The role and share of service management in modern business is steadily increasing. The concept of a modern workplace is an important part of effective business processes and is related to the strategy of an organization. Workplace role is changing, with technology making it possible for employees to work not only from the organization's own work spaces but also from other, employee chosen and more convenient or appropriate spaces. Looking at the service industries from a strategic perspective, when it comes to the organization and leadership, it is important to include the office design aspect. What should such an office look like? What is an effective and optimal office today? What is used to determine this, what considerations need to be made? This article is the first part of larger research and its purpose is to compile the base theoretical information and research results regarding various modern workplace aspects and new ways of working, as well as demonstrate the results of a minor initial pilot research. Findings: aspects that require attention in further research have been identified, and the results of the author's pilot research have been compared to theory on the subject.

This article provides a concise look into the theoretical basis and two small pilot studies which serve as the beginning of a further research collaboration, and have been done in 2018-2019 in service industry companies in Riga (Latvia) and Timisoara (Romania). The objective of these studies was to find the respondents' knowledge about new ways of working (full or partial remote work, co-working spaces, etc.), as well as their personal fit with these types of work, among other questions. Results of these studies show that there is a significant difference between the theory, the respondent answers, and the actions of their organizations. Main recommendations: there is no single correct approach, it has to be aligned with the business strategy and the actual work specifics of various departments or positions in the company. Problems faced by the workforce must also be taken into account, instead of aiming to decrease office costs as much as possible by creating hot-desking or other similar open office layouts.