Over the next 10 years the workplace is going to become increasingly chaotic and organizations will have less direct control over the work environment, predict analysts at Gartner. There will be less routine and more volatility, and people will work collectively more often, frequently in informal groups

"People will swarm more often and work solo less. They'll work with others with whom they have few links, and teams will include people outside the control of the organization," Tom Austin, vice president and Gartner fellow, said in a Gartner news release.

The changes that will drive this workplace revolution--Gartner identifies 10 major changes--will make use of emerging technologies in the areas of simulation, visualization and unification. To adjust to these changes, organizations may have to implement "radically different technology governance models."

In addition to the "de-routinization" of work and increased spontaneity, a greater use of virtual environments is on the horizon. "Active engagement with simulated environments (virtual environments), which are similar to technologies depicted in the film Minority Report, will come to replace drilling into cells in spreadsheets," Gartner predicts. 

As the workplace becomes increasingly virtual, many employees will not have an office provided by the company or a defined work day. "In this work environment, the lines between personal, professional, social and family matters, along with organization subjects, will disappear," the analysts predict.

For more:
- see the Gartner news release

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