Successful businesses and employees must be able to stay on their toes to keep up with emerging workplace technologies and trends. Practices that were once considered fads or eccentric habits are now the norm. Here are five emerging workplace trends that are becoming mainstream.

Fragmentation of Structure

Ask your parents and grandparents what the structure of their first grown-up job was like and they’ll mention something about everyone being in a single office building, most likely with an abundance of cubicles and offices. That’s just not the case anymore. Modern businesses are increasingly decentralizing their physical and hierarchical structure.

Employees work in more collaborative environments, expansion is easier and many duties are outsourced to outside companies. Working from home or from a great distance isn’t uncommon, either.

Secure Cloud Computing

Of course, with all this decentralizing going on, there are bound to be concerns over how everyone is going to stay informed and on the same page when it comes to project management. Thankfully, some smart folks developed the Cloud—a way for people and businesses to remotely store and interact with documents and files of all kind. Cloud services save businesses thousands of dollars since they no longer need workers to maintain and purchase dedicated server technology. Plus, it makes integration a whole lot easier.

Bringing Your Own Device (BYOD)

More and more companies are starting bring your own device to work initiatives in their workplaces. What was once something you could get into trouble for doing is now a workplace requirement. Using text messages and app-driven data updates ensures that employees are better kept informed and connected to one another.

And thanks to integration from those same Cloud services listed above, employees can also monitor data such as project management, sales information and more. Having employees bring in their own devices also helps companies save money when it comes to supplying devices and also boosts the worker satisfaction when they’re working with a device they’re already familiar with.

Building a Sustainable Work Environment

If you’ve been paying attention to the news, or even within cartoons like Captain Planet, you’ll know that the earth suffers from great harm and pollution to the planet. Needless to say, the demand for businesses to follow green and eco-friendly practices is stronger than ever. Going (almost) entirely paperless is a no-brainer—you spend less on paper and printing, files are organized more efficiently online, and you’re no longer contributing to the 4.5 million tons of office paper thrown away each year.

Using Social Media

Social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter provide a convenient way for you to interact with your target audience. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars for ads they’re most likely to ignore, a business can have its content and status updates posted directly to its news feed, the same one that contains statuses from friends and family members.

Technology and mainstream trends are changing everyday. The successful business is the one that can keep up with and embrace the change.

Kristina Jackson is a freelance writer, journalist and author. She is a diverse writer who enjoys capturing experiences and turning them into literary works.