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Blog / Offices / What is Smart Working, the new method of flexible working?
What is Smart Working, the new method of flexible working?

What is Smart Working, the new method of flexible working?

MAY 2024
·
4 minutes

The new global challenges are forcing companies to transform themselves. To modify their structure, their processes, their teams and their own spaces to achieve a more agile and flexible work system. Able to respond to the new times, taking advantage of the opportunities opened up by technology and boosting the creativity and wellbeing of the team, a new way of working known as Smart Working is emerging.

Flexible office proposal

What is Smart Working?

To understand what "Smart Working" means, we could say that it is a new way of approaching work that abandons rigidities and predetermined patterns to focus on what is relevant: ideas, projects and people.

New methodologies arise that favour flexibility in the interests of creativity and well-being. It seeks to create value and innovation through intelligent collaboration between people and technologies. Cooperation that helps to reduce operating costs and reduce the impact on the environment.

It also involves a change in the working culture and seeks to provide the necessary working framework to generate intelligent and agile processes that favour the effectiveness of the organisation and its capacity to adapt to change.

Basic concepts in Smart Working

Smartworking focuses on four concepts that take on a new dimension: space, time, technology and people.

Work is no longer confined to the physical boundaries of the company, to a desk and a chair. Different tasks may require different spaces and different colleagues, even in remote locations. It is the task that is important, not the place where it is performed.
Office of the future
Space
Work planning
Weather
The automation and reorganisation of processes allows you to focus on strategic objectives, making work independent of place or time. This brings flexibility to individual tasks and frees up team time for creativity and innovation.
Technology has revolutionised work by optimising processes and allowing flexibility of space and time. However, to be truly effective, this transformation must always be aligned with the structure and objectives of the company.
People working on Actiu furniture
Technology
Person working on Actiu furniture
Persons
The new methodologies place people at the centre, replacing rigidity of time and space with trust and responsibility, prioritising creativity and results, promoting freedom and well-being. This approach prioritises creativity and results, promoting freedom and well-being. By allowing each employee to decide his or her working methods, their commitment and satisfaction are strengthened, which are decisive factors today in attracting and retaining talent.

The configuration of each of these concepts depends on each company and each team. In fact, the Smartworking philosophy is articulated around four models: Agile Working, Activity Based Working, Knowledge-Based Working and Experience-Based Working.

This model is based on trust and individual responsibility, driving a cultural transformation that prioritises results over presence. By granting full autonomy and flexibility over where, when and how to work, it fosters a cross-cutting approach that is fully customer and user centric.
Example of a smart working office
Agile Working
Activity-Based Working
Activity-Based Working
It is an evolution of Agile Working but focuses on the activity being performed. It encourages team collaboration and encourages employees to discover and implement the best way of working through the design of the space. It is no longer the individual but the team that occupies a certain area of the office.
This approach integrates data intelligence to understand human behaviour. By collecting and analysing patterns, the company is able to adapt its processes in real time to the dynamic needs of both employees and customers.
Knowledge-Based Working
Knowledge-Based Working
Experience-Based Working
Experience-Based Working
Leading workspaces prioritise experience and community over ownership. By offering full flexibility and mobility, they allow the employee to choose how, where and when to work, aligning with the preferences of new generations. This strategy puts the focus on wellbeing, transforming the office into a vital connection point to foster engagement and a sense of teamwork.

Smart workspaces provide solutions

In this sense, the workspace has a lot to contribute to the transformation of companies. The design and layout of the space itself, as well as the choice of furniture, must respond to this need for flexibility and to the specific requirements of each company and each team. The versatility of the furniture makes it possible to create spaces for concentration, socialising, communication or dispersion. There are various furniture solutions that make it possible to create Smart Working spaces and give employees the power to move their workstation according to their daily needs.

These "Smart working" spaces represent the avant-garde in the conceptualisation and design of working environments. In this paradigm, "Smart offices" are at the core, offering innovative solutions that transcend mere spatial functionality to embrace efficiency, sustainability and user wellbeing.

Smart offices are designed to dynamically adapt to the needs of workers, incorporating state-of-the-art technologies to optimise resource management, facilitate remote collaboration and promote a healthy working environment. Flexible spaces generate flexible business models and agile processes and allow the incorporation of a wide range of people, ensuring their comfort and well-being. They enhance communication and innovation and, in this sense, furniture becomes an ally of productivity and talent.

For architects, interior designers and industry experts, this represents an exciting challenge: that of redefining the traditional concept of workspace, integrating innovative architectural elements with advanced technological solutions. Thus, "Smart working" coupled with "Smart offices" not only improves productivity and well-being, but also positions itself as a fundamental pillar in the construction of future sustainable and human-centred work environments.

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