Activity-based working started as a concept to save space. Today, it is behind the increase in flexible, collaborative working environments that experts say increases employee productivity and wellbeing.
Ping pong tables, healthy lunches and airy canteens seeped with natural light. Beanbags, breakout areas and meeting rooms tastefully painted to sooth tired eyes. Today’s contemporary workspaces are becoming increasingly unfamiliar from the offices of the past. And they are becoming more popular.
Today’s typical office layout is based on the concept of activity-based working, a premise where no employee ‘owns’ or has an assigned workstation. Instead, the workspace provides employees with a variety of activity areas with different types of furniture, lighting and design. Based on specific employee task, having different configurations can help learning, focusing, collaborating and socialising.
The modern workspace has come a long way since the original, economics-driven concept of the 1990s, which sought to eliminate overcapacity, reduce space requirements and cut real estate costs. But while the benefits of activity-based working are easy to measure from a space perspective, they are harder to quantify in terms of the benefits they bring to people and productivity.
Initially, the lack of such schemes meant that workplace strategists struggled to demonstrate tangible benefits with hard data. Studies to measure the effects of the workplace on people were also often not included in capital budgets. This made it difficult for clients to source funding for post-occupancy studies, leading to a lack of analysis as to how workspace affects productivity and wellbeing.
As more projects rolled out, driven initially by the economic advantages of being able to fit more people into a smaller space, experts were able to measure, value and further enhance such collaborative, flexible spaces. Employees also began giving positive feedback, demonstrating the broader, non-financial benefits of a forward-thinking workplace strategy.
Preparing people
Activity-based working is not the solution to all workplace problems. A building alone will not change behaviour or drive productivity. Research shows it is not as effective for teams performing tasks that don’t require a high level of mobility in an office environment. Even in environments where it is appropriate, employee inertia may prevent increases in productivity.
Preparing people for the space is just as important as preparing the space for the people. If they are dropped into a new environment with no training, they will behave as they did before. Introducing the right processes and behaviours are critical.
Education and a thoughtful, focused change management programme are essential. Engaging with the workforce helps capture the hearts and minds of employees and helps them adopt new ways of working and new behaviours more quickly. Longer term, this also helps to attract and retain staff.
Reflecting brands and communities
Developers are also adding new features, giving particular focus to common spaces. Creating reception areas that act as vibrant public spaces, a trend seen across most European markets, is making workplaces more externally focused and connecting them to the broader community.
There has also been a shift to branded offices — spaces that reflect the culture and values of an organisation, from wall art and quirky meeting rooms, to vinyl graphics and digital installations. Different occupiers require a different look and feel, hence the increasing demands for developers to offer spaces to contemporary tenants who prefer the blank canvas of ‘shell and core’.
This allows more tailored interior solutions such as open ceilings and flexible collaboration spaces. Though conversely this flexibility typically comes with increased cost and potentially longer delivery programmes.
The new normal
As millennials come of age, the flexibility and sense of community that activity-based working provides has become an expectation for the workplace, rather than a privilege for certain teams or tiers of management.
And as these working environments become increasingly popular, real estate developers have little choice but to incorporate the infrastructure necessary to accommodate these requirements to remain competitive.
Originally, simply a means of squeezing additional value from existing corporate real estate portfolios, activity-based working is ushering in a new culture of collaboration. As well as attracting and retaining the workforce of now and the future, it drives efficiencies that consistently deliver added value. Embracing less rigid, somewhat unconventional office environments is no longer a choice — engagement depends on it.