SINGAPORE – November 20, 2019 – Today Steelcase revealed Steelcase® Flex, an integrated collection of furniture and accessories designed to meet the needs of modern teams and their changing activities.
Steelcase Flex creates dynamic team neighbourhoods which can be adapted on demand.
According to Steelcase’s global research, team-based work is increasing as people now spend 54% of their time working with others.
However, the nature of teamwork has fundamentally shifted to become more interdependent, fast-paced and fluid.
Today’s hyper-collaborative teams have embraced agile and design thinking methodologies to help them move faster and stay more closely connected to their customers.
These practices require rapid shifts between diverse activities.
What Teams Need
Teamwork used to be like running a relay where members work in parts with coordinated handoffs in between.
However, we’ve come to an age whereby teamwork is more akin to soccer or basketball.
This means that each player must work collaboratively in order to complete the task at hand.
“Despite this dramatic change, most fixed workplaces are still designed to support a more linear work process. Teams need to be empowered to adapt their space for group or individual needs on-demand. This is in consideration of privacy needs or to accommodate transitioning between different work mode without breaking the flow,” said Samantha Giam, Product Marketing Director, Steelcase Asia Pacific.
The best workplaces support the activities of the team while nurturing the needs of individuals.
Teams need a home where they can surround themselves in their project and display their thinking and ideas.
They need to be able to quickly switch between collaboration and focused work.
And they need control to rearrange their space at any time, on their own.
Steelcase® Flex Collection
Starting in 2017, Steelcase researchers observed the daily activities of creative and high-tech teams globally.
They saw teams who became frustrated and hacked their offices to improve their space – claiming territory with makeshift barricades, repurposing everyday objects to create places for group work and covering walls and ceilings with sticky notes to display information.
- These high-performing teams inspired the Steelcase Flex Collection which includes moveable desks, tables, markerboards, carts, screens and accessories. Wheels, directional rollers and glides make all the elements easy to move.
- Anyone can easily reconfigure its pieces and adjust boundaries and screens to provide the right amount of privacy for the team and individual needs.
“To collaborate and work in new ways, teams need the flexibility to change how and where they work. Steelcase Flex Collection has been designed to deliver just the right amount of control to individuals and teams, allowing people to reconfigure their spaces in a matter of minutes. Each piece works well on its own, but just like a team, they work better together,” said Giam.
New Research: Teams Are Struggling
Steelcase also conducted global research to understand the broader needs of hyper-collaborative teams around the world and found that 90% of workers believe working with others is essential to creating new and better ideas.
People who work in teams are positive about collaboration activities overall but also feel their workplaces and technology don’t fully support the new ways they’re working.
The study revealed that most environments do not support hyper-collaboration:
- 70% of people are still trying to collaborate in traditional fixed conference rooms;
- 81% of collaborative work is scheduled; only 19% say their collaboration is at least somewhat spontaneous;
- 68% say they struggle to stay focused amid distractions; and
- 62% of people are unable to move their furniture to support changing activities, while the majority would like this feature.
Steelcase Flex is designed to address these research findings of the needs of today’s fast-paced, flexible teams.
Collaborate Anywhere
Steelcase Flex Collection seamlessly integrates with Steelcase® Roam™ which gives workers the freedom to collaborate virtually anywhere.
Made for the Microsoft Surface Hub 2S, Steelcase® Roam™ Mobile Stand and easy-to-hang wall mounting system give people the freedom to collaborate wherever their ideas take them.
Steelcase Flex Collection is available in Singapore now.
Discover how Steelcase Flex can be configured to support different types of teams by visiting www.steelcase.com/360-flex.
About Steelcase Inc.
For over 107 years, Steelcase Inc. has helped create great experiences for the world’s leading organisations, across industries. We demonstrate this through our family of brands – including Steelcase®, Coalesse®, Designtex®, PolyVision®, AMQ™, Smith System®, Orangebox®, and Turnstone®. Together, they offer a comprehensive portfolio of architecture, furniture and technology products and services designed to unlock human promise and support social, economic and environmental sustainability. We are globally accessible through a network of channels, including over 800 Steelcase dealer locations. Steelcase is a global, industry-leading and publicly traded company with fiscal 2019 revenue of $3.4 billion. www.steelcase.asia
