by Kristin Burnham

How Would You Build Your Perfect Office Space?

Opinion
Sep 26, 20122 mins
LinkedInPersonal SoftwareSocial Networking Apps

If the office printer is your worst enemy or you hate working 9 to 5, you're not alone. LinkedIn's latest survey sheds light on office items and trends headed toward extinction. If you could create the perfect office environment, what would you include?

If you’re a fan of the movie “Office Space,” you’ll remember the scene with the offending, abhorrent, impossible printer. (Some of the language in the clip above may be NSFW.) The chances are you’ve felt the same way about the low-toner, paper-jam monster at some point in your career.

Lucky for you, the printer—along with a number of other office mainstays—may be on their way out in the next five years, according to a new report.

LinkedIn released a list of the top office items and trends that are quickly heading the way of the dinosaurs. The list includes some expected items, such as tape recorders, fax machines, the Rolodex and desktop computers. A few were a bit more surprising (and, in my opinion, very welcome):

  • Standard working hours
  • Formal business attire
  • The corner office for managers or executives
  • Cubicles
  • USB thumb drives

LinkedIn also listed the top office tools and trends that its respondents thought would be common in the workplace five years from now. Those included tablets, cloud storage, web-based documents, flexible working hours, enterprise social networking, mobile phone payments and open workspaces.

But if you could design your perfect work environment, what would you have?

Some respondents focused on work-life balance.

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Others were more creative.

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What would my dream workplace look like? I’d love pumpkin spice coffee in the Fall for our office Keurig machines, and perhaps an office pet (who doesn’t love the company of a dog?). What additions (or subtractions) would make your time in the office more productive? Let me know in the comments section, and take our poll below.