For the majority of people, the time spent in the office occupies more than 70% of their week. Studies have shown that the group that spends the most time sitting is those who need to sit at their desks for long periods, with 70%-85% of their work time spent sitting. Creating an ideal, immersive, and human-centric workspace has become an important issue in modern society. Corporate success is no longer solely dependent on product or service innovation, but also on whether an environment can be created that promotes employee well-being, sparks creativity, and enhances productivity. With the continuous evolution of the global labor market and the profound impact of technology on work methods, companies are facing unprecedented challenges—how to ensure employee health while improving efficiency, maintaining orderly operations, and embracing the trend of digitalization.
In the past, office space design often focused on functionality and cost-effectiveness, neglecting the long-term investment in employees’ physical and mental health. The latest research shows that a well-designed, vibrant, and intelligent office environment can not only significantly reduce employees’ health risks but also greatly enhance job satisfaction and team collaboration efficiency. This has prompted more and more companies to rethink their office space layouts and explore how to deeply integrate the concepts of health, order, efficiency, and intelligence to adapt to the needs of modern work.
Against this backdrop, the workplace is no longer just a place that provides a desk and a chair, but is gradually becoming a comprehensive ecosystem that includes monitoring and care for employee health, intelligent management of workflows, support for remote collaboration, and the pursuit of personalized work experiences. This transformation not only reflects a deep understanding of the value of employees by companies but also demonstrates forward-looking insights into future work trends.
Health First, Smart Monitoring at Your Desk
In the pursuit of higher productivity, businesses have to recognize that employee health is the foundation of their own healthy development. Constructing a modern office space means integrating smart technology with human-centered design to create an ideal work environment that supports both physical and mental health.
Ergonomic design is the most important and fundamental aspect of this. Choosing office furniture that aligns with ergonomic principles, such as adjustable height smart desks, not only reduces muscle fatigue and skeletal stress caused by long periods of poor posture but also enhances work focus. Additionally, the application of smart health monitoring systems, like sensors integrated into workstations, can monitor employees’ activity levels and sitting-standing ratios in real-time, issuing reminders to stand up when necessary, encouraging active lifestyles and preventing the health risks associated with prolonged sitting.
Orderly Operations, Online Management
In modern office environments, orderliness is crucial for achieving efficient operations. Smart office spaces utilize advanced space management and resource coordination mechanisms to seamlessly integrate physical spaces with digital information, ensuring rational resource utilization and smooth team collaboration.
Post-pandemic, the hybrid work model has gained momentum, leading to challenges in determining the optimal number of workstations. Overprovisioning leads to waste, while undersupply results in employees without a place to sit. 9am has developed an integrated solution combining software and hardware to address these needs. By analyzing our workstation usage data, business managers can set fixed workstations based on demand and allocate some flexible workstations based on actual usage. This approach allows for the rational allocation of workstations and space. Employees can also book workstations through their OA system or Teams, with the information displayed on e-ink screens. Management can view the entire work area’s usage to adjust workstation allocation plans.
Embarking on the Future Office Space
From an enterprise management perspective, providing a high-efficiency office experience is an important issue. With the abundance of digital workstations and other office assets, many enterprises still rely on paper documents or Excel for organization and record-keeping. 9am addresses these pain points from a management perspective. In 2023, we launched the Smart Share Plan -Digitalization 3.0. This project includes software features such as workstation allocation, asset management, and an online comprehensive service center, all of which are standard with digital workstations. Workstation and asset management can be conducted online through intelligent means, including after-sales services, significantly enhancing enterprise administrative efficiency.
On the journey to explore the office space of the future, we have witnessed how technology is reshaping the workplace and seen its profound significance in driving sustainable development and building a future office culture.
Building a healthy, orderly, efficient, and intelligent office space raises the bar for modern enterprise infrastructure, and also requires a redefinition of corporate culture and values. By adopting a human-centric design approach and leveraging the power of cutting-edge technology, businesses can create an ideal workplace that supports individual growth and promotes team collaboration.
The new office space represents a new philosophy of work, transcending the traditional concept of the workplace to become an ecosystem that integrates health, efficiency, innovation, and social responsibility. We believe that as technology continues to evolve and corporate culture deepens, the office space will continue to evolve and enter a new phase.