NEW YORK CITY-It's a new day for the American office. How we work is being totally redefined in a way that would rival the innovations of the Industrial Age. But unlike the changes of yesteryear, when change was measured by mechanization, today's sea change is coming at the hands of digitization. But as always, such sweeping progress does not come without a price.

“The application of information and communication technology is changing how we manage efficiencies across all aspects of real estate at the portfolio and asset level,” Dave Bartlett, an IBM vice president.

“The pervasive influence of technology on work life is undeniable, but is it good for business?” asks John Santora, president and CEO of Cushman & Wakefield Corporate Occupier & Investor Services. “The ability to work anywhere, anytime blurs the boundaries between personal and professional life, sometimes to the detriment of both. As companies seek a work-life balance that maximizes productivity, corporate real estate groups hold keys to the potential of today's technology-enabled workforce.”

Vicki Hollon, SVP of innovation and quality assurance at Transwestern sees the threat Santora expresses and voices concern about run-away technology, or technology for technology's sake. “The real estate business is, at its core, relationship driven, and no amount of technology will change that,” she explains. “Nor would we want it to. The efficiencies we've gained should allow more time for building those quality relationships that earn trust, yet we often use the tools at hand to generate more data without considering if it will actually add value. We do it just because we can.”

For new systems to be truly effective, she notes, they have to be seen as tools and applied with a knowledge of what your clients want. “Working smarter with the new technology requires us to understand the needs of our clients and to deliver them in a way that adds true value, not just additional information. Working smarter also requires us to spend the time necessary to learn which products or applications are most suitable to meet our business goals and not let ourselves be enticed by the newest tool on the block.

“With all the new toys available, let's not lose sight of the importance of the free tools we already have at our disposal,” she continues. “Make time for personal conversations rather than email. Present data in a concise and useful format and spend the rest of the meeting getting to know your prospective client. Emails are efficient. But a handwritten note to say thank you is just good manners.”