Understanding the Mechanisms of Activity-based Workspaces: A Case Study

Eismann, Tobias; Pakos, Oscar; Rücker, Marc; Meinel, Martin; Maier, Lukas; Voigt, Kai‐Ingo

doi:10.1177/00139165211008240

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Appel-Meulenbroek et al, 2011;Elsbach & Bechky, 2007). The present study also supports the findings of Eismann et al (2021), who reported that participation and regular exchanges of ideas and information increase the likelihood of developing new and useful solutions. Therefore, it is surprising that none of our interviewees referred to these issues as explicit objectives of workplace transformation, despite extensive discussions in the literature (e.g.…”

supporting

confidence: 90%

“More than meets the eye”: Unveiling the full potential of creative workspaces in modern organizations

Pakos

Eismann²,

Meinel³

et al. 2023

EJWI

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Providing adequate workspaces for employees is now considered crucial for organizational innovativeness in light of evidence that the work environment influences creative behavior. It is unsurprising, then, that companies increasingly seek to implement modern workspace designs based on what is often referred to as “New Work” to support employee creativity. However, designing, planning, and implementing a modern and creative workspace is highly complex. Existing studies report the multiplicity and interplay of organizational variables affected by such changes at the level of the individual employee (e.g., creativity), the team (e.g., communication) and the organization (e.g., culture). To explore whether and how organizational changemakers take account of these variables when designing creative workspaces, we interviewed 20 experts from companies that have recently implemented creative workspace designs and asked them about the objectives and consequences of their new workspace designs. On comparing their answers to findings reported in the existing literature, we found that these organizations were not fully aware of the organizational impact of such changes and failed to consider creativity enhancement as an explicit goal. Concluding that much of the potential of modern workspace design remains untapped, we propose avenues for further research.

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supporting

confidence: 90%

“More than meets the eye”: Unveiling the full potential of creative workspaces in modern organizations

Pakos

Eismann²,

Meinel³

et al. 2023

EJWI

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“…Research supports the importance of involvement from the managers when implementing organisational and physical environment changes [ 48 ]. Studies have also highlighted the importance of leadership behaviours in relation to the implementation of different office types [ 2 , 49 , 50 ]. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many workers away from their offices and into their homes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The best ratings were found for medium-sized open plan offices. Eismann and colleagues [ 50 ] studied AFOs and, according to factors related to leadership behaviours, they found new challenges for managers such as fewer contacts with employees and problems with evaluation of employee performance. However, AFOs might also support team building as managers and employees can share the same workspaces and work in greater proximity than in traditional offices [ 50 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing the Office Design to Activity-Based Flexible Offices: A Longitudinal Study of How Managers’ Leadership Behaviours Are Perceived

Larsson

Vinberg²,

Jahncke³

2022

IJERPH

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This longitudinal study examines the impact of office type on employees’ perception of managers’ leadership behaviours, which is an unexplored area. The expanding research related to activity-based flexible offices (AFOs) has mainly focused on employees’ working conditions and health outcomes, not on the changes in leadership behaviours when moving from traditional offices to AFOs. Office workers (n = 261) from five office sites within a large Swedish government agency were included in a controlled study of a natural intervention. At four sites, traditional offices were replaced by AFOs, while workers at one site with no relocation acted as the control. The same employees rated different leadership behaviours in a web-based questionnaire at baseline and at one follow-up. The analyses showed that relocations from cell and open-plan offices to AFOs were clearly related to a decrease in the perception of relation-oriented leadership behaviours. However, coming from open-plan offices to AFOs also decreased the perception of the other leadership dimensions. As expected, the control group was stable over time in their perceptions. This emphasises the need for organisations to provide managers with prerequisites so they can keep up with behaviours that support employees’ performance and health when office designs and ways of working are changed.

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“…Although it is true that private offices clearly afford greater privacy than open-plan offices and that ABWs have fewer partitioning walls, ABWs offer more possibilities for retreating than do conventional offices. Consequently, ABWs are unique because they combine both open and closed areas (Eismann et al, 2021) JCRE 25,3 and allow employees to freely choose between these areas, meaning that individual privacy requirements are met and interactions can be controlled. Furthermore, although ABWs have been reported to have a minor negative impact on privacy, particularly high levels of autonomy offered by ABWs compared to fixed-desk offices allow employees to access different spaces to match their desired levels of privacy.…”

Section: Privacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, ABWs combine the advantages of open-plan and private offices while eliminating the disadvantages of both. Moreover, ABWs allow employees to choose work settings that suit their current tasks and personal needs (Eismann et al , 2021) and include open rooms for tasks that involve communication and coordination as well as more enclosed spaces for team brainstorming and concentrated tasks. Workspace options range from team areas and meeting rooms to quiet rooms and informal areas, all furnished to suit employee activities and personal preferences (Arundell et al , 2018).…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balancing privacy and communication in activity-based workspaces: a longitudinal study

Rücker

Eismann

Meinel

et al. 2022

JCRE

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Purpose The aim of this study is to investigate whether activity-based workspaces (ABWs) are able to solve the privacy-communication trade-off known from fixed-desk offices. In fixed-desk offices, employees work in private or open-plan offices (or in combi-offices) with fixed workstations, which support either privacy or communication, respectively. However, both dimensions are essential to effective employee performance, which creates the dilemma known as the privacy-communication trade-off. In activity-based workspaces, flexible workstations and the availability of different spaces may solve this dilemma, but clear empirical evidence on the matter is unavailable. Design/methodology/approach To address this knowledge gap, the authors surveyed knowledge workers (N = 363) at a medium-sized German company at three time points (T1–T3) over a one-year period during the company’s move from a fixed-desk combi-office (a combination of private and open-plan offices with fixed workplaces) to an ABW. Using a quantitative survey, the authors evaluated the employees’ perceived privacy and perceived communication in the old (T1) and the new work environments (T2 and T3). Findings The longitudinal study revealed a significant increase in employees’ perceived privacy and perceived communication in the ABW. These increases remained stable in the long term, which implies that ABWs have a lasting positive impact on employees. Originality/value As the privacy and communication dimensions were previously considered mutually exclusive in a single workplace, the results confirm that ABWs can balance privacy and communication, providing optimal conditions for enhanced employee performance.

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Understanding the Mechanisms of Activity-based Workspaces: A Case Study

Cited by 15 publications

References 72 publications

“More than meets the eye”: Unveiling the full potential of creative workspaces in modern organizations

“More than meets the eye”: Unveiling the full potential of creative workspaces in modern organizations

Changing the Office Design to Activity-Based Flexible Offices: A Longitudinal Study of How Managers’ Leadership Behaviours Are Perceived

Balancing privacy and communication in activity-based workspaces: a longitudinal study

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