The Evolution and Context of Collaboration
The way we work is constantly evolving along with technology, generational influences, design innovation, environmental factors, real estate costs and corporate profitability. In our careers we have seen private office walls come down and their former inhabitants relocated to cubicles alongside their teams, creating collaboration with a chip on its shoulder. Continuing to succumb to real estate pressures, our companies then replaced spacious and more thoughtfully arranged cubicles with rows and rows of benching systems leaving us to jockey over that one perpetually booked conference room or don personal headphones to escape the distractions of high noise levels and give us the freedom to avoid constant eye contact signaling, “I’m not available.” The lack of privacy for focused work and areas for small group collaboration drove us to seek anonymity in public spaces. As a side effect, we developed an addiction to the comfort and aesthetics of the anti-office atmosphere along with the many amenities they offered.
Today, corporations and learning institutions, partnered with talented interior designers and strategists recognize the ebb and flow between privacy and collaboration and are creating interior landscapes that have an anti-office feel and provide a balance of environments for both.
Quantifiable Collaboration
What we know about how and why we collaborate is now much more quantifiable and scientifically proven. The best ideas don’t come from an elite few. Collaboration fosters better learning and productivity outcomes. We know and appreciate that students and employees have vastly differing learning profiles, work styles, roles, voices, and personas. When we have a sense of control over our environment and our spaces, we feel safer to ideate as individuals and exercise our voices.
Technology continues to evolve but writing creates visceral connections that you can’t achieve by sharing a document or through an email thread or string of chat messages. In its Spring 2024 report devoted to reducing job-related stress and protecting against burnout, Harvard Business Review highlighted the phenomenon of ‘collaboration fatigue,’ noting that texts, emails, Teams (or similar platforms) messages, and project management programs with communication and notification functions have created a culture of being always on and immediately available, leading to information overload and exhaustion. The suggested antidote: analog and in-person collaboration, the kind that lends itself perfectly to whiteboards and glassboards, especially those purpose-built for new ways of communicating and with an elevated design sensibility.
When environments are alluring and intriguing, ideas follow suit. In this new era of the remote, hybrid, and distributed workforce when many of us come together, it is for the sole purpose of collaborating as a team. Collaborative tools should have form, function and flexibility coupled with the design aesthetics to hide in plain sight and serve more than one purpose.
Spontaneous Collaboration
As an industry, we have inadvertently restricted collaboration to a rectangle, whether a conference room or the writing surface itself. But the fact is, we collaborate everywhere we congregate. Think of the last great idea your team had or the last time a breakthrough or ‘aha’ moment occurred. Chances are, it wasn’t while you were seated around a rectangular table, in a rectangular room, writing on a rectangular board. It was more likely as you passed someone in a hallway or in the breakroom and said, “have you thought about?” or “what if?” And chances are just as likely you had nowhere to document that stroke of brilliance.
One of Calyx by Claridge’s mottos is Capture Genius Where It Happens, because we’ve all been in that type of exchange. We promise to circle back to the idea, but all too often the moment passes, and the details are forgotten. Spontaneous collaboration happens daily, often while we are transitioning between traditionally ‘labeled’ spaces. Provisions and planning should be made to allow for more spontaneous collaboration—lining corridors and transitional spaces with floor to ceiling glassboards and whiteboards and strategically placing mobile writing surfaces in cafeterias, lobbies and wherever people tend to gather.
Designers and building owners alike rightfully shy away from vast white rectangles on walls in highly visible spaces. While they do place writing surfaces right at hand, they can also give an otherwise serene and warm environment a sterile and impersonal ambiance. Consider instead, collaborative tools hidden in plain sight.
Functional Art
Through advanced applications including digital and ceramic printing, glass and porcelain writing surfaces are transformed from commoditized white rectangles into functional works of art, allowing them to coexist harmoniously with any design scheme. Rather than grab unwanted attention for their spartan functionality, they can be appreciated for their beauty. Inspired by hues and tones—think desert sunsets and ocean waves—found in nature, Calyx by Claridge’s Ombria process, maintains full writability while infusing the soothing flow of ombre gradients onto glassboards, ranging from sleek and compact mobile units to floor to ceiling glass board wall systems.
Dual Purpose Systems
In the ever-evolving landscape of corporate and learning spaces, there has been a marked shift toward multifunctionality. Everything needs to do more than ONE thing. A mobile whiteboard must also easily function as a space delineator. A writing surface might be called into service for wayfinding and brand identification. Meetings that begin in one space frequently migrate into another zone, leaving participants with the problem of quickly preserving the ideas and discussion points that were generated. Track systems with lightweight removable panels, such as the Aceno collection from Calyx by Claridge, were created precisely for this scenario and can be easily moved from place to place, allowing for team and individual ‘off the wall’ freedom of movement. And the Mina mobile, with its low-profile seamless edges, is designed to allow multiple units to align seamlessly adjacent with each other, creating impromptu meeting areas with built-in collaborative surfaces. What’s more, the dual sided nature of the Mina can accommodate acoustic material on one side and a porcelain writing surface on the other, promoting both noise abatement and collaboration in a compact and easily movable format
Space Creation and Delineation
With the prevalence of open concept offices and learning environments, the ability for products to be both movable and flexible is a necessity. These characteristics facilitate creating boundaries for enclosed work or additional teaming areas that provide privacy without compromising collaboration. These space-creating products can be used to communicate both “do not disturb” and “meet here.” Depending on specific needs, they can be constructed with integrated writing surfaces, tackable panels and sound absorbing material. Various heights and widths further expand flexibility and functionality. With the exception of tackable fabric, all surface materials can be digitally printed to provide the ultimate in customization.
Fixed but Flexible
While mobility is a key driver in collaborative tool construction and adoption, there continues to be a need for fixed collaborative writing surfaces. But fixed doesn’t have to mean inflexible or require a move back to the rectangle. Calyx by Claridge offers collaborative wall systems that allow the designer to create an individualized solution, choosing from a range of heights and widths, endless color combinations, customized printing options and installation configurations. Need to wrap around a corner or an obtrusive column? No problem. Need movable and repositionable tack pads or writable glass shapes, consider it done. The possibilities are as numerous as the collaborative styles and communication preferences to be found among any group of people working together toward a common goal.
More Than a Whiteboard
Designing spaces for collaboration requires a holistic approach that prioritizes flexibility, inclusivity, and wellbeing. By creating environments that support teamwork, creativity, and knowledge sharing, while recognizing the unique needs and characteristics of the individual, organizations can unlock the full potential of their employees. Embracing creative design principles and leveraging artistic innovation to connect people across boundaries, collaborative spaces become not just physical locations, but catalysts for cultural transformation and organizational success.
This article was featured in the 2024 NeoCon issue of Delve Magazine