Romil Ratra, CEO Of The A Private Members work and leisure club

Having spent over two decades building teams for different businesses, I can safely say that a company’s efficiency and success is correlated to how happy most of its employees feel. In 2018, at a time when businesses are volatile and European workspace 4-hour day formats are going viral, it’s now time to understand the Ideal Modern-Day Workspace’.

Last year, this time, when working on the concept of The A — our new co-working and social club — I carried out more formal research on the topic by meeting business owners across the globe. I have found that while the Indian ‘Modern-Day Workspace’ has grown in leaps across various aspects, it still continues to lag behind when compared to countries like Denmark.

With all that data I captured, here’s checklist to understand if your current or future workspace keeps these aspects in tab.

STAYING FIT

If you work over 10 hours each day and your Fitbit shows less than three hours of physical activity, it’s safe to assume that you are not at your fittest best. Don’t indulge in excuses like long working hours or no proximity to a gym, those aren’t solutions. A shift in lifestyle by ditching that chair and getting into the habit of using standing desks, conduct walking meetings and choosing stairs over elevators are steps to a fitter you.

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Forbes published an article explaining the importance of social connections to promote productivity among employees and entrepreneurs of today. Gone are the times when workplaces spoke about ‘Work Life Balance’. The ‘Modern-Day’ office emboldens a more evolved approach — ‘Work Life Integration’ – an outlook that creates synergies among work, home, family, community, physical and mental well-being.

DIGITAL DETOX

France and Germany are pioneers in taking action by announcing strict laws against emailing after work hours. As extreme as it may sound, you could be imprisoned for digitally accessing someone after it’s officially time to call it a day. The ‘Modern Day’ workspace takes pride in making sure that you get your timely digital detox.

HUMAN CONNECTION

The ‘Modern-Day’ workspace takes the load off by providing for daycare and creche services for mommy employees, extends flexible hours to more modern designations like social media managers, content curators, design thinkers, and those who have a more versatile work style. If your workplace has a culture that creatively encourages networking with people and maintaining a good social circle, you are in the right place.

ATTENDANCE RECORD

Bob Nelson’s quote “You get what you reward” sums up the approach of the ‘Modern Day’ office space towards the versatile and new-age working population. The ‘Modern-Day’ workspace believes in incentivising in the right way. A travel bonus to enjoy some family time is a common and the perfect reward for the urban employee and an entrepreneur of today. It has also been proven that taking holidays keeps your mental health in check.

LEARN AND GROW 

The role of your office space goes beyond the administrative duties, making you a complete person is their onus too. The ‘Modern-Day’ workspace ensures that workshops and trainings are available to keep you learning and growing. Going beyond classroom trainings, offices of today provide subscriptions to global news providers like The Guardian, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal and more sharing experiences that will help you grow.

INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY 

Being swamped and busy is an everyday story for everyone, whether an entrepreneur, an employee at a fancy MNC or even a creative freelancer that works remotely.

However, ’Modern-Day’ workplaces are technically equipped to ease out your tasks. Offices today don’t shy away from investing in technology like Big Data tools among other important solutions that are time-saving, hence resulting in increased productivity.