Discovering the unexpected is typically a joy in research—as well as one of the reasons to conduct research in the first place. But the discovery of unexpected insights can also be puzzling, as it forces researchers to confront surprising circumstances and theorize explanations for findings they never anticipated.
That was certainly the case with Gensler’s 2016 U.S. Workplace Survey. When we first launched the survey, we expected choice—a person’s ability to choose where they work—to be on the rise. Our 2013 U.S. Workplace Survey had found that one in three respondents had choice at their places of employment. This made sense, considering the proliferation of mobile technology that has made working at Starbucks or from home or from a conference room as straightforward and doable as working at the same desk every single day. Technology gives us the power to check emails from home in the middle of the night and to collaborate in real time with colleagues all around world. And because choice empowers a person to work in whatever style they find most conducive to success, we expected our 2016 survey to show that more organizations are offering choice to their employees.