Life of the future looks very different from what we are surrounded by these days. The progress in all spheres of life is moving really fast (Bardoel, 2012). In the years when our parents were born a simple cell phone would seem like some alien super technology. Five years may change the face of our digital world drastically. It goes without saying that in fifteen years our lives will no longer be what they are now.
A morning in fifteen years will still begin at home, an apartment of the future does not need to be too spacious as most of the furniture will be easy to transform, fold and hide. A kitchen can be easily turned into an office or a living room, or a bedroom (The Future of Work, 2013). The age of heavy furniture that constantly occupies half of the room is over. TV sets and music players are gone; they are fully replaced by the new computers. Showering, making a breakfast and washing the dishes can be quickly done just by pressing a couple of buttons. The future household appliances and devices are also multifunctional and easy to transform. In the life of the future everything is about time and speed- the faster you move, the more successful you are.
Travelling the way from home to the office is considered a huge waste of time. It only has to be done for three days a week for social purposes. Working process is exactly the same when an employee works from home, plus no time has to be spent for getting ready and putting on office clothes. There is a new type of dress-code for online office employees. A worker must wear their avatar for communication with the clients and co-workers (Maitland & Thompson, 2011).
Avatar is a special computer designed look made by a program, it helps making work more effective. Avatar program of an office worker is something like a personal advertisement campaign – socially oriented, worldly, pleasant, designed to attract larger number of clients and represent not only the worker wearing it, but also the company the employee is working for. Avatars help in creating a company image for the clients and other companies. A worker has to design their own avatar – the quality of avatar will be reflected directly on the productivity of this worker’s future success. Being able to design a profitable avatar is a necessary skill an office worker has to possess.
Going to the office is obligatory for social purposes – the co-workers must be able to socialize not only through the technologies. A day at the office is much less productive than a work day at home. A standard shift has three necessary breaks to make people go out to the park, have meals together, participate in recreational activities. The look of offices has changed too. Since future offices are all about communication and socializing – the cubicles are gone, replaced by joined tables to make people sit in groups (Waters-Lynch & Butcher, 2013).
Offices have lounge zones for the break periods, balconies, cafes, lawns, rooms for yoga exercises. Offices still have secretaries, but these jobs are no longer done by humans. Instead there are intelligent robots that work like answering machines capable of sorting the calls, receiving messages and directing them to the employees, answering frequently asked questions. Employees that are involved into making calls must be educated and skilled at communicating with these robot secretaries in order to achieve the best results.
Another crucial part of office management of the future is improvement leisure time and communication between the co-workers. While working from homes the employees are constantly connected by video conferences. This creates an impression of being around many people, but it does not replace real communication. There are committees involved into planning every office’s social program full of physical activities as office employees do not normally lead a very active lifestyle. As the life of future is all about multitasking – most employees become too involved into the work process which influences their health in a negative way and damages their quality of life (Skinner, 2013).
Social program committees are designed to distract employees from work and help them relax and switch to other activities. A typical workday in the office is full of various activities and it is shorter than eight hours. A work day at home is very productive, full of information, learning and keeps employees extremely busy on the mental level.
The city of the future is not as busy. Traffic problems are minor because in big cities personal vehicles are unnecessary; this is why public transport is working twenty four hours a day, very actively, so that the citizens do not have to wait in traffic lines. Cities are equipped with air improving devices as air pollution has been noticed to increase. The sizes of the cities grew – more people moving to the urban areas required more housing. The cultural faces of the big cities have developed more diversity and became more eclectic (Urban Development Plan 2025, n.d.).
Reference List
Bardoel, A. (2013). Tool or Time Thief? Technology and the Work-Life Balance. Web.
Maitland, A., & Thomson. P. (2011). Future work: How businesses can adapt and thrive in the new World. New York, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Web.
Skinner, N. (2013). You’ve Got Mail, 24-7: a work-life blessing or curse? . Web.
The Future of Work. (2013). Slideshare. Web.
Urban Development Plan 2025 (n.d.). Smart City Wien. Web.
Waters-Lynch, J. & Butcher, T. (2013). Quitting a Cubicle Farm of Co-Working. Web.