The workspace of the future: Your mind

In this fluid model, a ritualistic use of space combines with data-driven technology to create the conditions for free-flowing creativity, collaboration and productivity. JLL’s most recent Workforce Preference Barometer report reveals “quality of life, and health and well-being” to be the top priorities of workers, for the first time surpassing “a comfortable salary.” It is an attitudinal shift that corporations might heed in an intensifying war for talent. Human-focused workplace solutions are increasingly seen as key to achieving the winning edge.

Since it started publishing research on The Future of Work in 2015, JLL has anticipated these trends by developing work solutions at the intersection of wellness and productivity. At a time when predictions were rife about artificial intelligence replacing humans, Mr. Hamley says, JLL went in the opposite direction: “We put human experience right at the center of the whole Future of Work framework.”

Nathan Sri, solutions director for workplace and human experience in Asia Pacific, JLL, says massive pandemic workflow disruptions have ultimately had a liberating effect on property development by enabling a fundamental rethink of the nature and purpose of the sector.

“As we gradually come out of the pandemic, we’re increasingly seeing our clients’ real estate focus and needs shifting to experience rather than physical space specifications,” says Mr. Sri. “This drives home the point that if you want to bring people back into the office, it has to be all about how individual and team needs are being met, through an integration of data technology with human-focused services that drive great experiences.”

Concretely, he explains, such experiences developed by JLL include offices fitted with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors that enable ambient adjustments based on usage patterns or packaged wellness services that integrate meditation, exercise or reading breaks into a working calendar. A solution called Experience Anywhere enables people to instantly access productivity and wellness solutions wherever and whenever they choose—be it office, home or mountain retreat—a flexspace approach that may soon include the metaverse. Workspace ambassadors, meanwhile, walk the floors of JLL-designed offices, engaging with staffers, gathering data insights and making recommendations about everything from nature walks to room-booking optimization. It’s a role Mr. Hamley says makes them “a cross between data scientists and anthropologists.” More than ever, the job of managing a workplace needs to be in complete sync with the needs of modern knowledge workers. Mr. Hamley likens the vision to a “choreography of thought” in which intelligent workspaces become a stage for directing a subtle cognitive dance that enables people not only to excel, but adapt nimbly to fast-changing conditions in unpredictable times.