Jeffrey Langdon of Adaptive Office Resources explaining the emergence of Office 3.0.
Hurricane Irma may have blown out plans for a sun-kissed gathering in South Beach, but GWA’s Office Evolution Conference successfully pivoted. Hosted in Brooklyn, NY alongside NAIOP (Commercial Real Estate Development Associations) the three-day conference was full of tours, talks and opportunities for exchange among flexible workspace owners and operators.
NAIOP’s presence added a great deal of value to the content. Experts from CBRE, Gensler, Convene, Delos, Industrious, Serendipity Labs, and various others addressed topics from a landlord’s perspective and also presented useful and informative content on the future of work and the workplace.
Below you will find several key takeaways from The Office Evolution Conference.
- The physical workplace is one of the primary drivers of job satisfaction, which is why human resource directors are increasingly getting involved in decisions relative to work environments. Ryan Simonetti from Convene explained that those responsible for developing strategies to attract and retain workers are powerful decision-makers. A point he illustrated by sharing an anecdote of a recent bid to manage amenity space at High 5 Gaming. The story goes that the human resources director called for the two finalist companies to put on a party, and employees later voted for their favorite one. The winning firm got the contract–it’s an entire new way of doing business.
- Research from NAIOP and Convene showed that common spaces provide opportunities to create value for landlords, operators, and users via amenity programs. Activating spaces with amenities and programming such as outdoor workspaces, food trucks, happy hours, and speakers creates opportunities for socialization among tenants; as well as the option to work beyond the tenant’s suite. Convene’s program at One World Trade Center spans 25,000 square feet of amenities, including a micro-brew coffee shop, grab-and-go café, work lounges, flexible meeting and event space, game rooms, and curated community and wellness programming.