The technology in our lives is continually evolving and shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. Big companies understand the impact technology has and are willing to invest hundreds of thousands of pounds in the hope they’ll make the next big breakthrough.
Technology and the workplace come hand in hand. There aren’t many industries where a computer isn’t a necessity. Even a tradesman like a builder might keep track of their projects and budgets on a spreadsheet.
So how might technology affect our workplaces in the future?
Communication
If answering the phone is a regular part of your work, you’ll know how much of a distraction it can be. You’ve got other things to be working on, but you feel pestered by other people.
Currently, you or your business might use a service like www.talktalkbusiness.co.uk/products/voice/sip-trunking/sip-trunks/ to make your phone calls. In the future, you might never have to answer the phone again. A smart automated phone system can be put in place to ‘talk’ to people for you, so you won’t get distracted by a constantly ringing phone.
Work From Home
It’s easy for a lot of people to work at home at the moment. Thanks to shared drives and files on the internet, most work can be accessed from just about anywhere, which means you can work from home and have most of the same tools as you would in the office.
But what if you could work from home full time? You could use virtual reality to attend meetings with your colleagues, whilst not leaving your bed.
Productivity
We’re often told to take short breaks little and often. Too much screen time isn’t good for us. If we don’t take a short ten-minute break every couple of hours, we can soon feel tired, depleted, and unmotivated.
So what if you could have a device that measures your productivity and tells you what you’re doing wrong? It might alert you every 2 hours to take a break. It might measure your body conditions and alert you when your blood sugar gets too low, reminding you to eat, allowing you to keep as productive as possible whilst working.
There are many ways our workplaces could be affected by technology. Some of them aren’t that unlikely, and probably aren’t that far off with the likes of devices such as Alexa entering our homes.
What technology would you like to see in the workplace by 2025?