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Office Productivity: Designing the Ideal Workplace

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Office Productivity: Designing the Ideal Workplace

by Mark Dixon, Regus, 21 October 2011
topics:
Corporate Performance Management
tags:
absenteeism office design productivity

The problem with most workplaces is that they impose their own culture, often to stultifying effect. Just think of the language people use when they write letters on their company letterhead, or speak at client meetings.

 
That dreary management-speak reflects the environment in which office denizens operate every day – where the furniture, lighting, neutral colours, attitudes and movements of those around them, all speak of hierarchy, defensiveness and uniformity. In places like this, there is little room for individual inspiration and fulfilment, let alone innovation.
 
And that is a pity because, although the study of the workplace design is still in in its infancy, we already know that simple things such as good lighting and adequate daylight can reduce absenteeism by 15% and increase productivity by up to 20%, a solid return on investment by any CFO’s measure.
 
Design ideas
The way the workplace is designed can be a crucial influence on the way people approach their work. Marilyn Zelinksy, whose book The Inspired Workspace is one of the most thoughtful and comprehensive reviews of the subject, offers five words to describe the ideal workplace:
 
  • nurturing
  • fantasy
  • serene
  • playful
  • artistic
 
There are great ideas in this book, and a recognition that different people need different things at different times. But those requirements are sometimes contradictory. How can you have a workspace that is simultaneously serene and playful?
 
Actually, it may be possible, but we need to think beyond the physical workspace itself, as I shall explain in a moment.
 
Google model
With its famously collaborative culture, Google would come high on anyone’s list of companies that make a real effort to foster enjoyment, creativity and expression in the workplace. Here are just some of the things Google employees can expect to find in the company’s work spaces:
 
  • Local expressions of each location, from a mural in Buenos Aires to ski gondolas in Zurich
  • Bicycles or scooters for efficient travel between meetings; dogs; lava lamps; massage chairs; large inflatable balls
  • Googlers sharing cubes, yurts and huddle rooms; very few solo offices
  • Laptops everywhere – standard issue for mobile coding, email on the go and note-taking
  • Foosball, pool tables, volleyball courts, assorted video games, pianos, ping-pong tables, and gyms that offer yoga and dance classes
  • Grassroots employee groups for all interests, like meditation, film, wine tasting and salsa dancing
 
The Google model doesn’t just work functionally; it clearly inspires too. One of its offices even has chairs round a paddling-pool. No wonder people are proud to work for a company that believes that work can and should be enjoyable, and that knowledge should be shared.
 
But would the Google workplace work for everyone? It is highly idiosyncratic. Besides, there are not many organizations with the resources to offer such a remarkable variety of environments and entertainments.
 
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One important thing for me
Submitted by Anne Kingsy on 11 November 2011 - 9:48pm

One important thing for me that my workplace needs to have is a nice vanity mirror. Maybe this is a women's thing, but still, I guess that we all have personal preferences.

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