Disproving Widespread Myths About Workplace Design
| Type | Report |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Brill,M. , Weidemann,S. , BOSTI Associates |
| Publication year | 2001 |
| Notes | ID: BRILL2001; Editors note. We are indebted to Caroline Burns, Director CMBSP A division of $The Rhumb Line Group$, Sydney Australia for the following This is the second stage of a research project undertaken by BOSTI, commenced in 1985 with "Using Office Design to Increase Productivity", which claimed to establish a clear relationship between workplace design and productivity and job satisfaction. The current report is based on a six year study (1994-2000) of 13,000 people in client organisations and is prelude to publication of the compete findings. While the evidence is compelling the methodology and data analysis appears to support a correlative rather than causal relationship between design and productivity. However this should not be grounds for dismissing the findings, which constitute probably the most comprehensive user-based research on individual and team productivity to date. The results suggest that that the workplace can enhance individual and team performance, but that these benefits are generally not realised in alternative office designs. They argue that both the need for privacy and the need for interaction should be provided from an individual workstation/office. The evidence suggests that these needs are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but that because talking (meetings, phone) in personal workspaces constitutes between 20-35% of peoples time (depending on job type) open plan workstations are inappropriate as they distract surrounding occupants - all of whom need to spend 60-70% of their time in their own workspace doing quiet work. While BOSTI acknowledge the role of culture, the extent to which cultural change was integral to these workplace transitions is not evident. BOSTI's claims that at least 60% of time is needed for individual privacy is a much higher figure than has generally been encountered in either published material or unpublished observations. It is understood that occupier.org will shortly be releasing the results of a major survey on this subject, which will provide an interesting comparison. There is also a risk in individual self-reporting that results may be swayed by individual perceptions or differing psychometric needs, such as the question as to whether people $think$ they will be most productive working quietly on their own or whether in actuality they should be working as a group. George Cairns has commented that the workplace may be seen as a setting for a series of 'post-dichotomous' realities, and similarly it has been suggested that people's perceptions may be (consciously or subconsciously) affected by their existing paradigms or by organisational memes (refer various papers by Price). However, these issues aside, the research constitutes a significant step towards evidence-based results of the impact of workplace on productivity, albeit couched in an open vs enclosed framework. As BOSTI themselves acknowledge "the findings "call into question a few of our most cherished assumptions", and for that reason alone this is an important contribution to the debate. |
| Relevance to practice | High |
| Ease of application | Medium High |
| Evidence base | Good |
| Readability | High |
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