For those, like the members of the IBA, who advise other companies on the design of their workplaces, it is essential to recognise connections and to be able to integrate trends into their recommendations at an early stage. This requires solid expertise. That is why, back in 2011, the IBA commissioned Hamburg-based trend expert Birgit Gebhardt to produce the first New Work Order study. Her brief was to highlight the challenges and potential for companies and their employees. This collaboration has since evolved into an ongoing exploration of the many facets of a new working culture. A new in-depth study is currently in preparation, entitled COLLABORATION AI.
The name of the series makes no secret of its ambition, playing on the term “new world order”, because the current structural transformation from an industrial to a network economy requires companies to fundamentally reorganise their entire operations.
Birgit Gebhardt, Trend Researcher
The New Work Order studies are published by the IBA, with the support of ORGATEC – the international leading trade fair for modern working environments.
The Power of Space
The most recent publication in the New Work Order series, published in 2022, focuses on workplaces and their design. For this, Birgit Gebhardt consolidated insights from previous New Work Order studies and added a forward-looking perspective on special forms of hybrid working in both urban and rural contexts.
Human Factor@Work
Published in 2020, this trend study explores the potential of connected intelligence. It explains the significance of sensory experiences for people and how spatial design can support them. Under the heading “The Self as the Centre of the World”, the fourth New Work Order study also offers a surprisingly positive perspective on social media and its influence on learning and collaboration.
OuR TIP
The IBA Forum media library contains two short videos summarising key aspects of the New Work Order studies:
Creative Learning Worlds
Published in October 2016, this second in-depth study describes how working environments can become learning environments. The need is evident – but for many employees, the idea of lifelong learning feels more like a threat than a promise. The reasons are obvious: learning recalls school days, which many associate with pressure and a rather dull environment. The study Creative Learning Worlds shows that learning can be approached differently, using examples complemented by insights into how we learn and the resulting requirements for both learning and working environments.
Organisations in Transition
The first in-depth study, published in 2014, outlines new structures, rules, and governance processes for organisations as a result of digitalisation. In German companies, the most popular method of introducing new forms of collaboration is project work. This study examines how to harness the full potential of this approach and what it means for organisation, leadership, and the working environment.
New Work Order – Baseline Study
Digitalisation is changing the relationship between companies and their customers, who now expect not only personalised interaction but also rapid responses to their queries. Traditional organisational forms, with decision-making routes passing through multiple hierarchical levels, are too slow for this. Instead, what is needed are direct connections between all those responsible within companies.
It was already clear early on that the logic of social media would find its way into the working world. When the first New Work Order study was published in October 2012, 36% of all German companies were already experimenting with these early drivers of a new working culture. Today, they are standard. The study explains what this means for businesses and how they can still make effective use of the many untapped opportunities of new forms of collaboration.
