This article, written by Steelcase researchers and published in the Harvard Business Review, really addresses the balance between the top two factors for productivity and satisfaction:
Which are, of course, inherently contradictory.
By far, the most informative, unbiased, and useful report EVER on acoustics in the workplace. This universally relevant topic applies directly to the number one factor influencing employee performance and satisfaction – the ability to do distraction free solo work*. Be sure to note the “mythbuster” on page 6 about cubicle partition heights…
*See “Disproving Widespread Myths about Workplace Design” for the top ten list of performance factors.
A more thorough article with great examples of specific space types – particularly the office commons as the new social hub of the workplace. Our experience is consistent with the overall trend toward reducing square footage assigned to individual work-spaces and reallocating that square footage to these commons and other shared spaces. However, beware the statistic on “average square footage per person” as there are many variations on how that is calculated, and the writer doesn’t elaborate. Neither does this related press release from the source CoreNet data.
Some of these other statistics and calculation methods are described in:
“Space and Project Management Benchmarks: IFMA Research Report #34”, 2010, International Facility Management Association
“Workspace Utilization and Allocation Benchmark”, July 2011, with data updated July 2012; U. S. General Services Administration, Office of Real Property Management, Performance Measurement Division.
“A Unified Approach for Measuring Office Space: Fore Use in Facility and Property Management”, 2007 Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and International Facility Management Association (IFMA)
Searching for the Holy Grail of workplace design? Does it exist? Probably not, or at least it looks a little different for every situation. This article describes some changes in thought and direction that we have definitely been seeing and implementing over the last few years (Including opening a co-working space in Winston-Salem, Flywheel). Schneider’s comments on transparency are true, but we are also seeing a trend toward transparency in terms of not keeping things behind closed doors…
How can our building environments and spaces keep up with the fast-paced, ever-changing workforce? Gone are the days when private offices reigned supreme and when the water cooler was the only casual meeting place where you could share a collaborative conversation with a coworker. Today, you can have a video conference call while riding the subway on your way to your next client meeting.
Technology has changed the way we work and think. With a new techno-savvy workforce about to hit the market, our work spaces need to change too. Knoll has provided us with a short illustrative video to inform us just what these spaces are and what they need to accomplish in order to make our work successful.
Refuge – ‘Get away’ space for focus or private one-on-one conversations
Enclave – ‘Get together’ area for a small group to exchange ideas
Team Meeting – Gathering space for a team project meeting
Assembly – Planned interactions and collaborative work
Community – ‘Town center’ spaces to encourage impromptu connections