In today’s workplace, you are more likely to find water bowls and leashes lying around than ever before. The tech industry is well known for allowing associates to bring their furry family members into the office, and in the glow of a growing number of studies supporting the positive benefits of pets in the workplace, many more employers are playing along and welcoming Fido. After all, one recent study found that 70% of employees said pets at work have a positive impact on office dynamics and workplace morale.

Interior design and office furnishing pros Gensler’s Director of Workplace, Maria Martinico, ICE founder/CEO DeLinda Forsythe, CORT Business Development Executive Barbara Cavanaugh and Illumina’s Jenny Durbin shared their insight to furnishing an open, collaborative office space and the special requirements of that type of environment. Durbin, manager of Global Facilities Planning and Workplace Innovation at Illumina, said furniture is key to the design of any space, so it is important to bring in the furniture provider early, preferably along with the architect during the schematic design phase.

Collaboration in the office is a must, and now more companies are understanding the value in connecting outside the workplace, too. The “premium” coworking trend has swept large organizations for a number of reasons. It caters to established professionals like business travelers, high-growth organizations that want to keep offices smaller for P&L reasons and innovative organizations that want to expose employees to outside entrepreneurs.

The days when employees have allocated desks are numbered as more organisations move towards Activity Based Working and let their staff choose how and where they work.

Truthfully, there are drawbacks to open-concept workspaces. And while remote working arrangements are also in vogue, those arrangements have their own issues. Importantly, neither is a cure-all for what ails companies. At the same time, neither is inherently evil, either (despite what naysayers insist).

Physical movement fuels the brain, awakens the senses and make us more alert. So providing features in the office, which allow staff to be physically active, could make employees more creative and inspire some great ideas in the workplace. Research also shows the average worker spends 80,000 hours seated in their lifetime. So it makes sense to give staff the opportunity to be more active.

Love it or hate it, technology defines—and continually redefines—the processes, expectations, and behaviors related to work. So, with that in mind, here’s what we see on the technological road ahead, from some near-term basics to visions of an audacious future.

This case for change is driven by needs of some in the workforce who are accustomed to doing their work in a variety of environments ranging from a stool at a Starbucks to a couch in their living room – as they did in college.   Experts assert that by creating a design that increases the number of these chance meetings (commonly referred to as collisions), it would foster greater collaboration and the sharing of new ideas.