they have 'moods'. The 'Big HQ' approach adopted by most corporations nowadays does not adequately address human needs of commuting, interaction with clients and colleagues, diversity and inspirations from other ecosystems. That is why I believe there is ever growing pressure on companies to reduce the footprint of HQs and give people access to coworking spaces. These nimble spaces can be incredible 'satellites' which address many of these critical issues. No big corporation can artificially curate the environment to foster innovation and diversity like an genuine coworking community can. I think this is the sharing economy principle applied to workspace, like Uber is to commuting and Airbnb is to accommodation.
At Commons, our goal is to create a space which addresses these two key issues. A space with special regard for the human needs of each individual, each of whom contributes a unique dimension to a thriving natural community.