Workspace matters

Many of us have worked in offices that took a traditional approach to office planning—you have a desk, a chair, a cube or office, your printer, and (if you are lucky) maybe a window.  Your space looks like everyone else’s, except for maybe framed pictures of your respective families and friends.  The purpose of these designs is to squeeze in as many people as possible into limited physical space, with the occasional conference room for meetings.  And guess how people worked as a result?  You could probably describe it yourself.   More and more now, there is attention being paid to workspace as a part of one’s work experience—how physical environment (and how people behave within it) could be strategically leveraged to encourage productivity, creativity, collaboration and innovation.  The high tech companies figured that one out a while back (during the dot com boom of the 90s), as a way of differentiating their employee experience and getting results.  It’s taking a while for other industries to catch up.  “The coolest workspace” in Chicago, 1871 shows us what it could be—how these workplace designs are within anyone’s reach and can be used as permanent, or temporary environments to experiment with.     Steelcase is also doing real research in this area.  It’s an interesting concept to think about when it comes to your own workspace and may be an opportunity that could yield a big difference.  Try it.  :)