Most office workers relish the opportunity to personalize their cubicles, but some people also feel restricted in those small spaces. What happens if employees get the run of the entire office, but no particular space of their own?
The New York office of the Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), a consulting firm, converted to such a setup recently. Its 250 employees were each given a locker, a laptop, and told to get to work anywhere they wanted.
According to Business Insider, this is the largest-scale implementation of activity-based working in the U.S. Activity-based working is a Dutch theory about office work, which states that workers will be happiest and most productive if they can work in a variety of different spaces based on the task they're performing.
For instance, you might start out the day collaborating with co-workers in a conference space and then move to a more-private space to work on your own.
The space was also engineered to create better space for hosting clients. Now, instead of taking clients out to restaurants, GLG can entertain them in their actual offices.
Courtesy of GLG & Vimeo
When Business Insider went into the office, they spoke with a few of the employees about how the new layout is working.
"I definitely find that moving around helps me get work done," systems analyst Mike Martin said. "I feel like I'm a dynamic person who can work in a loud environment, but there are definitely days where you want to duck off into a telephone booth and sort of dive into the task at hand."
It seems that employees were worried about the change, and about being deprived of the ability to personalize their offices. But Clive Wilkinson, who designed the new space, posits that the need for personalization comes from the fact that workplaces have historically been less than comfortable. By creating a more welcoming space, he said, it removes the need to decorate the office.
Personal items are stored in employees' individual lockers, which are organized into clusters by departments.
GLG's human resources department reports that the biggest complaint they've had so far is from women who don't know where to put the extra pairs of shoes they change in and out of during the day, and this problem was solved by the allocation of a closet for footwear.
Courtesy of GLG & Vimeo
Courtesy of GLG & Vimeo.
Courtesy of GLG & Vimeo
Courtesy of GLG & Vimeo
Check out this video from GLG about the new space
Related Stories
| Dec 18, 2013
Architecture Billings Index takes step back in November
After six months of steadily increasing demand for design services, the Architecture Billings Index paused in November, dipping below 50 for just the second time in 2013.
| Dec 17, 2013
Kahn appoints Alan Cobb President and CEO
Cobb is the tenth president in the firm’s 118-year history. As President, Cobb is responsible for ensuring that all of the firm’s client issues are effectively address and that overall project team performance meets or exceeds client expectations for each and job the firm undertakes.
| Dec 17, 2013
CBRE's Chris Bodnar and Lee Asher named Healthcare Real Estate Executives of the Year
CBRE Group, Inc. announced today that two of its senior executives, Chris Bodnar and Lee Asher, have been named Healthcare Real Estate Executives of the Year by Healthcare Real Estate Insights.
| Dec 16, 2013
Is the metal building industry in a technology shift?
Automation is the future you can’t avoid, though you may try. Even within the metal building industry—which is made up of skilled tradesmen—automation has revolutionized, and will continue revolutionizing, how we work.
| Dec 16, 2013
Why employees don’t trust their leaders
Trust, one of the key elements to productive business relationships, is in short supply these days. An Associated Press-GfK poll discovered that only one-third of Americans say most people can be trusted and nearly two-thirds says “you can’t be too careful” in dealing with people.
| Dec 16, 2013
Construction materials prices remain stable in November
Overall, construction materials prices fell 0.5 percent in November and are up only 1.1 percent year over year, according to the Department of Labor’s Dec. 13 Producer Price Index.
| Dec 16, 2013
Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, inaugurated 2014 AIA President
Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, executive director of the Virginia Center for Architecture, was inaugurated as the 90th president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) during ceremonies held on December 12th at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. She succeeds Mickey Jacob, FAIA, in representing nearly 83,000 AIA members.
| Dec 13, 2013
GRW acquires West Virginia design firm Chapman Technical Group
GRW is expanding its capabilities through the recent acquisition of Chapman Technical Group, a 36-person West Virginia-based firm.
| Dec 13, 2013
AIA, MIT issue joint report on impact of design on public health
The research looks at the health of eight U.S. cities and lays out a path for translating the research into meaningful findings for policy makers and urban planners.
| Dec 11, 2013
Wyndham unveils hotel prototype for its Hawthorn Suites chain
The extended-stay hotel prototype reduces development costs by 46% for franchisees and enhances the overall guest experience.
