1. PRACTICE / LED LIGHTING
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Blair McKonsley, managing director Finewood, considers how collaboaration is critical in
designing workspaces and the attributes required to achieve productivity.
ADAMSmith, a Scotsman born in
1723, is best known as one
of the forefathers of modern economics and
the author of “The Wealth of Nations”. The
first chapter of Smith’s book argues for the
now famous concept of ‘division of labour’,
by citing a pin factory whose productivity
rose from hundreds of units a day to tens
of thousands per day simply by allowing
individual employees to specialise in one
aspect of the operation.
Smith’s now cornerstone theory remains
valid today and has advanced considerably in
the modern workspace.
The consequence of breaking down large
jobs into smaller components is that team
members up and downstream of us need to
be coordinated to obtain productivity and
results.
We all know that the world of knowledge,
and those who earn a living from it is growing
rapidly. In fact depending upon who you ask,
the world’s knowledge is doubling every 1.5 to
5 years. Those who manage and derive their
income from it are growing proportionately.
The implication of these two information
strands is that those who generate a living
from knowledge are increasingly required to
collaborate to complete the job.
Of the average ten plus tasks knowledge
workers have on their desk at any one time,
90% of them will require the contribution of at
least one other colleague before completion
can be achieved. Thus it is becoming widely
recognised that collaboration is critical in
designing highly productive workspaces.
These are our 10 attributes required to gain
a highly productive workspace:
1. COLLABORATION IS KEY
Work activities are becoming increasingly
organic. We no longer adopt the large
command and control structure of the
industrial age. Instead, innovation and decision
making is increasingly the domain of the
collective wisdom. There are fewer rigid silos
and groups are encouraged to solve problems
in a multi disciplinary manner.
Working together comes very naturally
to us. Collaboration not only helps generate
ideas faster but fosters culture and aligns an
organization to a common goal. Researchers
have extensively documented the growing
specialisation of individuals in workplaces1
.
We have become specialised individuals who
share intellectual and emotional resources for
the collective benefit of the organisation.
Our view on collaboration is that it takes
on three common forms: a) Formal: Which
are typically prescheduled meetings and
are increasingly facilitated by technology; b)
Casual: These are spontaneous interactions
that randomly occur in person or via
technological solutions; c) Diffusion: This
lesser described knowledge transfer is that
which occurs in the open workspace by
overhearing other communications such as
phone conversation or casual conversation.
Like the diffusion process, those with a shared
interest in the conversation will naturally share
and absorb a proportion of the knowledge or
information being shared.
Our opinion is that formal collaboration
is most easily and frequently replaced by
technology (though with lesser quality
results), and diffusion is the least recognised
but has the most potential.
2 PROXIMITY - CLOSER IS BETTER
Distance effects the building of both personal
and professional relationships. The further
people are apart the less likely they are to
connect and the less chance of diffusion
style knowledge transfer - thus limiting
productivity. Research has shown that
separation of more than 30 meters is likely to
reduce collaboration2
. Effective workspaces
reduce barriers to collaborative efforts
and place likely collaborative disciplines
in proximity. Use of designated project
spaces for multidisciplinary teams has been
demonstrated to improve productivity in
some cases up to 100%3
.
3. THE POWER OF SOUND
Conversation and collaboration must be
encouraged. Whether casual or diffusion
style, the collaborative efforts of the teams
will produce results as well as sound.
However research suggests that between
40% and 60% of the time we will be engaged
in focused or concentrated work where
the audibility of noise is an impediment to
productivity.
This kind of noise is to be mitigated
not eliminated. The level of mitigation is
only to a level where the sounds are not
comprehensible. If we can not understand
the conversation our subconscious can reject
the sound when efforts do not require focus.
Noise from collaborative efforts can either
be managed at source or managed at a
destination (for example, a quiet room). Either
way, it must be managed.
4. LET PEOPLE OWN THEIR WORK SPACE
Office environments need to be flexible and
accommodate the demands of the various
users and the business. We like to add
something of ourselves to feel at home. It
actually empowers us and makes us more
productive. Research by Dr Craig Knight,
cites participants who were empowered to
have an input to their immediate surrounds
were approximately 32% more productive
than those who were placed in lean
environments4
.
5. WORK: OUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Facilitated by technology, we are now
working more than 1/3 of our day. During
the last two decades our average salaried
worker’s work week increased from 43 to 47
hours. And the number of people putting in
greater than 50 hours grew from 24% to 37%5
.
We are just as likely to be answering emails
at 10pm as we are to be posting updates on
Facebook at 10am. Environments that blur the
boundaries between work and home are more
likely to foster productivity because we like
being in them.
6. INVESTMENT IN THE FUTURE
Often referred to as sustainability, or
green growth strategies, we believe that
investment in research and development
(R&D) to lower our impact on the planet will
increase workplace health and wellbeing.
The investment in R&D will also lead to more
effective processes and materials which can
drive productivity.
7. ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
Each industry is unique, each business within
an industry is unique. Attempts to define and
measure productivity by one or a small number
of generic metrics will not succeed. Absolute
metrics will also struggle to gain acceptance.
Productivity metrics are context dependent and
by definition are going to change. Productivity
and measurement of productivity will be best
measured as an increment of change based on
key performance metrics of each industry and
firm.
8. DESIGN FOR OUR BODIES
Our office environments need to be sensitive
to how we move and interact. Designs need
to be intuitive to the human body and social
environment. Designs that maximise comfort
and interaction yet minimise strain will produce
proven reductions in absenteeism, injury and
sickness. Designs that maximise comfort but not
interaction are to be avoided. The opportunity
here is for exogenous growth from productivity
not internal cost-based risk reduction.
FOOTNOTES:
1 Morello, D., Burton, B. (2006). Future
Worker 2015: Extreme Individualization.
Gartner Research Report, Gartner
Research.
2 Kiesler, S., Cummings, J. N. (2002).
What Do We Know about Proximity and
Distance in Work Groups? A Legacy of
Research. In P. Hinds S. Kiesler (Eds.),
Distributed Work. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.
3 Teasley, S., Covi, L., Krishnan, M,. Olson
S. (2000). How does radical collocation
help a team succeed? CSCW, p. 339-346.
4 Dr Craig Knight
5 Source: American Decades, ©2000 Gale
Cengage.
PRACTICE / FURNITURE
9. SPACES MUST NURTURE US
EMOTIONALLY
People are emotional beings. We are highly
influenced by sight, sound and touch.
Harmonious spaces that harness the principles
of bio mimicry (design influenced by the
colours and shapes of nature) communicate
empathy and softness, make us feel calm and
can have a measurable effect on mood and
performance.
10. AESTHETICS MATTER
Beauty is not just subjective; it is a core part of
human nature with deep evolutionary origins.
We are drawn to beautiful things - inspiring
environments are no exception. Highly
aesthetic, welcoming workspaces that balance
colours and form are pivotal to increased
engagement, lowered absenteeism and overall
contentment.
Please allow us to repeat a point from
earlier. The opportunity here is for exogenous
growth, not profits driven from an internal
cost-based program of risk reduction. The
difference is that the opportunities for growth
are far more limited when coming from the
universe of one company’s expenses. Growing
a company’s income from productivity
is limited by the much larger universe of
potential clients and additional revenue that
can be collected.
Intuitively we know that positive,
nurturing and collaborative spaces will be
a valuable investment in any company’s
portfolio. The challenge has been to
independently substantiate this otherwise
subjective intuition. There are a number of
opportunities where research is engaged in
the measurement of productivity. As at the
date of this publication the authors of this
article are currently engaged in one such
effort with a leading New Zealand University.
Knowledge based companies interested in
investigating their collective productivity are
invited to express an interest in participating
in the research.
PRINCIPLES OF HIGHLY
PRODUCTIVE WORKSPACES