Considering the physical office space on knowledge workers

1. Organisation Design – the
Physical form and function
Dr Louise Suckley
June 2013
0114 2253081
l.suckley@shu.ac.uk

2. To be considered....
• A brief history of office design
• Designing space for different types of workers
• Designing space for different types of interaction
• 'Understanding your workspace' consultancy work

3. Behaviourist thinking c.1900s
• Operant conditioning - a type of learning in which an
individual’s behaviour is modified by its consequences.
• B.F. Skinner and I. Pavlov
• F.W. Taylor’s Scientific Management
• In office space this equated to high degrees of control:
uniform rows and overtones of the Panopticon

5. Cognitivist thinking c.1950s
• Approaches to learning regarded humans as unique, intelligent
and rational.
• Bloom’s spatial hierarchy of thinking or cognition.
• Economic revival, construction technology and reliable lift
systems enabled creation of taller office buildings.
• Rise of the professionals, cognitive, knowledge, office worker.
• Managerial and supervisory offices grew in size and became
symbols of status.

7. Humanist thinking c.1960s
• Approaches to learning emphasised human agency and the
fulfillment of human potential.
• Rogers’ ‘Freedom to Learn’: acceptance, feelings and
nurturance were central to learning.
• Burolandschaft freerer information flow, increased openness
and equality (Schelle & Schelle)
• Irregular arrangements of desks, although still rectangular
and symbols of status
• Propst ‘the action office’

9. Social constructivist thinking
c.1970s & 80s
• Learning is active and contextualised.
• Knowledge developed by individuals and through social
interaction.
• Widening recognition of the role of the body (embodiment)
in learning.
• Streets used in office design to encourage movement and
intermingling, although the organisational cultural to support
such activity did not emerge.

11. Ecological c.1990s - today
• Continued emphasis on social interaction, but acknowledging that
human dynamics are complex.
• Tom Peters’ Liberation Management and Franklin Becker’s
Organisational Ecology cover the complex mix of people, technology
and physical space in the developing workplace.
• Organisations are an adaptive collection of overlapping communities
of interest that are open and dynamic, diverse and partially self-
organising and in constant evolution.
• Myerson contrasted modernisers using new office space in old
cultures with mould breakers using new spaces with new ideas.

13. What sort of office space do you have
experience of?
What works best for you?

14. Designing for different types
of workers

16. Source: The New Office, Duffy (1998)

17. how would you describe
your mobility in relation
to the office?
Space for thought: research tool
Myerson et al (2011)

19. low mobility high mobility

20. The Anchor
Iconic sedentary worker, reliably in the office
every day and likely to be found at their desk
during this time.
The person others go to in order to get
information and are vital in knowledge
transfer

21. The Connector
Spend half of their time in different places
around the building: in meeting rooms, in the
cafe or at colleagues' desks.
Depends of interaction with people from
different departments, but all are within the
organisation.

22. The Navigator
Essentially a visitor to their own office.
Works for the organisation at arm's length.
Less than a day a week in the office.

23. The Gatherer
Relies of relationships generated away from
the office.
Spends half the week away from the office at
different appointments at clients' offices,
other sites or neutral spaces e.g. cafes.
Office is a central fulcrum in their week.

24. Different needs from the office

26. Impact of changes in office
design

27. The Acid Test
(Courtesy of GCHQ)
3 months
3 months
24 hours
24 hours

28. Fostering innovation
The commonly regarded
sequence of thought processes
and action stages that lead to
innovation comprise of four key
elements: Preparation;
Incubation; Illumination; and
Verification.
The workspace in which this
activity is undertaken can be
facilitative or restrictive.

29. • Innovation and creativity is widely known to depend on the flow and exchange of
information and ideas.
• The importance of the socio-spatial environment within the organisation is being
increasingly recognised as an important way of supporting internal creativity and
innovation networks.
• Social interaction is valuable in the development of knowledge - from gossip to
formal problem solving (Cross & Borgatti (2004).
• Social and spatial proximity within organisations are closely related (Cross and
Borgatti 2003) .
• "Co-workers will more likely communicate with colleagues within their vicinity; face to face
interaction declines rapidly after 30 meters” (Allen, 1997; Allen & Henn, 2007).
Fostering innovation

30. Office design for innovation
Peponis et al (2007)
'flow model' : communication is most effective if the office layout
directly reflects the required flow of information, such as placing people
who need to communicate near each other. However,…. if workers need
to communicate with too many others or if patterns of communication are
unpredictable, then difficult to do.
'serendipitous model' : the provision of informal interaction nodes
such as cafes, helps to bring people together outside of normal
workspaces. Encourages frequent unplanned interactions.

31. Actant - an inanimate object that plays an active role in interaction,
within the office environment this tends to be printers, photocopiers,
kitchens and more importantly their kettles (Latour, 2005).
Individuals are 'attracted' to these areas and so they can be used to draw
people towards them.
Water-cooler effect (Fayard and Weeks, 2007). Using the water-cooler
as an actant. Effectiveness determined by privacy, proximity and
acceptability.
Office design for innovation

32. • Business consultancy project delivered through Innovation Futures
(IF).
• IF aims to contribute to the development of a region-wide culture of
innovation and to create strong links between businesses and the
University.
• Worked with SMEs in South Yorkshire to provide advice on how the
office environment can be optimised to encourage creativity and the
development of innovative products/ services.
Understanding your workspace

33. Methodology
• Participant observation: to gain a qualitative perspective on how
the office was used and the relationships that existed between the
staff.
• Social Network Analysis: to understand the nature and
characteristics of relationships between staff.
• Space Syntax: to gain an understanding of the spaces that could
enhance or inhibit social exchange

34. Methodology
Social Network Analysis: to understand the nature and
characteristics of relationships between staff.
Through an online survey staff were asked which people they have
contact with for:
•discussing new ideas
•finding out what's going on
•discussing improvements
•gaining expert advice
•making decisions
•increasing their knowledge and skills
•discussing work related tasks
•social topics

36. Methodology
Space Syntax: to gain an understanding of the spaces that could
enhance or inhibit social exchange.
•Applied to the floor plan, the software considers all spaces with all
other spaces, for 2 main components:
– Depth: the most private spaces, may be difficult to find and people are least
likely to wander into by accident. Not the best places for serendipitous
interaction, but are good areas for concentration.
– Connectivity: the most visually connected areas, where most activity and chance
meetings are likely to take place; they tend to be the easiest places to find
without directions.

37. Implications for office design
• Design for serendipitous interaction between different teams.
• Locate individuals with betweeness in the areas that are high in
connectivity.
• Locate those that require privacy in areas with high depth/ low
connectivity.
• Introduce flexible spaces that can meet different needs.
• Use Actants to draw people to areas or individuals that you
want to use better.

38. Office design implications
Recommendations to Dataco:
– ideas to facilitate innovation: develop an Ideas Board in the kitchen area & encourage
people to eat their lunch in the kitchen.
– supporting creativity: use a spare room on first floor as a Discussion room for sales,
technical & finance to come together to discuss client requirements from the
project. Comfy/ Informal furniture with PC and Skype facility. Introduce a Projects
Board on first floor to display current projects progress & visuals.
– utilisation of space for general workflow: recommendations were made to move those
most isolated actors to be with the most connected and that there was an individual
with betweeness located in each room. Spaces of great depth were recommended
for storage.
•Need to support new office design through organisational culture.
•Processes should be introduced, and clear support shown from managers
for new ways of working or no changes will be made.