Many recent articles within the design media have called into question the effectiveness of open plan workspaces. A more critical inquiry into the topic, however, might explore the following: Why are so many companies still using an outdated planning approach that doesn’t suit their employees’ needs?
Not only has the nature of work evolved dramatically since the heydays of the open plan in early 2000s but so too has our understanding of how workspaces can foster engagement, satisfaction and productivity. Today, most work environments have evolved a generation beyond open plan spaces to Activity-Based Workplaces (ABW) and Neighborhood-based Choice Environments (NCE). And the most progressive companies are evolving even further to adopt Maker Environments, Mobile Occupants (MEMO) space and Immersive Environments. These new strategies challenge the traditional approach to office planning, and for good reason.
WorkPLACE? How about WorkHOW?
Gone are the days when the workplace was a static environment, where employees arrived at the same spot each day to perform the same routine tasks. Today’s space solutions need to be varied enough to accommodate a vast set of needs while also being able to change rapidly. Moreover, the workplace must reflect the needs of the organization and its people.
An office space for a company that is sales oriented—in which employees are frequently out of the office—needs to function differently than a workplace for a creative business or research organization that requires employees to collaborate and share daily. Yet many companies still operate their workplace with a one-size-fits-all approach that fails to address how their workers, who are both their greatest asset and expenditure, use the space. This, in addition to the latest poll from Gallup[1] in which 68 percent of employees admit to being disengaged at work, adds up to a simple conclusion: any savings a company might expect to realize by keeping its outdated workplace can easily be dwarfed by the business costs that an ineffective workplace has on employee productivity and satisfaction.
So, how does a company know which type of workspace solution is right for its employees? A design firm or workplace strategist is a good place to start. They can help an organization identify the unique DNA of the company and the specialized groups within it and help tailor the environment to meet everyone’s specific needs.
Lumping together all companies, regardless of their demographics, culture, work styles, or industries, into a single bucket is a mistake. Understanding the true needs of an organization is what drives the right solutions. For some companies, an open plan may still be the right answer, but for many it’s not. (See “Google Didn’t Get it Wrong,” in the January 2015 issue of Work Design, for an argument on why an open plan can make sense.)
As we continue to shift from a commodity-based to an experience-based society, place takes on a new importance. The office as we know it needs to evolve to stay relevant. We need to create environments that support a variety of work styles and activities that foster innovation and improve productivity. Now, more and more organizations are looking to create curated experiences that meet the needs of their staff. These curated experiences often provide employees with an à la carte workplace experience with options including services, location, and support.
The Activity-Based Workplace (ABW) Solution
Most offices are designed to support sedentary behaviors. Yet as previously discussed, knowledge workers of today are no longer doing repetitive tasks that require them to sit in one place all day. Hence, over the past decade, we have seen the creation of the Activity-Based Workplace (ABW). This office concept creates task-oriented solutions that encourage movement and empower people to select the right space for the job at hand. ABW environments are typically designed to be an ecosystem of spaces, primarily grouped to serve four major work functions: solo work, collaboration, learning, and socializing and rejuvenation. It is increasingly common to find work environments with centrally located social hubs and designed with a food component and neighborhoods of work points including phone booths and team areas nearby. As people move more throughout the space, they need to have access to task-specific solutions. This requires that we stop designing spaces that support a single workspace per employee and design spaces that encourage people to be flexible and less place dependent.