Activity-based working

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Activity-based working (ABW) is an organizational strategic framework that recognizes that people often perform a variety of activities in their day-to-day work, and therefore need a variety of work settings supported by the right technology and culture to carry out these activities effectively. Based on activity, individuals, teams, and the organization are empowered to achieve their full potential by developing a culture of connection, inspiration, accountability, and trust. On a personal level, ABW also enables each person to organize their work activities in a way that best suits what and with whom they are trying to accomplish, promoting productivity and engagement at work. [1] Although not normally implemented as a cost-saving business strategy, it can produce efficiencies and cost savings through more effective collaboration and team work. Inspiring spaces that evolve from an activity-based approach are designed to create opportunities for a variety of workplace activities, ranging from intense focused work to collaboration, as well as areas for meetings, whether formal or impromptu.

Contents

ABW is a framework that encompasses a holistic way of working that goes beyond the physical office space, incorporating the technological platforms and tools as well as the digital and cultural environments that support work activities - with an ultimate goal of encouraging individuals to flourish, teams to connect, and organizations to thrive. [2] However, some studies have suggested that ABW can have negative impacts on an organization by reducing face-to-face interactions and increasing email traffic significantly. [3]

History

The first known reference to an activity-based analysis of office work modes was by American architect Robert Luchetti in the late 1970s. [4] in 1983, Luchetti co-invented the now widely accepted concept of the office as a series of "activity settings". In an activity settings-based environment, multiple settings are provided which have different technical and physical attributes assembled to support the variety of performance "modes" that take place in a work environment.

The term "Activity Based Working" was first coined in the book the Art of Working by Erik Veldhoen, a Dutch consultant with Veldhoen + Company, and author of the book The Demise of the Office. [5] Activity Based Working was first implemented in the Netherlands by Interpolis in collaboration with Veldhoen + Company in the nineties. Interpolis is one of largest insurance companies in the Netherlands. The company gained wide recognition with its advertising campaign "Interpolis. Crystal clear", which was adopted from their vision and brought to life in their new way of working.

The activity-based office

The activity‐based office concept is said to increase productivity through the stimulation of interaction and communication while retaining employee satisfaction and reducing the accommodation costs. Although some research has gone into understanding the added value, there is still a need for sound data on the relationship between office design, its intentions and the actual use after implementation. [6] [7]

The concept of activity-based workplace has been implemented in organisations as a solution to improve office space efficiency. However, the question of whether or not office workers' comfort or productivity are compromised in the pursuit of space efficiency has not been fully investigated. There are obstacles and issues of concern when practicing the activity-based office concept. A study carried out in activity-based workplace settings reports that employees without an assigned desk complain of desk shortages, difficulty finding colleagues which limits immediate collaboration, wasted time finding and setting up a workstation, and limited ability to adjust or personalise workstations to meet individual ergonomic needs. [8] Another study suggest the impact of office design on occupants' satisfaction, perceived productivity and health, pointing towards reduced time workers spent seated in ABW offices [9]

The most recent study released in 2020 by Veldhoen + Company, the founders of Activity Based Working, was the biggest global research project on Activity Based Working. [10] The research set out to understand the measurable impact of Activity Based Working and the drivers of success in Activity Based Working transitions. The research project was started in July 2019, and was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The report included 32,369 responses spanning 11 countries, and explored questions used in Leesman Index surveys [11] providing valuable context to understanding office workers’ behaviour - with the opportunity to explore what factors would be most important as organisations transition to a post-pandemic return to the office. The data tells us not only what type of workplace to return to, but also how to do so. [12]

Activity-based offices of the future

To create a successful work environment, it is important to have insight into the demands and behaviours of the employees using this environment. [13] Recently there has also been a move towards understanding interior design features underpinning occupants' higher satisfaction results in ABW, open-plan offices [14]

However, the three fundamental pillars that support a new way of working continue to be the same - the (1) behavioural, (2) virtual and (3) physical work environments, which can be linked to the working processes of human resources, IT and facility management in the work environment. Access to new technologies and analysis methods such as Organisational Network Analysis and other workplace metrics will continue to shape the future of leaders ability to understand and plan for the future of their organisations. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remote work</span> Employees working from any location

Remote work is the practice of working from one's home or another space rather than from an office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Job satisfaction</span> Attitude of a person towards work

Job satisfaction, employee satisfaction or work satisfaction is a measure of workers' contentment with their job, whether they like the job or individual aspects or facets of jobs, such as nature of work or supervision. Job satisfaction can be measured in cognitive (evaluative), affective, and behavioral components. Researchers have also noted that job satisfaction measures vary in the extent to which they measure feelings about the job. or cognitions about the job.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office</span> Room where administrative work is performed

An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. In the adjective form, the term "office" may refer to business-related tasks. In law, a company or organization has offices in any place where it has an official presence, even if that presence consists of a storage silo, for example, instead of a more traditional establishment with a desk and chair. An office is also an architectural and design phenomenon, including small offices, such as a bench in the corner of a small business or a room in someone's home, entire floors of buildings, and massive buildings dedicated entirely to one company. In modern terms, an office is usually the location where white-collar workers carry out their functions.

Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production process, i.e. output per unit of input, typically over a specific period of time. The most common example is the (aggregate) labour productivity measure, one example of which is GDP per worker. There are many different definitions of productivity and the choice among them depends on the purpose of the productivity measurement and data availability. The key source of difference between various productivity measures is also usually related to how the outputs and the inputs are aggregated to obtain such a ratio-type measure of productivity.

Facility management or facilities management (FM) is a professional management discipline focused on the efficient and effective delivery of logistics and other support services related to real property and buildings. It encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality, comfort, safety and efficiency of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology, as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The profession is certified through Global Facility Management Association member organizations.

A virtual office is part of the flexible workspace industry that provides businesses with any combination of services, space and/or technology, without those businesses bearing the capital expenses of owning or leasing a traditional office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workforce productivity</span> Concept in economics

Workforce productivity is the amount of goods and services that a group of workers produce in a given amount of time. It is one of several types of productivity that economists measure. Workforce productivity, often referred to as labor productivity, is a measure for an organisation or company, a process, an industry, or a country.

Workplace wellness, also known as corporate wellbeing outside the United States, is a broad term used to describe activities, programs, and/or organizational policies designed to support healthy behavior in the workplace. This often involves health education, medical screenings, weight management programs, and onsite fitness programs or facilities. Recent developments in wearable health technology have led to a rise in self-tracking devices as workplace wellness. Other common examples of workplace wellness organizational policies include allowing flex-time for exercise, providing onsite kitchen and eating areas, offering healthy food options in vending machines, holding "walk and talk" meetings, and offering financial and other incentives for participation. Over time, workplace wellness has expanded from single health promotion interventions to describe a larger project intended to create a healthier working environment.

A virtual workplace is a work environment where employees can perform their duties remotely, using technology such as laptops, smartphones, and video conferencing tools. A virtual workplace is not located in any one physical space. It is usually a network of several workplaces technologically connected without regard to geographic boundaries. Employees are thus able to interact in a collaborative working environment regardless of where they are located. A virtual workplace integrates hardware, people, and online processes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open plan</span> Floor plan that makes use of large open spaces

Open plan is the generic term used in architectural and interior design for any floor plan that makes use of large, open spaces and minimizes the use of small, enclosed rooms such as private offices. The term can also refer to landscaping of housing estates, business parks, etc., in which there are no defined property boundaries, such as hedges, fences, or walls.

<i>Booster Breaks</i>

Booster Breaks: Improving Employee Health One Break at a Time is a 2010 book. Booster breaks are defined as: "organized, routine work breaks intended to improve physical and psychological health, enhance job satisfaction, and sustain or increase work productivity." Dr. Wendell C. Taylor is recognized as the architect of the Booster Break concept. The intent of Booster Breaks is to encourage health-enhancing breaks during the work day as a corrective to job stress and sedentary behavior. Examples of Booster Breaks are physical activity, meditation, or breath training. Even for brief sessions of 10 to 15 minutes, a routine practice of any of the preceding examples can produce physical, psychological, and/or mental benefits.

Despite a large body of positive psychological research into the relationship between happiness and productivity, happiness at work has traditionally been seen as a potential by-product of positive outcomes at work, rather than a pathway to business success. Happiness in the workplace is usually dependent on the work environment. During the past two decades, maintaining a level of happiness at work has become more significant and relevant due to the intensification of work caused by economic uncertainty and increase in competition. Nowadays, happiness is viewed by a growing number of scholars and senior executives as one of the major sources of positive outcomes in the workplace. In fact, companies with higher than average employee happiness exhibit better financial performance and customer satisfaction. It is thus beneficial for companies to create and maintain positive work environments and leadership that will contribute to the happiness of their employees.

Workplace Strategy is the dynamic alignment of an organization's work patterns with the work environment to enable peak performance and reduce costs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office space planning</span> Process of organizing workspace layout

Office space planning is the process of organizing the workplace layout, furniture and office functions to work effectively together, while using space efficiently. Floor plans should consider the workgroup function, building codes and regulations, lighting, teaming requirements, inter-communication and storage, as well as zoning for employee workstations, task space needs, support rooms and reception areas to make the best use of available space. Optimising office spaces with effective space planning can aid circulation, productivity and improve workplace wellness, as well as the health and safety of occupants.

Personnel psychology is a subfield of industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology. Personnel psychology is the area of I-O psychology that primarily deals with the recruitment, selection and evaluation of personnel, and with other job aspects such as morale, job satisfaction, and relationships between managers and workers in the workplace. It is the field of study that concentrates on the selection and evaluation of employees; this area of psychology deals with job analysis and defines and measures job performance, performance appraisal, employment testing, employment interviews, personnel selection and employee training, and human factors and ergonomics.

Positive psychology is defined as a method of building on what is good and what is already working instead of attempting to stimulate improvement by focusing on the weak links in an individual, a group, or in this case, a company. Implementing positive psychology in the workplace means creating an environment that is more enjoyable, productive, and values individual employees. This also means creating a work schedule that does not lead to emotional and physical distress.

Workplace relationships are unique interpersonal relationships with important implications for the individuals in those relationships, and the organizations in which the relationships exist and develop.

Workplace health promotion is the combined efforts of employers, employees, and society to improve the mental and physical health and well-being of people at work. The term workplace health promotion denotes a comprehensive analysis and design of human and organizational work levels with the strategic aim of developing and improving health resources in an enterprise. The World Health Organization has prioritized the workplace as a setting for health promotion because of the large potential audience and influence on all spheres of a person's life. The Luxembourg Declaration provides that health and well-being of employees at work can be achieved through a combination of:

Workplace democracy is the application of democracy in various forms to the workplace, such as voting systems, debates, democratic structuring, due process, adversarial process, and systems of appeal. It can be implemented in a variety of ways, depending on the size, culture, and other variables of an organization.

Employee recognition is the timely, informal or formal acknowledgement of a person's behavior, effort, or business result that supports the organization's goals and values, and exceeds their superior's normal expectations. Recognition has been held to be a constructive response and a judgment made about a person's contribution, reflecting not just work performance but also personal dedication and engagement on a regular or ad hoc basis, and expressed formally or informally, individually or collectively, privately or publicly, and monetarily or non-monetarily.

References

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  2. Mapes, Una (2020). "Veldhoen + Company on COVID-19 and The New Future of Work". Veldhoen + Company.
  3. "Open offices can lead to closed minds | The Economist". The Economist .
  4. UCL (2020-08-04). "Opinion: Covid will force us to reimagine the office. Let's get it right this time". UCL News. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  5. "Cozy in Your Cubicle? An Office Design Alternative May Improve Efficiency". Bloomberg. September 19, 2014.
  6. Rianne Appel‐Meulenbroek; Peter Groenen; Ingrid Janssen (May 31, 2011). "An end‐user's perspective on activity‐based office concepts" (PDF). Journal of Corporate Real Estate. 13 (2): 122–135. doi:10.1108/14630011111136830.
  7. Veldhoen, Erik (2004). The Art of Working. Academic Service. ISBN   9789052614915 via Google Books.
  8. Kim J.; Candido C.; Thomas L.; de Dear R. (July 1, 2016). "Desk ownership in the workplace: The effect of non-territorial working on employee workplace satisfaction, perceived productivity and health". Building and Environment. 103 (Supplement C): 203–214. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.04.015.
  9. Candido C.; Thomas L.; Haddad S.; Zhang F.; Mackey M.; Ye W. (April 3, 2019). "Designing activity-based workspaces: satisfaction, productivity and physical activity". Building, Research and Information. 47 (3): 275–289. doi:10.1080/09613218.2018.1476372. S2CID   116531452.
  10. Chen, Zoe (2020). "The Impact of Activity Based Working". Veldhoen + Company.
  11. Tree, Indigo. "Measuring your employee experience". Leesman. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  12. Yu, Robbie (2020). "The Impact of Activity Based Working. A research on measurable outcomes and key differentiators". Veldhoen + Company.
  13. Oseland, N. (November 20, 2009). "The impact of psychological needs on office design". Journal of Corporate Real Estate. 11 (4): 244–254. doi:10.1108/14630010911006738.
  14. Candido C.; Thomas L.; Haddad S.; Zhang F.; Mackey M.; Ye W. (April 3, 2019). "Designing activity-based workspaces: satisfaction, productivity and physical activity". Building, Research and Information. 47 (3): 275–289. doi:10.1080/09613218.2018.1476372. S2CID   116531452.
  15. Kearney, Jo (2019-12-20). "A Critical Analysis of the Applications and Limitations of Organizational Network Analysis in the Workplace to Drive Organizational Change". Rochester, NY. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3564195. S2CID   219382474. SSRN   3564195.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)