Building the collaboration space for tomorrow

Collaboration spaces  must have the right mix between space and technology to drive productivity, speed up decision making, and foster innovation.

The types of collaborative spaces offered today continue to evolve. As early as 2013, design firm Knoll,Inc.¹ recognized that the most rapidly growing types of collaborative spaces are those that support brainstorming, small unplanned meetings, videoconferencing and project team work. Most collaborative spaces will offer features that facilitate connection to technology, sharing of visual information, adaptability to changing work process and amenities that nourish the spirit such as availability of food,beverages, and daylight. It is noteworthy that most of the features mentioned have been taken as important factors in the building of today’s collaboration spaces.

The other important feature in the building of collaboration spaces is the way design, technology and users connect in order to drive productivity, speed up decision making, and foster innovation. Meanwhile, technology today includes functions such as access to cloud services, unified communications, and mobility. Design consideration is built around the size of space, proximity between users and tools, privacy, and a general, casual feel that should encourage participants to be more collaborative. Users are given access to personal tools (BYOD) and corporate resources on any device, from any location (remote participants in a collaboration or conferencing activity).

Below are the characteristics of a meeting space drawn up by Knoll designers that emphasize technology as an important feature:

Given these collaboration space features, the main benefits for employees or users would be:

• Quicker access to tools, be it apps or devices,  that allow them to gain knowledge and thus share more information.
• Improved communications between collaboration space users and other stakeholders (customers, remote participants, etc.).
• Added dexterity by using familiar or personal devices.
• Ability to work from anywhere that could reduce commute time, saving time and energy.

Arrive’s collaboration solutions can be integrated easily in today’s work spaces- be it huddle rooms or standard meeting rooms. The Arrive HuddlePoint, for example, can provide multiple functions that meet the needs of tomorrow’s collaboration spaces. As a power, media and cable hub, it facilitates connection to technology whether it is integrated in the room or brought in by users³ (BYOD). As a BYOC² ready and wired connectivity device, it allows sharing of visual information (ex. presentations, video conferencing, mirroring,etc.), and it adapts to changing work process since it is a flexible tool that can be integrated with 3rd party devices, existing room equipment, or utilized in many ways depending on user needs. //

¹www.knoll.com
²Bring-your-own-conferencing
³Wireless gateways such as the Arrive AirPoint device can be connected to a HuddlePoint for added BYOD wireless presentation or sharing capability