Debbie Baxter users her tablet to stay in touch with Deloitte Canada’s mobile workforce.
Digital tools such as videoconferencing and soft phones are the norm
Some days Debbie Baxter needs quiet space to focus on a project, other days she needs a "war room" to brainstorm ideas, and others still, she chooses a sit-stand workstation.
Forget offices, desktop computers and handset telephones. At firms across Canada, the workplace of the future has arrived – and it's all about collaborative workplaces, wireless connectivity, portable devices and networking software to allow people to work anywhere at any time.
Ms. Baxter, vice-president of corporate real estate for Deloitte in Canada, is a poster child for 21st-century work practices, as Deloitte makes its Canada-wide move towards agile workspaces.
The idea is that no one owns a particular space or has an office. Everything – and everyone – is mobile.
"Working in an agile manner with all the supportive technology solutions is very liberating – I choose the location and type of work setting that supports the tasks that I need to accomplish that day," she explains. "The sit-stand work setting allows me to walk at a moderate pace on a treadmill while doing my conference calls or reviewing documents."
The transformation puts a heavy emphasis on technologies.
"People are on the move more and more, so laptops, cellphones and tablets make sense," Ms. Baxter says from Deloitte's Toronto headquarters. "Everyone has mobiles. They can connect with a headset to their laptop for a soft phone. There's videoconferencing, digital room booking, flexible file-sharing solutions – a wide variety of tech to keep people connected."
That's where Rogers Communications comes in. It is working with businesses like Deloitte to give them access to the very latest digital tools, such as conferencing, chat and mobility, to increase productivity. By staying connected, employees can work in different locations or on the road but still collaborate.
It not only saves money on real estate rental – less square footage per employee is required – but gives greater flexibility to a new breed of workers who expects 21st-century tech at their fingertips.
They don't feel the need to be in an office space from nine to five, explains Wendy Cukier vice-president of research and innovation at Ryerson University.
Ms. Cukier recently led a study, conducted by Ryerson and Rogers, to find out where Canada is at in terms of mobile technology adoption in the workplace.
Published June 1, "Transformation of Work" suggests that the majority of Canadian businesses feel lost when it comes to adopting mobile technology in the workplace.
According to the study, half of the respondents are hesitant to adopt mobile technology in the workplace because they don't understand its benefits.
Ms. Cukier contends that Canada is missing out on opportunities by not jumping into this new reality with both feet.
"We're lagging in innovation and productivity," she says. "When it comes to consumer adoption of technology, we are leaders, but companies are very backwards when it comes to investing in new tech, and this hits the bottom line in an increasingly competitive world. I see this as a national issue, not just a corporate one."
She adds: "Businesses should carry out an assessment of how mobile technology is currently impacting them and devise a strategy based on that."
Often, the obstacles to change are not the tech itself, but the culture within a firm and a reluctance to revise old policies and structures, Ms. Cukier points out.
At Deloitte, Ms. Baxter notes that employees have been very supportive of the changes. "New tech is always challenging for people to learn, and they have to get used to things, like not having a phone on their desk. But our employees have grabbed on willingly."
As the notion of going to work changes from staying a specific location to having more flexibility in choosing time and place, work-life balance improves.
"Before Deloitte's agile environment, I had only one workplace location assigned to me to support all the tasks that I needed to accomplish," says Ms. Baxter. "Now, I have many choices that better support my personal and business objectives for the workday. A flexible work environment is where the future is."
This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's advertising department in consultation with Rogers. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.