Holographic bosses? Robot assistants? Virtual water coolers? Anything is possible in the workplace of the future! Office design and technology is rapidly evolving as businesses look for innovative ways to maximize efficiency and get the most out of their employees. But as future offices become increasingly “virtual,” will they help or hinder collaboration?

We have a question for you. What is YOUR vision of the office of the future? Let us know in the comments!
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[TRANSCRIPT]:
Your 3D holographic boss sent his robot assistant to get coffee. It’s just another day in the office.

Businesses have been obsessed with increasing efficiency and getting the most out of their employees, and this goes all the way to how they set up their office space.

Now in the early 20th Century, your typical office looked like a giant open factory floor with a manager up above looming over the employees. And in the 1980s we saw the birth of the beautiful cubicle farm, which could be kind of a bummer to work in, but hey, it gave us Dilbert and that fax machine scene in Office Space, so they’re not all bad right?

Meanwhile as technology has evolved, the office has evolved as well. Mobile technology and tablets have given rise to open office environments where you might not even sit at the same desk everyday. At one of these offices you would come into work and a computer would tell you which desks are available, and you pick which one you want based upon what you’re working on and who you need to see. You just have to remember to take that photo of you and your dog with you when you’re done for the day.

And of course with wifi becoming more available, the office now is really wherever you are. See we’ve had video conferencing for years, but now companies are experimenting with telepresence robots which allow the user to control the point of view and look at who or whatever they want based upon a robotic camera eye. They can even move around and get a feel for the office, maybe they’ll go on down to the water cooler for some juicy gossip.

So, what might a typical office day look like in, say, 2030? Not so typical.

You might start your day with a 3D holographic video conference with your CEO. Then log into your department meeting via your avatar which can mimic your actual movements and facial expressions. Now as you work, software tracks which apps you use for how long, which emails you tend to put off, and the tone of your response in the emails you send. Your body monitoring device encourages you to get up if you’ve been sitting around for too long doing things like playing the video games developed by your company to encourage and reward innovative thinking.

Moving around gets your heart rate up, it might get some alpha waves going to really encourage creativity. And speaking about alpha waves and creativity, companies like 3M and Google are doing that by setting aside time, sometimes between fifteen and twenty percent of an employees work week to work on pet projects. Other companies inspire employees to take naps or long walks or even just work from home all the time. Eventually we’ll probably move into an environment where we just have virtual offices and robot assistants will answer all of our emails for us. But will such work be rewarding?

Well think about it. Work has evolved over time. Toiling the fields has given way in large part to toiling over a thirty-seven message long email chain, or trying to figure out how to keep people from nodding off during your PowerPoint presentation on “Assessing Possible Synergies to Critical Success Factors Across Multiple Verticals.” It’s still toiling.

One thing that will not change, though, is that we still need people to work together to solve problems collaboratively, whether it’s in a video conference or a challenging video game level. And one other thing that might not change are work hierarchies. So a little word of advice, watch what you say about the boss when you’re at the water cooler – even if it’s a virtual water cooler.