You’ve likely noticed that there is a lot of chatter about technology these days as it pertains to the hybrid work environment, remote collaboration, touchless interfaces and the return to the office in general.

I’ve stated in the past that you really can’t be an expert in workplace technology without first being an expert in the workplace. rAVe’s BlogSquad and staff have done a great job of trying to connect the dots on these topics through their LAVNCH events and recurring columns, but if we really want to learn about what conversations are going on in the greater ecosystem about workplace, then we should also be looking at some other sources in different markets.

As such, I wanted to share some links to sites you should look at periodically to educate yourself on the conversations happening OUTSIDE of technology so we can have better discussions with our clients as well.

Gensler

If you work in public spaces, you need to know why people go out in the first place. This pre-pandemic study from Gensler gives us a lot of insight as to why people will go back to public spaces at some point and how we might serve their needs better when they do so.

Gensler also did a work-from-home study in 2020, and the insights there can help us understand how to better design offices to address the needs of employees.

HOK

HOK also participates in thought leadership with regards to workplace. Its director of workplace, Kay Sargent, is also active in AVIXA, signaling HOK’s recognition of how important technology is to today’s workplace. HOK has an “Ideas” page that shares blogs, publications and research, like this piece on the digital age of work.

Steelcase

Steelcase is a high-end workplace furniture company with a global reach, and as such, it also commissions a lot of studies. It’s definitely worth jumping on their site biweekly to see what new information the company is sharing. Here’s one on the shifting expectations of employees.

Global Report: Changing Expectations and the Future of Work

Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle is a global commercial real estate company also helping lead the way in return-to-work strategies. You can see one of its guides here.

Cushman & Wakefield

One of the first websites I saw pop up to address the safety of the workplace was by Cushman Wakefield, another global real estate firm helping to navigate “the next normal.”

These are just a few of the resources I guarantee that your clients are reading when trying to determine what to do with their real estate portfolios and workplaces in 2021.  It would be great if the VP of Corporate Real Estate was reading rAVe pubs, but the chance may be slim.  However, they are likely reading some of the sources I linked above, and if you want to have better conversations with your customers, you should be paying attention to the entanglement of our worlds.