There is still a lot of work to be done.
The future of work is fluid, it doesn’t live in one extreme or another.
It’s composed of people working from home, in the office or elsewhere. It’s made up of salary workers and contract workers, evolving simultaneously or at different rhythms.
In the blink of an eye, the future of work has arrived and is undergoing fundamental changes. We’re no longer in the 9-5 routine, as employers are rethinking how to revolutionize the way we work together and separately. The question is how we can contribute to this change, both as workers and as companies.
Magnetized office
Working from home has been a saving grace for families, introverts and many more people who have finally found their work-life balance. On the other hand, the traditional office still has its advantages when it comes to communication, teamwork and a sense of belonging.
Inspired by these ideas, future workspace layouts should aim to foster connections between employees and their environment in order to strengthen and support their overall well-being, while having the potential to become e a home away from home. Naturally, this goes beyond happy hour or ping-pong tables, as it’s about developing the right tools and designing the spaces in an inclusive way for collaboration, co-creation and a meaningful sense of community.
Here are some avenues for reflection:
Design work spaces
that are fluid, flexible, and easy to adapt.
Provide
office spaces that imitate the comfort of home.
Design
common areas for collaborative work and social encounters.
Contribute to improve
employee well-being.
Transform
hot desking and hotelling systems.
The potential solutions proposed could involve the reimagining of spaces, objects or systems in the work environment.
Apply for this
challenge
and together we will explore the world of possibilities for Canadian citizens.
Here are the challenges Looking for
inspiration?
An office camp outside
Is it possible to create places escape to at the office? Google turned a parking lot and lawn into a peaceful courtyard with Wi-Fi access. Meeting spaces inspired by a natural California retreat and state-of-the-art video conferencing equipment were also added.
Gardening with colleagues
Ciel mon radis strengthens team engagement by asking its employees to do the dirty work… literally. By gardening together, they create bonds that strengthen their collaboration, and also get to bring their favourite vegetables home.
Pet’s friendly office
At Bark’s office, cohabitation with pets has been taken to a whole new level—ever since its inception.
Out of site/In the sight
Random meetings in hallways, chatting around the coffee machine or in the break room are routine aspects of the office lifestyle that people missed the most during the lockdown. These casual encounters can lead to amazing conversations, problem solving, increased productivity, and teamwork.
There are still methods to improve and create ways to ensure great communication and a sense of belonging for teams that are working off-site. Your solution can take the form of a tool, a system, or a product, as remote work has no limits.
La Piscine has identified some ideas to choose from:
Create a sense of belonging
for teams working remotely
Facilitate communication
and collaboration of teams
– In different time zones
– With cultural differences
– In different languages
Encourage positive feedback
and professional advancement despite being physically distant.
Develop tools
to increase confidence and communication between colleagues and management.
Apply for this
challenge
and together we will explore the world of possibilities for Canadian citizens.
Here are the challenges Looking for
inspiration?
A slice together
The Pizza Time platform offers the simplest remote pizza night.
An online version of yourself
The metaverse is here. Inspired by the world of gaming, Branch offers virtual spaces where users can interact and converse as in real life.
Random conversations with colleagues
A Slack-based tool called Donut aims to make the office water fountain virtual by creating chance encounters and encouraging people to get to know each other through virtual coffees.
Together for personal goals
Is it possible to create a sense of belonging even for freelancers working remotely? The in-depth work facilitation platform, Flown, offers “Flocks,” targeted online group work sessions, led by expert facilitators.
Re(mote) conn3ction
Working from home can have its advantages, but uncomfortable chairs, distractions, and the blurring of lines between private and professional life are some of its disadvantages. The office, however, also presents its share of distractions. That’s why the creation of workspaces that are neither the desk nor the sofa is gaining ground. A third workspace to eliminate unwanted distractions and improve the general well-being of workers.
Once materialized through co-working spaces and shared offices, the third workplace is taking a calming turn, with spaces available from morning to night that don’t look like the typical office. They’re called greendesks, and they aim to foster connection to oneself, to nature, and within teams.
Here are some avenues for reflection:
Adapt unused or underused spaces
to transform them into efficient, flexible and temporary workplaces:
– Hotels
– Vacant land
– Urban areas
– Rural areas
– Restaurant areas…
Designing third work spaces
for a better connection experience with oneself and with nature.
Developing systems
that allow workers and teams to connect to each other as part of a third workspace.
Create greendesking areas,
a place of escape where you can go focus for the last stretch before an important deadline.
Reduce possible distractions
in greendesk spaces:
– Wind
– Lighting
– Noise
Apply for this
challenge
and together we will explore the world of possibilities for Canadian citizens.
Here are the challenges Looking for
inspiration?
A work getaway
Flown offers several wonderful rental properties for remote work and recharging your batteries. Offered to individuals and to teams.
An office pod
The Archetype pod by Denizen is a subscription-based 90 square metres smart personal office that can be set up almost anywhere in the world.
A reserved working spot in a restaurant
Workden transforms unused spaces into affordable workspace. The application offers daily, weekly and monthly subscriptions which give access to all its partner spaces.
An office in nature
Voted green capital of Europe in 2021, Lahti (Finland) wants to encourage its inhabitants to enjoy the calming effect of nature and has therefore installed workstations Viita in the city’s natural sites, which everyone can use for free.
Hubtown
With the rise of fluid models and hybrid workspaces in society, these changes will profoundly affect the construction of cities as we know them. Once known as our havens, homes are now places of work and vice versa. This has a profound effect on the future role of the city centre, which was historically a place of business.
With the majority of workers working flexibly in the city centre, how could 9 to 5 routine work spaces change? The answer is: through a transformed centre that connects humans to one another in the downtown area.
Here are some avenues for reflection:
Transform the workplace
by moving from a business-centred approach to a human-centred one.
Create central meeting points
in a transparent way, that connect people from the suburbs, from rural areas, or from the city centre.
Imagine new hubs
based on interactions and lifestyles.
Change the vocation of the city centre
from business exchange to emotional exchange.
Apply for this
challenge
and together we will explore the world of possibilities for Canadian citizens.
Here are the challenges Looking for
inspiration?
Street moves
The Street Moves project aims to bring Swedish streets to life by using interactive kits to replace parking spaces with “human spaces.” Municipalities or residents can use the kit to quickly create spaces for play, outdoor gymnastics, culture, social centres or anything else they would like to add to their neighbourhood.
No-car city center
Having decided to have a car-free city centre, the city of Oslo has removed all parking spaces and restricted car access. Today, pedestrian areas are among the most popular areas of the city. The idea is not limited to Oslo, with cities like Paris, Brighton (UK) and Amsterdam following similar plans.
The Process
01
Generate opportunities
Here, we uncover concrete approaches using a rigorous research method that leverages our diverse talents and expertise.
02
Set the pace
Once an approach has been validated, a development framework and a clear roadmap are established. Through its structure, The Studio ensures a constant and sustained pace. We don’t have time to mess around.
03
Build relationships
To support the growth of the project, we sit around the same table as different experts, business partners and investors to share ideas and—ultimately—handshakes.
Entrepreneurs
Test your limits and break out of the mould: welcome to a highly collaborative space that brings together thinkers, go-getters and creators. We’re looking for someone like you who can craft a solid plan for each of our themes—and put it into action.
Creatives
We’re choosing a world where we cultivate the beautiful and the new, even in its most unexpected forms. Creative people from all walks of life, we need your ideas and artistic solutions. Together, let’s shape a world where art and entrepreneurship elegantly converge.
Professionnels
Do you have expertise in a related field? We want to meet you. By bringing together the leaders of the sector, we’re building a network of leading entrepreneurs and creatives, with the mission of accelerating the search for solutions to the major challenges of tomorrow.
