As real estate professionals, the single best way we have to leave our mark on an organization is through the workplaces we implement. The design, furniture, layout, colors, materials, amenities, and feel of the space are all things we can point to and say “I did that.” But real estate is not usually the place where you should need to put a personal stamp on things.
I’m a big believer that workplaces should not be designed for today, they should be designed for 3 years from now. The biggest reason for that is that none of us know where we will be in 3 years. Therefore, designing for a timeframe in the future forces you to design for the space to be maintainable and upgradeable by someone completely uninvolved in the project.
Cool new technology is great, but do you know how it will be supported in 3 years? Maybe going with the previous generation which has already worked all the bugs out and has 15 local vendors capable of supporting it.
The Workplace-as-a-Service model (aka Flex Workplace (aka CoWorking)) seems like the cool trend because it lets people pick their workday. But do you really know where those companies are going to be in 3 years? Do you really want to have to possibly come back and redesign furniture because it wasn’t sustainable for productivity? Maybe pick the best features but still have some classic design elements to ground the workplace with how your colleagues are used to working as well.
Real estate and workplace are all about the future. We build space that needs to still be effective and productive 10 to 20 years into the future. If you do that, you both build a kick-ass workplace and save the company all kinds of money. Don’t get selfish and try to leave your mark if that isn’t what is really needed. Just roll up your sleeves and get the job done first.