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Alea Fairchild – Strategic Views

Alea Fairchild – Strategic Views

Tag Archives: smart office

Why are so many of us preferring to work from home?

12 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by afairchild in Uncategorized

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connected workplace, smart office, work smarter

Like many, I get a lot of work done from my home office.  But there are drawbacks to it as well.  I miss the chance encounters with colleagues, I cannot catch up on the latest non-virtual watercooler info, and I miss the local lunch food options which are more plentiful in the center of the city. #foodie

But why do so many of us prefer home working?  Is it the commute, the better technology, the lack of a dress code?  😉

For me, the office environment lacks the inspirational aspects as well as the comforts.  My employer has set us up in goldfish bowl offices with no visual privacy and six to an office space (or more for the admin staff). Private conversations require departing to the hallway with the mobile. My colleagues down a floor below have created an open working space, but again with the goldfish windows and lack of atmosphere.

Personally, I love analyzing why certain office spaces make work fun.   I really enjoy the postings of such folks as Interior Architects (@IAarchitects) and Robin (@robinpowered ) who showcase the best of what workplaces can look like.

I do not need a Foosball table or a go-cart to make my life in the office complete.  But I want to work smart and live smart, as work/life are so combined these days.  I’d like a PUDO in the office, pick up/drop off dry cleaning, and group Deliveroo scheduling to save money and start conversations amongst foodies.

So why are employee experience services so low on the HR list of things to make the environment successful?    What role does HR play in the connected office?  Are role-based operations more efficient and/or more fun?

I am working on a smarter offices e-book, so if anyone wants to have conversations with me on the subject, reach out please.   🙂

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Wearables in the Enterprise – more than watches and glasses

05 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by afairchild in Uncategorized

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enterprise, recognition, role, smart office, wearables, workplace

When you hear the term “wearables”, you think of smart watches, fitbits and other consumer oriented devices. But the real market for wearables will be in the enterprise, such as on the shop floor, warehouses and in the conference rooms. This is the research I am working on right now.

Initial deployments should be industrial applications that have use cases that are specific with clear efficiency metrics and goals. Although some believe the “killer app” is the ability to work hands-free, the real level of personalization is the ability for the environment to recognize the user and his/her needs via their role in the organization. Entry/physical access, two factor authentication, personal preferences for heating and lighting, all of these can come from user recognition.

Another aspect of wearables is worker protection. For example, integrating intelligent textiles into clothing provides the possibility of changing color when exposed to damaging chemicals and/or radiation, warning the user of exposure in a way more immediately noticed than gauges or readings. Shape memory fabrics/garments can potentially be manufactured as novel fabrics which respond to the temperature stimulation, protecting workers by telling them when they might be in danger of cold or heat. And shear thickening fluid can be used for use in protective clothing as liquid body armour as it behaves as a liquid until it is exposed to mechanical stress. At that point, within a matter of milliseconds, it hardens into a solid. So when there is no threat to the wearer’s safety, he or she experiences little impairment in flexibility or range of motion, which is excellent for a warehouse or dock worker.

The eventual use of wearables among knowledge workers will be more of a generalized phenomenon, particularly when the devices become as multifunctional as their smart phones are. As many wear company badges for access to facilities, these could be become not only more fashionable but multifunctional as RFID and other technologies could be added to adapt the functionality to the role of the wearer.

Interested?  Get in touch with me.

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