E210 In the office

That does not mean the old ways and things are completely out.

An office space is still needed, although some people are working from home most of the time. Open office or cubicles are more common for ordinary employees; private offices are mostly for managerial staff.

Conference rooms are still needed, even though video conferences are more and more common.

Desks, chairs, bookshelves are still required, but some are evolving: Innovative desk designs, such as stand-up desks,  start to appear, and touchscreens sometimes replace the old white or blackboard. 

On the desks, there are still so- called “landline” telephones, but most of them are IP phones now.

“IN”, “OUT” and “PENDING” mail trays are still around. 

Filing cabinets, file folders, stationery, pens, pencils, erasers, staplers, “Post-it” (sticky) notes, “Scotch” tapes, highlight markers, paper clips, thumbtacks, glue sticks, calculators, are still around, despite the fact that people use their computers for most tasks and write or print documents less and less.

Some old jobs and things are definitely out. Secretaries who type, photocopy documents and taking stenography  (shorthand) are mostly gone; they have been replaced by administrative assistants, who organize meetings, book appointments, and do many things that help their bosses to be more productive.

Typewriters have gone to the museums, along with the fax machines and their long deceased cousins, the teletypes. And no one has sent a telegram in more than half a century. But these may show up in old movies or movies about old times.

Laser, ink- jet printers, scanners are still very much in use, despite the fact that most documents are exchanged electronically and those that need professional signatures and seals can be safely done so with Digital Identity software, such as Notarius or DocuSign.

Large offices often use shared printers, which can use many paper sizes and are sometimes installed in mailrooms, where there are also other office tools such as paper shears, three – hole punches for 3-ring binders and machines for spiral binders.

Large High Definition video monitors have replaced most of the projection screens and digital projectors, although pages of PowerPoint presentations are still called “slides“, a left-over term from the era when slides (diapositives) were used for presentation.   

Although today’s smartphones can be used for dictation, using voice recognition apps, some people are still using clipboards for note taking when walking around the plant.