Beyond the horizon goes on

A number of soft and hard skills are definitely among the Future Skills that broaden our horizons and that we can also acquire on the job. For example, creativity, communication skills, adaptability and problem-solving skills will become increasingly important. Expertise in handling data, sustainability management or foreign language skills will also be increasingly in demand in global, interdisciplinary teams.

Human work performance is on the verge of being redefined, say experts who deal with creative learning worlds, such as trend expert Birgit Gebhard. Referring to the relevant study, she even goes so far as to say that humane work will be learning. Thanks to the new "blended learning" that merges with entertainment and is available 24/7, "integrated learning experiences increase knowledge gain in the office."

So how can virtual and real learning spaces be designed if they are to offer knowledge workers, empathetic customer consultants and solution-oriented technology experts alike the ideal framework for acquiring knowledge? Georg Frech, head of the K+N Academy, says that they need to be geared to the various forms of learning and the various individual and human requirements.

He distinguishes between the following forms of learning, referring to the Danish designer Rosan Bosch and the Learning Spaces of futurologist Dr. David D. Thornburg.

• MOUNTAIN TOP = classic presentation
• CAVE = personal learning space for concentrated learning
• CAMPFIRE = collaborative learning space, meetings, discussion groups
• WATERING HOLE = informal exchange, teamwork
• HANDS ON = tactile experiences, trial and error, experimentation

Making different rooms or room scenarios available for different forms of learning can significantly increase output, Dr. Stefan Rief, Head of the Competence Center Workspace Innovation at Fraunhofer IAO in Stuttgart, who conducts research on innovative work environments that promote productivity, is also convinced of this. "Our empirical study 'Office 21 Analytics' among several thousand participants confirms that you develop a higher power of ideas through a variety of frequented places. In addition, it has been found that the use of different work locations within an office building also positively influences the generation of ideas.

To get an idea of possible learning spaces, we asked our interior designers Carina Hölzer and Carolina Meseguer-Girbés to provide us with their current designs on the topic. They show the range of working and learning places in an office.

"In the area of knowledge transfer, we are very fortunate to have two major core competencies at the same time: We can teach important hard and soft skills at the K+N Academy and provide the appropriate hardware, i.e. the furnishings, to match," says Georg Frech. If you would like to learn more about this, then take a look at our new K+N Academy offering.