Library Worklife

Volume 2, No. 7 • July 2005

Work/Life

The Office of the Future

Innovative Trends in Workplace Design and Function

By Casey Schacher

Loosen up your necktie and forgo the pantyhose, because future office spaces seek to strip employees of straight-laced traditions and re-dress them with environments that foster mobility, connectivity, and mental and physical fitness. Unlike in the past, the future work environment will keep the worker in mind, rather than the other way around.

For years, employees have had private offices or cubicles, cut off from their fellow employees and limited in their ability to share ideas and network amongst co-workers. But this tradition may be on its way out, according to Kevin Kampschroer, Director of Research, General Services-Public Building Service. The traditional office is increasingly being replaced by open space workstations, which are "temporary office kiosks or even remote drop-in centers where workers can set up temporary work stations, a place to make and receive phone calls and plug into the corporate computer network."¹ As technology continues to create mobile employees, the ratio between fixed desks and open space workstations, which today stands at 80/20, will level out over time to 50/50.²

Several innovative companies have already caught on to this trend. Sun Microsystems, in St. Louis, MO, provides employees 40 drop-in workstations from which they can function as if in a regular office, a practice of sharing desks called hot-desking. These workstations offer workers the benefit of communal space that will cater to their social needs.

"People really are social animals. Most of the good ideas come from people getting together," manager Don Deason said.

The Japan-based firm, Tokyo-NEC, has taken this model a step further. In their 500+ employee office building, workers share only 400 temporary desks and a handful of printers. These desks, often just a section of a larger table, are first-come, first-serve and cannot be reserved. Also, conference rooms lack walls and chairs, and attendees are required to stand during meetings. The result is a 20% reduction in meeting length and a significant increase in employee involvement with clients outside the office setting. Overall, the experimental workspace has secured a 30% savings over traditional work environments and stands as a showcase for how to maximize productivity and profit.³

While open-space work environments are popular, cubicles still have a place in the business world, though they might not be the archaic structures of today. Tomorrow's cubicle will provide the benefits of a private office yet will maintain the communication potential of open space workstations. Queen's University's Human Media Laboratory (HML) has developed an "attentive" cubicle that uses technology to filter out distractions while monitoring the environment for events that need attention, such as a co-worker's approach.⁴ Eye contact sensors mounted on the cubicle mediate a user's attention by altering the environment to maximize focus on his or her chosen task. This device senses where users are looking and, depending on how intently they are focused on the task, will redirect phone calls and other potential interruptions. To make interaction between employees seamless, the device first detects when a user wishes to speak to another by where his or her eyes are focused and then alerts the other party providing they are available and interested.

The cubicle further facilitates communication among employees through architectural technology. The cubicle's walls are made of a material called Privacy Glass, which can transform from opaque to transparent to allow visual interaction between co-workers. Ceiling mounted cameras track the "social geometry" of the office and instruct the walls to become transparent if it detects that two people wish to speak. Other technology involves noise-canceling headphones that not only filter out unwanted sounds when the user is silent but also transmits and record conversations, allowing a user to pause or fast-forward live conversations. The headphones routinely query Google with words and phrases from the conversation.

" We're moving toward enhancing brain function by directly tapping into a person's sensory system," said the cubicle's developer, Dr. Roel Vertegaal. "T he computer takes over our attention mechanisms, allowing our brain to focus energy where it will be most effective."⁵

Some companies may take a more human-orientated approach to office design by incorporating cubicles and other office features that improve productivity though physical fitness. An experimental office built by the Mayo Clinic's Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) laboratory encourages exercise during working hours by swapping traditional cubicles with movable "vertical" workstations. These next-generation desks are designed so that employees may stand and/or exercise while working by using detachable treadmills or exercise bikes affixed to their workstations. Community fitness is key as employees conduct meetings while walking on a two-lane track that surrounds the office or while gliding across the carpet on special plastic skates. The walls are fitted with targets that treat co-workers to a bit of healthy competition as they shoot plastic pucks at the targets with hockey sticks.

Dr. Jim Levine, who leads the NEAT laboratory, insists that this type of office has the potential to help professionals direct more natural lifestyles. "We were built to be active. We developed legs to stand because we were meant to get off our butts," he said. "It raises the issue that we can work in a way that's completely different than anything we had imagined before, and be healthier and more productive."⁶

Office furniture that encourages physical activity can help workers burn between 400-800 calories a day and lose up to 50 pounds in a single year.⁷

While sharing desks and equipping cubicles with advanced sensors and treadmills may not be an immediately viable solution, there are things that you can do today to modernize yesterday's office. A low-tech, inexpensive method to dramatically improve worker focus is through the manipulation of lighting. Random, creative thinkers can benefit from having their desk surface lit by a bright, focused light while the surrounding office remains softly illuminated.⁸ This reduces visual distractions and helps them to concentrate on their work.

You can also encourage communication between employees by mounting large chalkboards or dry-erase boards on walls in common areas and breaks rooms. This trick invites workers to collaborate on and share ideas about office news, projects, events, and important decisions. Instead of traditional walls, the advertising agency Banc, located in the UK, has installed blackboards in an attempt to incite employee interaction. Banc chairman Robert Bean endorses the arrangement: "half-baked thoughts get chalked up and sit around until they are acted on.it works brilliantly."⁹

As technology changes and peoples' needs adjust with it, traditional offices equipped with personal desks and doors are quickly becoming dinosaurs of the professional world. The office of the future is emerging as a collaboration-focused, technology driven environment that utilizes open spaces, shared resources, and user-focused technology. While this new workplace maybe years away from becoming a staple, today's top employers are already beginning to see how keeping up with the times can benefit not only employees but the companies they staff as well.

References

Dimsdale, Jim. "Traditional Office Space Gives Way to Office of the Future." Marketplace Morning Report , January 13, 2005.
Arnold, Damian. "Bleak Future for Iconic Offices." Building Design , November, 6, 2004, sec 6.
Kanellos, Michael. "Office Space Gets New Meaning at NEC in Japan." CNET News.com , November 2, 2004. < http://news.com.com > (Accessed June 20, 2005).
"'Attentive' Cubicles Help Workers Focus in Busy Offices." Queen's News Center , December 20, 2004. < http://qnc.queensu.ca/story_loader.php?id=41c71b25bb7d1 > (Accessed June 22, 2005)
Ibid.
Staples, Sarah. "Standing out at the new workplace: Researchers at the Mayo Clinic claim their new standup offices boost productivity and can help workers lose up to 50 pounds a year, writes Sarah Staples." Ottawa Citizen , May 26, 2005, sec A7.
Ibid.
Cline, Stephanie. "Office Design Trends are Bringing the Outside In." Colorado Spring Business Journal , January 14, 2005, sec News.
Booth, Hannah. "Office Hours: Design Your Own Workspace: The BBC is Paying Employees to Personalize Their Desks." The Guardian , September 29, 2003, sec 4.

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