ABSTRACT. One of the most prominent and widely adopted COVID-19 countermeasures globally was the recommendation to work from home for all non-essential workers. Working from home (WFH) already entails many challenges, including difficulties in maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Moreover, the COVID-19 enforced remote working differed from planned remote work, as it was unplanned and involuntary, not based on individual work activities, and excluded the use of third places. This study aims to establish how, on a global scale, demographics, time with company, and the social and physical work setting at home affected employees’ satisfaction with their physical work setting during the pandemic. The study employs a quantitative research approach utilizing secondary data comprising 137,289 respondents from 77 countries globally. Employees’ experienced suitability of their physical work setting at home are regressed on demographic factors (age, gender), time with company, presence of others at home, type of work space, satisfaction with desk and chair, access to IT devices and tools, and country, using a linear probability model. The study finds that the majority of the respondents globally, ca 61%, felt that their physical work setting at home was suitable. Women had a higher probability of being satisfied than men, and older employees a higher probability of satisfaction than younger employees. Recent recruits also had a higher probability of satisfaction. The presence of family members reduced the probability of satisfaction, presence of friends and flatmates even more so. No having a dedicated work room also reduced the probability of satisfaction, while satisfaction with desk, chair and access to IT devices and tools had a large positive effect. This study is among of the first to analyse employee experiences during COVID-19 on a truly global scale. As hybrid work continues to gain foothold, our findings are useful workplace managers in the post-pandemic era.

ABSTRACT. COVID-19 forced most office workers to work from home. Alongside known positive aspects of home-based telework, it is also associated with reduced organisational support and feelings of isolation. Isolation is often cited as the primary reason for not wanting to work from home (WFH) full-time, but there is limited knowledge on the relationships between personal- and environmental factors of WFH and feelings of isolation. It is therefore interesting to study isolation during obliged WFH and see how relationships with colleagues might have changed. Two surveys were distributed amongst office workers of 12 different (mostly public) Dutch office organisations in 3 cohorts across the Covid-pandemic in 2020 (April-December; n=25,058 and 18,859, response rates 33% and 23%). Bivariate analyses of survey 1 show significant relationships between personal and environmental characteristics and the professional isolation scale. Descriptive analyses of the survey 2 data are used to interpret how relationships have changed. Findings show that many respondents missed informal contact with their colleagues at the office, but on average professional isolation increased only slightly from 3.12 for cohort 1 to 3.16 (on a 5-point scale) for the later cohorts. Managers, females, and employees with similar workloads since working from home suffered less from isolation then non-management and/or male employees, and those with increased or decreased workloads. Also, respondents of higher age, those with a furnished and/or private home workspace, those living with others and those with higher perceived organizational support showed less feelings of isolation, while those with higher educational levels and/or children living at home perceived more professional isolation. Both the content (less personal) and the frequency of contact with colleagues changed since working from home. Also, managers felt more involved with their colleagues, and found it more rewarding to see their colleagues during video meetings compared to regular employees.

ABSTRACT. Digital technologies have enabled distance work, providing autonomy and flexibility for individuals to work and collaborate at a distance. As digital technologies enable working at a distance, they also separate and disconnect individuals, affecting task coordination and knowledge sharing, and potentially causing loneliness and isolation.

As the outbreak of COVID-19 enforced work at a distance, line and middle managers were faced with a new task to maintain closeness and connection to retain employee well-being and performance from afar. Research suggests maintaining interpersonal connectivity i.e. one-on-one connection with team members. While research states that interpersonal connectivity between individuals predominantly forms through face-to-face interaction, the capabilities of digital technologies permit establishing a close relation development within the community. Therefore, this article aims to explore how line and middle managers enact interpersonal connectivity work with their teams at a distance as a means of closing a connectivity gap. We draw on qualitative interviews within a longitudinal case of a large Danish pharmaceutical company to demonstrate how thirteen middle managers maintain interpersonal connectivity with their teams from a distance during the COVID-19 pandemic, from May 2020 to May 2021.

We conclude by considering strategies middle managers utilize to ensure closeness and connection to their teams while balancing employee well-being and performance. Through this study, we observe that the managers enact interpersonal connectivity by adjusting their behaviour to establish a virtual presence bringing them closer to employees. Moreover, the managers use techniques exuding both care and control over their employees through organized virtual activities.

The study contributes to the body of knowledge on interpersonal connectivity work enacted by line and middle managers over time in distance work. Furthermore, this study informs management practice on relevant skill development for distance work by demonstrating a case that outlines the elements needed when employing interpersonal connectivity work.

ABSTRACT. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the usual benefits of work-from-home (WFH) have been challenged. In particular, WFH has had a differential impact on women and men. Recent literature has shown that the boundaries between work and family became indistinct, and the gendered distribution of responsibilities within the household became more apparent. However, the reasons of such disparities may have different causes which date back long before the pandemic. Namely, both family-related and space-related issues which were pre-existing may have been magnified by the emergency restrictions. In an attempt to understand the extent to which WFH during pandemic has affected women and men, we distributed a survey to the whole population of Italian tenured academics, as a privileged category of knowledge workers who maintained relatively stable their workload (compared to other types of knowledge workers who may have lost their job or reduced working hours) and who were yet used to WFH because of their high location autonomy. The analysis aimed at understanding whether WFH had positive or negative effects on females’ and males’ academic productivity and if childcare, household duties and allocation of home spaces influenced differently women and men. The analysis of 7,865 answers showed that WFH implied productivity gains more for men than for women. On the contrary, without certain boundary conditions, WFH had a negative effect on women’s productivity and even worse on men. This research discusses the results according to gender role theory and boundary theory, providing both practical and theoretical contributions to support gender equality within and outside the academic setting.

ABSTRACT. Coworking spaces initially appeared in large metropolitan cities throughout the world and they have been appearing more and more in different regions, including non metropolitan areas. The objective of these spaces is usually centered on knowledge exchanges, collaboration, networking and territorial innovation. While the large metropolitan spaces have been well studied, they have not all been studied in such detail, and even less in regional and smaller places. We thus strated a research a few years ago on coworking spaces in small Québec cities or regions in order to compare with what we had seen in Montreal and larger centers. We observed that while these spaces usually have the same objectives of cooperation and networking, they also present differences. Coworkers are usually a bit in these smaller places tend to be somewhat older and often have an entrepreneurial perspective to their presence in the coworking space. Coworking spaces were less numerous in regions but are gaining in popularity since the pandemic. We have conducted a survey in coworking spaces in Québec and Canada and will present the results of this online survey which we are just starting to analyze. We also have another survey starting in Québec which is more oriented towards working conditions in these spaces and workers’ motivations for going there. If these results are available for the deadline, we will add them to the comparison in order to gain a better understanding of objectives, advantages, well-being, and other issues to coworking spaces in Québec and Canada.

ABSTRACT. Work-life balance (WLB) has become a buzzword, having “at least four different definitions” (Sirgy & Lee, 2018, p. 230). Looking especially at collaborative spaces research on the topic, it tackles WLB for innovation (Cochis et al., 2021) and the work-family dynamics in coworking (Orel, 2020). This study contributes to the discussion considering the following question: how do coworking spaces (CSs) owners from the Czech Republic recognise they are providing work-life balance to their coworkers? The goal is to understand which kind of tools are recognised as supportive to workers in their daily experience at the space, from the view of those responsible for offering them. Additionally, the focus is on changing nature of CSs with their formal and informal interactions (Kindgma, 2016). The methodological approach is qualitative and based on semi-structured interviews with managers from five spaces in the Czech Republic. Primary data are supplemented with secondary data reflecting on events and activities concerning WLB, organised pre and during the COVID19 pandemic. The data are organised by association maps, which allows categorising themes (Spink, 2010). From the notion of work-life balance as the individual’s feeling that his/her work and non-work activities are compatible and in harmony with his/her current life priorities, managers are invited to dive into their perceptions of coworkers' needs or expectations to evaluate their importance on developing new ways of working in collaborative communities. Initially, they are asked to state their view of the notion and then consider the provided definition of WLB concerning services for coworkers. Finally, they point down which aspects of what has been defined as coworking well-being drivers, such as business hours, equipment, location etc. Consequently, respondents reflect on the relational hybridity of organisational practices through activities of WLB.

ABSTRACT. The negative effects on the wellbeing of homeworkers have been widely discussed in the current literature. In terms of physical risks, these increase in the case of homeworking due to a lack of ergonomic equipment, poor lighting conditions and safety measures for trips and falls that can be normally found in an office environment. As for psychosocial risks, a worsened balance between work and private life has been reported, together with the so-called zoom fatigue and the feeling to be never able to disconnect from work duties. In this context, coworking spaces may have emerged as a valid solution to tackle occupational risks, overcoming for instance social isolation and favouring a better work-life balance, but at the same time guaranteeing quieter spaces for working compared to traditional third places such as cafes. These latter arguments were mentioned already among the drivers for joining coworking spaces in possibly the most cited paper in the coworking literature written by Spinuzzi (2012). However, besides a forthcoming study focusing on the Italian case by Mariotti and Akhavan, no overview of the literature on coworking spaces looking specifically at the topic of wellbeing at work has been conducted.

Therefore, this literature review paper aims to look at how coworking spaces may affect users’ wellbeing at work. The discussion will be based on a structured review of both academic and grey literature looking at how the physical environment of coworking spaces (i.e., presence of ergonomic equipment) may help workers to improve their wellbeing, for instance by reducing the likelihood of developing musculoskeletal disorders. Moreover, drawing on the demands-resources model (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001), the literature search will seek to understand which kind of resources (i.e., social support) coworking spaces may provide to users to face work demands in order to decrease coworkers’ stress levels.

ABSTRACT. In order to prevent their employees from infection with the virus, many employers decided to let their employees work at their homes, instead of letting them into the offices all at one time. Both, employers and employees had to adapt with the new situation in terms of e.g. social interaction, productivity, but also the belonging to their own firm, while absent. The result of this worldwide field trial is a high amount of opinions of how working from home works and equally does not. But it also reveals that for a certain amount of days working from home will continue to be a valuable workplace, even after a worldwide pandemic. The traditional office is a place of exchange, representation and belonging, but the hybrid office environments seem to be the future trend – that means a combination of traditional offices and work from home. The question is which tasks are better to be done from home or in the traditional office. To answer this question an intensive literature research was conducted. As the results of the literature research are showing different trends and are not providing a common picture, a survey was carried out at top and middle management in the DACH-region. The sample consisted 44 people, giving answers to a complete questionnaire. Out of the results of these two approaches, the paper gives advice, which work tasks are better performed in traditional offices or from home. The paper also gives an insight into pros and cons of work at home and in the office. The future trends regarding workplace of the future of the interrogated companies is also presented.

ABSTRACT. Activity based working environments (ABW) are supposed to facilitate various work processes and work patterns. Upcoming ways of working, such as Agile and experience with working from home during COVID-19, suggest that office buildings need to change to fit new trends. The experience with compulsory working from home have made people think differently about where they can perform their work activities. Employees indicate that they want to work from home more often. This is expected to lead to different activity patterns in the office, in turn leading to a host of subsequent questions. How were activities of knowledge workers defined precisely in the pre-COVID period? Does the partly changing location of knowledge work call for changed definitions of activities? Which new work patterns can be distinguished and what is their effect on possible adaptations of office buildings and other physical environments aimed to ‘fit’ the individual knowledge worker? A clear answer to these questions is crucial for making sure that the activity-based environment meets the requirements of knowledge workers. In this paper we focus on providing a framework for defining activities. With this way aim to start the discussion about the intricate post-COVID relation between worker, workplace and activity.

ABSTRACT. The proposed paper will analyze the extent to which the adaptation of immersive virtual reality ("VR") technology could enable employees to overcome the distractions associated with working from home, increase their visibility on team projects, build stronger relationships with co-workers, reduce feelings of isolation due to social distancing, and facilitate their engagement in collaborative work processes. VR as an emerging technology demonstrates a high potential to improve the effectiveness and job satisfaction of remote workers. The previous debates on the potentials of VR for optimal employee collaboration are limited, and as such, the following paper presents a ground-start for further research on the visually enhanced and immersive tools for remote working.

ABSTRACT. Academic workspace is an emotive subject. The private faculty office has long been the de facto norm on campus and has long been aligned with status in an often fiercely competitive hierarchy. However, the higher education sector is experiencing mounting calls for operational efficiency, which stand at odds with the typically low-space utilisation of academic workplaces. For universities the pandemic has heightened debates on the future of on-campus space use by their academic staff and accelerated explorations of new models of working, such as hybrid, shared open-plan and agile working.

Arguably, we are seeing a new chapter in the planning, design and functionality of academic workspaces. But this is coming with a range of new demands and challenges for those responsible for designing and implementing projects. The introduction of new approaches to organising academic workspace is frequently viewed by its future users with anxiety, hostility and negative preconceptions; outcomes of new physical models have been identified as decreased productivity, institutional belonging and job satisfaction and higher-than-desired time spent working off campus. There is evidence, though, that if transition is managed well, staff can thrive in new working environments.

This paper addresses how to manage the shift to new academic workplace models in a twenty-first-century context. Using research findings from a series of ethnomethodologically informed interviews and observations and supported by a literature review, this research seeks to give a clearer understanding of the faculty experience in transitioning to new workspace models and what measures universities have taken to consider and improve this experience. The authors use this research to distil practicable lessons for those involved in the design and delivery of new academic workspaces.

ABSTRACT. The world of work is undergoing constant change worldwide. In addition to the increasing demand for flexibility, the COVID-19 pandemic reinforced working from home. Little is known so far on the mechanisms and factors that influence work success at home. It is also unclear whether the influencing workplace characteristics vary between different nations due to country-specific circumstances. The aim of this study is to obtain a deeper understanding of these factors that influence organisational outcomes in the home office. The research model builds on the Job Demands-Resources and Environmental Demands-Resources models using German (n = 429) and United States (n = 507) survey samples. Partial least squares structural equation modelling is used to analyse the influence of workplace characteristics and a multi-group analysis is employed to explore group differences in the factors influencing organisational outcomes between Germany and the United States. The results reveal that significant determinants of productivity and turnover intention include housing characteristics (equipment/facilities), skill variety, isolation, and family–work interference. Isolation and equipment/facilities are identified as the most important workplace factors. Some significant differences are found between the two nations with regard to the degree of influence of isolation and family–work interference on burnout, which lead to altered effects on satisfaction, productivity and turnover intention in both nations. The study reveals new insights into the impact of workplace factors on work success. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that analyses workplace factors on home office using a multigroup analysis.

ABSTRACT. Purpose: The study aims to analyse how service provision, internal processes, and culture have been affected by lockdowns and mandatory work from home periods due to the Covid 19 pandemic and what function social co-presence might play in this regard. Theory: a theoretical framework that considers individual, team, and organisational perspectives on task performance and social/community aspects is outlined. Design/methodology/approach: In a single organisation qualitative case study, five focus group interviews including 19 employees of an IT consultancy were conducted to identify the effects of Covid 19 Pandemic. Findings: Results show that individual performance was assessed to have increased while internal processes remained at similar levels compared to pre-pandemic levels. Culture, however, was reported to have considerably deteriorated in the view of the participants. Originality/value: the study shows that for a company that was very experienced with distributed working, the reduction of co-presence had important effects on performance and culture. Findings suggest that the scarce resource of copresence must be carefully managed in the future. This could become a new priority for workplace and human capital management.

ABSTRACT. This paper presents an overview of a model and a circle matrix of analysis that accounts for the main spatial design attributes which influence and produce the most relevant salutogenic outcomes. These outcomes are essential for an optimal and healthy work experience, especially during the post-covid period. This study departs from the theoretical contributions of Salutogenic approach, and principles from Supportive Design Theory and Psychosocial Supportive Design mainly. After a transdisciplinary literature review covering the fields of workspace design, environmental psychology and evidence-based design of healthcare facilities, a circular relationship matrix was created -based on a theoretical model- to overview and determine which spatial attributes enhance specific salutogenic – health and wellbeing promoting outcomes needed for a healthy work experience. The model of analysis (as theoretical element) and the circular matrix diagram (as methodological tool) are thought to assist architects, designers, workspace owners and stakeholders in their new designs or to evaluate existing ones. Studies on the definition of physical attributes and their intended salutogenic outcomes were previously done in healthcare facilities. The application of this idea not only refreshes shared workspace design, but it is necessary in post-covid times, when the revision of health standards is on discussion again. It is also expected that this health generating approach can be used to define the agenda of future transdisciplinary research.

ABSTRACT. This paper is an overview, how office noise affects human, how the office noise appears in offices, and how noise can be controlled. Noise and lack of speech privacy are among the most dissatisfactory environmental issues in open-plan offices. Scientific research has shown that office noise increases stress, reduce cognitive work performance, cause noise annoyance, elevate workload, and fatigue. The study summarizes the most important findings that emphasize the importance of noise control. Noise can be controlled by various methods: room acoustics, architecture, organization, and individual behavior. Noise control has been quantitatively described in some national building regulations. Many new international standards have been published to promote noise control. The study summarizes these important means in detail and attempts to provide a holistic view how to control noise in offices. A case workplace is described where many methods of noise control were properly applied.

ABSTRACT. This paper contributes to the conceptualisation of healthy flexible office design by providing new insights into the interrelations between flexible office design, users' perceptions of them, and user SOC. The paper summarises the work done as part of a doctoral thesis including a literature review as well as three mixed-method case studies on flexible offices. The literature reviews reveal that both ‘health’ and ‘healthy office’ conceptualisations were limited to risk factors (pathogenic forces). The case studies showed that users’ perceptions of the design features either hindered or promoted comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness in the flexible office. The case studies also highlighted the temporal changes in users’ perceptions and thus their sense of coherence indicating that the novelties of the new office wore off and the initial problems observed in the office environment got worsened. The studies also exposed that the flexible office designs were not always perceived as intended and the reasons related to suboptimal design solutions, users’ lack of involvement in the design process, as well as previous office type, users’ preferences, and activity profiles. In summary, the findings emphasize that relocations to flexible offices consist of several interacting components which may determine the success and failure of flexible office designs. The paper concludes that a healthy flexible office, that includes the SOC framework, focuses on characteristics that enable active coping. A salutogenic office environment is thus one in which office users are given resources and opportunities to co-design an environment that enables them (i) build meaningful social relationships, (ii) manage visual and acoustic distractions, (iii) read and understand workspaces, and (iv) receive support from management in their daily work.

ABSTRACT. Indoor Environmental Quality is a matter of immense concern for people’s health and their productivity. With this in mind, the present study relies on the Flourish wheel to create a Co-design toolkit that offers an opportunity for designers and architects to indicate their perspectives on improving open-plan workplaces; due to the lack of using different design processes such as the toolkit in explaining architecture theories, this study is the first of its kind to develop a co-design toolkit in architecture, which can be used to improve the design of workplaces in a way that affects their occupants positively by means of the Biophilia design approach. In this co-design study, participants interactively discuss and share their ideas, and the researcher collates and model the results in the direction that they wished, by four steps of cards; the activity guide which is designed to explain the aim and the process of the toolkit for the user, then the flourish cards which has been created to evaluate the existing workplace environment and determine the main IEQ issues based on the flourish questions. After that, there are the Biophilic cards that present a list of solutions with different user budgets, and finally the plants' cards; which provides the participants with a number of potted plants and some tips on how can they be used inside the office environment to enhance the different IEQ factors that affect the occupants’ wellness. This toolkit would allow a researcher to conduct a co-study in two separate rounds virtually with 24 participants; from the design, architecture and the built environment sectors. They could identify the role of the IEQ in an office environment and show how they affect the occupants’ health, well-being and productivity. Next, they could propose recommendations for improving the office environment using Biophilic design patterns.

ABSTRACT. Although workplace design and management are gaining more and more attention from modern organizations, workplace research is still very fragmented and spread across multiple disciplines in academia. There are several books on the market related to workplaces, facility management (FM), and corporate real estate management (CREM) disciplines, but few open up a theoretical and practical discussion across multiple theories from different fields of studies. Therefore, workplace researchers are not aware of all the angles from which workplace management and effects of workplace design on employees has been or could be studied. A lot of knowledge is lost between disciplines, and sadly, many insights do not reach workplace managers in practice. This new book series is titled ‘Transdisciplinary Workplace Research and Management’ because it bundles important research insights from different disciplinary fields and shows its relevance for both academic workplace research and workplace management in practice. The books will address the complexity of the transdisciplinary angle necessary to solve ongoing workplace-related issues in practice, such as knowledge worker productivity, office use, and more strategic workplace management. In addition, the editors work towards further collaboration and integration of the necessary disciplines for further development of the workplace field in research and in practice. This book series is relevant for workplace experts both in academia and industry. The first two books of the series will be introduced “A Handbook of Management Theories and Models for Office Environments and Services” and “A Handbook of Theories on Designing Alignment Between People and the Office Environment.

ABSTRACT. Management of the physical workplace is gaining attention in both the industry and academia. Nevertheless, the bulk of knowledge on this topic is scattered and needs systematisation, which is challenging given the multiplicity of disciplines involved in workplace-related matters. On the one hand, many decisions about the workplace are taken without appropriate information basis, and workplace managers require guidelines to apply workplace theories in practice. On the other hand, workplace researchers struggle to combine all the angles from which workplaces are studied and would benefit from a reference collection of methodologies favourably applicable in the workplace context from different disciplinary areas. The multiplication of available data further complicates the scenario. Novel opportunities to triangulate information from various sources and produce innovative insights are open but need guidance to be exploited through traditional and innovative methods. 

This handbook explores a wide range of methods to examine various forms of physical workplace environments. It focuses on the most pressing questions regarding the relationship between the spatial component of the workplace, including its progressive hybridisation with other physical and virtual places, and its users (e.g. public organisations, companies, start-ups, and solopreneurs). These questions do not only impact the research realm but translate into very concrete practical matters and deserve to be tackled through careful analyses. The book includes foundational knowledge of different methodological approaches; innovative evolutions of these methodologies; and their application in various workplace contexts. The proposed hands-on approach will guide the reader throughout the research process until the expected outcomes.

ABSTRACT. The Coronavirus emergency has forced companies to ask their employees to work remotely from one day to the next, accelerating an already existing digitalization process. As a result, new scenarios have opened up on work spaces which, from containers for chairs and desks, are transformed into attractive meeting places suited to the needs of the new ways of working. Do we still need the office in the era of smart working? Starting from an analysis of the factors that have contributed to a real change of direction in the founding pillars of work organization (places, times, technology and system of rules), this book tries to answer this question by reflecting on the new role played by the office in the hybrid model of work.

In fact, in the first part of the volume we start from the history of office design and the intertwining with current and past organizational models, we pass through the new workplaces such as the home and co-working and finally we analyze, with the contribution by CNR researcher Luisa Errichiello, the impact of the physical work space on productivity and well-being.

The second part is dedicated to practical applications with business cases, interviews with HR managers and a rich in-depth analysis on the methodology with which Workitect deals with workplace change projects. Organizations currently have a huge opportunity in their hands: they will be able to reduce the size of their offices to rethink them and make them an essential asset of the hybrid work model.

ABSTRACT. Dr Nigel Oseland will present a brief overview of his latest book: Beyond the Workplace Zoo. The book draws on over 30 years’ of his experience of exploring workplace comfort, performance and wellbeing, with a mix of research and practice. Nigel draws on his environmental psychology background to offer an evidence-based and human-centric approach to create workplaces that enable the occupants to thrive rather than simply survive.

The book begins by outlining the common design mistakes with the modern office and the industry focus on reducing cost and increasing density that has resulted in the ill-fated workplace zoo. Nigel also points out that the office is non-binary and, as such, the ongoing and raging debate on open plan versus private offices is moot. Criticism of open plan usually refers to larger high-density workspaces with little screening or breaking up of the serried rows of desks.

The requirements of office-based workers according to the fields of psychology, anthropology, sociology and zoology are fully explained. Research in environmental psychology highlights how personality and other personal factors affect our requirements. This in turn informs individual requirements for the workplace as well as group needs. The impact of studies in evolutionary psychology and biophilia relevant to office design are also considered.

The latter part of the book turns to pragmatic guidance and workplace solutions, it focuses on how to plan, design and manage offices to accommodate human needs now and in the future. The importance of designing for inclusivity is also recognised, including designing spaces for neurodiversity. Dr Oseland’s proposed workplace solution The Landscaped Office is a revived and revised version of Bürolandschaft and Action Office with a contemporary twist. The impact of workplace trends, such as agile and hybrid working, complement the workplace solution, resulting in the Agile Landscaped Office.

ABSTRACT. The XXXXX will in 2023 relocate to a new building at XXXX. This includes a new strategy for flexible attendance and new models for office- and desk sharing based on a strong vision statement from 2012 with a focus on analogue vs. digital working, relations and collaboration, flexibility, and mobility at the workplace.

From a local practitioner’s point of view, we have an intrinsic case of real-life user preferences disclosed by the question: Which solutions and models does the different departments heads and employees prefer in this open framework? How can we use the new insights of work culture at XXXXX in our pursuit for a better workplace relative to the vision statement?

The poster describes the models chosen by the departments together with key learning points archived.

ABSTRACT. The COVID-19 accelerated shift towards hybrid workspaces places major pressure on workplace communities and culture. This study explores the emergence of a collaborative academic workspace, which is still in the real estate development phase. The aim is to establish preconditions for community building, and the relationship between the community and the physical space. The study employs a qualitative case study approach, where the case is the development process of a co-working space for sustainability researchers in Helsinki, Finland. The site is planned to also host regular office space, as well as an event space, and a café open to the public. We utilize 9 interviews as primary data, and a range of written documents and photographs as secondary data. All data is analysed using template analysis. The study finds that the while the output of the project is the renovated physical building, the desired outcome is a community of academics, and other like-minded people. The outcome is to be achieved through dedicated human resources, structured communication efforts, and an outspoken concept. The concept highlights science-based evidence related to the sustainability crisis, but also inclusiveness and dialogue with the public. The virtual community has emerged already before the physical space exists, and will likely transform into a hybrid community once the space opens. However, the target group for the virtual community is more towards the general public, while the physical community will be more aimed at sustainability researchers with the potential for major societal impact. A complete merging of the virtual and physical communities is not planned, and might not even be possible. The findings are useful to owners and service providers of collaborative spaces in determining their strategy and needed resources for community building. Real estate developers should consider initiating community building efforts already in the development phase.

ABSTRACT. Unispace embarked on a robust study combining the results of an in-depth survey and deep dive interviews to understand the true motivations behind why employees (and many employers) are reluctant to return to the office. Key countries of polling included the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.

ABSTRACT. As we continue to move through the pandemic, hybrid work environment has been given attention more extensively and is considered as the approach for the post-covid world of work. This study aims to assess feedback of employees on hybrid work environment and to explore the link between physical environment aspects and factors influencing employees’ work performance. A review of the literature showed various impacts of hybrid working on employees and their work. A case study of an online news media company in Thailand was conducted to explore if and how these literature findings are met in practice. Research methods include an interview with a general manager and a questionnaire survey (i.e. employee satisfaction, perceived productivity support and perception regarding the link between physical environment aspects and factors influencing work performance). The study shows items that employees appreciate most are ICT and online meeting platform, working atmosphere and accessibility to working space and common facilities. They perceived that size and functionality of the space relate to creativity, sharing ideas, face to face communication, collaboration, and positive feedbacks between colleagues. On the other hand, ICT and ICT support facilities was linked to positive feedbacks between colleagues, confidence of team members, friendly relationship, ability to work with others, and amount of work done. It is clear that employees are satisfied with the support given to individual and team productivity. The paper shows that organisation’s context (i.e. business type, organisation structure, staff characteristics) has an impact on physical work environment, which influences employee satisfaction and perceived productivity support. The findings show a link between physical environment aspects (i.e. workplace, ICT and ICT support facilities, office space layout, and acoustics) and factors influencing employees’ work performance from employees’ perspective.

ABSTRACT. Purpose: Organisations wishing to combine working from home with some office-based activities in a so-called hybrid model seem to struggle knowing where to start and how to decide what is right for them. In this paper we address this apparent lack of strategies on how to make decisions around a hybrid office and develop a systematic framework covering five distinct aspects of the post-pandemic office: 1) Where will staff work? 2) How will the office be organised spatially? 3) How do management and practices need to adapt? 4) What to do with existing real estate? 5) What technology will support this?

Theory: The Covid-19 pandemic has provided a natural experiment for many organisations to trial working from home at speed and at scale. Employees have adopted these more flexible practices, and many are now demanding a different approach to physical office space allowing them to work from home for 2-3 days a week. In setting their return to the office policies, organisations find themselves faced with tricky decisions to make to be able to balance competing objectives with newly introduced variables.

Design / methodology / approach: A review of the latest published research, surveys and articles covering the topic of hybrid working.

Findings: By defining a series of parameters and spelling out decisions, options and parameter interplay as well as potential outcomes such as collaborative cultures, learning, onboarding, knowledge exchange, coordination or well-being, this framework allows organisations to ask themselves a series of relevant questions, helping to reflect on the hybrid office, its possible shapes and variations, and how those might support desired organisational outcomes and strategies.

Originality: This newly developed framework will help organisations who wish to adopt hybrid working to decide where to start from and understand hidden implications of certain decisions and their interdependencies.

ABSTRACT. With the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemics, many firms switched to hybrid working which required change in their existing onsite work routines, practices, norms and procedures. Transition to hybrid working has been particularly a challenge for small manufacturing firms. Not only the production requires onsite presence, coordination through speedy informal exchanges as well as the social cohesion maintained through onsite face-to-face interactions are the characteristics of these firms. On the other hand, following the new experiences employers and employees would like to maintain the benefits of hybrid working such as reduced commuting time or time for focused work which allow employees to maintain a work life balance. Yet, we have limited understanding of the issues that SMEs encountered as they sought to organize their hybrid workplace as well as the characteristics that enable them to adapt to new ways of working. We conducted a case study of a small family-owned manufacturing firm to provide a better understanding. We adopted a mixed method design. We first gathered data on employees’ perceptions on various dimensions through a survey. Then we collected additional insight through three focus groups. We found that the availability of digital technologies enabled switching to hybrid working and continuity of work, however maintaining social proximity and speedy information exchange was a challenge within the organization. Moreover, we observed that the leadership increased sensegiving activity having explicit and transparent communication through digital media that is accessible to all employees. In addition, the shared values, such as trust, loyalty and innovation, within the organization have enabled employees to overcome disruptive times and be engaged in bringing further improvement as they learnt through the new experience. Overall, our study reveals how workplace culture and leadership influence the small manufacturing firms' adaptation to new ways of working.

ABSTRACT. Purpose: This paper aims to understand what sustainable coworking is, using the perspective of triple bottom line for sustainability.

Theory: Theories from sustainable organizational behavior and workplace research are used for a coworking context. Based on the previous theory of sustainable behavior, we conceptualize the constructs for sustainable coworking from the perspective of triple bottom line of sustainability. The constructs we propose are productivity, prosociality, and responsibility, representing economic, social, and environmental perspectives of sustainability, respectively.

Methodology: We applied a case study to collect empirical data from three coworking spaces in the city through twenty in-depth interviews, participant observations, and workshops.

Findings: We identified several aspects for the proposed sustainable coworking constructs. Productivity comprises of remaining focused, saving time, accomplishment of plan, and having new ideas. Prosociality was related to sharing resources with coworkers, helping coworkers with work-related matters, engaging socially, volunteer for additional tasks, helping coworkers with personal matters, and suggesting improvements that affect other coworkers. Responsibility was perceived as following the rules, concern for the environment, concern for coworkers, confronting irresponsible behavior, and conforming to the norms.

Originality: Our findings increase the understanding of what sustainable coworking is which is still under-researched. The conceptual model can be used as a basis for assessing sustainable coworking.

ABSTRACT. Since the United Nations have articulated the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SD), corporations have paid more attention to assessing corporate engagement against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In practice, these goals push companies to measure their sustainability performance using Environmental, Social, and Governance scores (ESGs). ESGs evaluate emissions, innovation, workforce, human rights, community, product responsibility, management, and shareholders corporate social responsibility strategy of an organization. Although these indicators look at many different aspects of a company’s sustainable performance, the workspace is not included as a criterion of evaluation, which is a significant limitation as the Architecture Engineering Construction and Operation industry (AECO) has an important role in reducing the environmental impact of organizations. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate how companies evaluate the sustainability performance of workspaces. After reviewing the scientific literature about the application of ESGs in the space dimension, the study analyses a sample of companies (the top 5% of all B Corporates, categorized by company size in 2021) that have been evaluated the “Best For The World 2021” (BFTW 2021) in terms of SD. B Lab awards those companies that meet certain standards of transparency, accountability, sustainability, and performance looking at five major categories, namely Community, Customers, Environment, Governance, and Workers. The expected result of the study is to identify the link between sustainability evaluation of workspace and ESGs by analysing the sustainable reports of the 5 top B Corporates companies of each category.

ABSTRACT. Nowadays the workforce is becoming more diverse. While Corporate Social Responsibility has become key to many organizations, it remains unclear how inclusion, equity and diversity principles are applied in office physical environments. Design for All and Universal Design strategies exist since the 1990s indicating that the built environment should be inclusive for all users, regardless of age, gender, culture, abilities, or disabilities. However, they often remain at a general level by listing principles more than operative design strategies. The aim of this paper is to explore how the scientific literature has addressed inclusive workplace design and management so far. A scoping review is adopted to answer the question of what is known from the existing literature about workplace design strategies to assure inclusive design. A preliminary analysis of 15 papers disentangles principal themes and strategies that characterise the way inclusion principles are applied in the workplace. As possible future research lines, this contribution will reflect on the opportunity to create operative design strategies and indicators for an inclusive workplace.

ABSTRACT. Hybrid work, which involves using technologies to work between a workplace and a remote setting such as a home, cafe or public transport (Stephenson, Kuismin, Putnam & Sivunen, 2020) is set to become the dominant form of office work in a post-COVID 19 world (Colley & Williamson, 2020). To better understand the emergent phenomenon of hybrid work and to address the limitations of the existing management literature we answered the following research question: How do managers understand hybrid work?

We identified four managerial understandings of hybrid work which differ based on how managers approach office space, technology and time. 1) Efficiency-focused managers maximised remote work by divesting from office space, investing in remote-working technology and emphasising productive time, 2) Human Resource-focused managers invested in collaborative offices and technologies to facilitate flexible use of time, 3) Team-focused managers emphasised face-to-face office work and minimised remote working technologies to facilitate synchronicity among employees, and 4) Corporate Responsibility-focused managers adopted approaches to office space, technology and time that helped them to achieve their social goals.

By taking stock of how managers currently understand hybrid work, we provided insights into hybrid work in a world where it is the norm. In terms of practical outcomes, we identified risks and benefits associated with different managerial approaches to hybrid work and empowered managers to choose the best approach to hybrid work for their own organisations.

ABSTRACT. Workplaces are designed to foster a range of activities, such as focused work, collaboration, and recovery, which create dynamic needs towards work environments. We applied a context-sensitive experience sampling method (ESM) to collect space-specific data on employees’ immediate experiences from individual workspaces to understand how they support these activities. This ESM study focused on obtaining information on employees' requirements for interaction, privacy, and spatial atmosphere during different individual or collaborative activities located at assigned workstations, meeting rooms, and recovery space. ESM can be conceptualized to contain the following key elements: 1) natural environment, 2) immediacy of experience, and 3) representative sampling. It is a repetitive inquiry method that permeates into employees' daily life; therefore, its design requires an approach that enables easy event reports. Signal-contingent ESM techniques usually apply fixed or random signals to prompt the inquiries: we used dynamic signals to prompt ESM inquiries when the employees left workspaces. Our ESM study setup consisted of an indoor positioning system and a mobile application programmed to send notifications with the questionnaire link to the employees' smartphones. This dynamic ESM technique collected user experiences without disturbing their work during activity but instead collected the immediate experience before employees moved on to their next activity. Applying an indoor positioning system enabled us to collect a representative sampling of experiences in the studied workspaces. The study was conducted before and during an intervention study, during which organizations' meeting rooms and recovery space were refurbished. To interpret the ESM results, we used qualitative research methods to study the inquired ESM parameters, employees' activities, and experiences of workspaces. Using contextual research methods, such as ESM, promotes research of diverse workspaces and workplace design more comprehensively.

ABSTRACT. Neuroscientists have comprehensively assessed how design can support creative thinking, most often in studies that detail the effects of a single physical factor. Creativity-linked design elements identified include color (surface and light), visual complexity, plants visible, natural light, visible wood grain, aesthetic factors, soundscapes, environmental control, distractions, ceiling height, opportunities for movement, access to needed tools/task support, and chance for cognitive restoration, for example (e.g., Batey, Hughes, Crick, and Toader, 2021; Studente, Seppala and Sadowska, 2016; Weitbrecht, Barwolff, Lischke, and Junger, 2015). For the study reported here, multiple factors linked by previous research studies to enhanced creative performance were investigated simultaneously in a real-world setting. Study participants first completed a task that assessed their individual creativity at a particular moment in time (Green, Spiegel, Giangrande, Weinberger, Gallagher, and Turkeltaub, 2017). Then the study participants categorized/described the components of the physical environment in which they did that task using the criteria noted above (e.g., surface colors). Findings confirmed hypothesized consistencies between aspects of the physical environment previously identified as supporting creative thinking and the design of spaces where participants whose creativity test scores were among the highest 25% (the “highest scorers) completed the creativity task. Data from the highest scorers indicated that, compared with other participants, they were more likely to have answered the creativity test questions in spaces with, for example: • Plants visible • Visible wood grain • Possible natural lighting • Nature sounds • Surface colors with saturation and brightness levels that support cognitive work • Comfortable environmental control • Ceiling heights linked to enhanced creative performance And that were perceived to support mental work.

Designers can apply the information derived by this study to develop environments that support creative thinking/problem solving and researchers generally can also apply findings to better understand data collected at different study sites.

ABSTRACT. Context: Designing and implementing “state-of-the-art” work environments are highly complex undertakings given the variety of dimensions to be considered, such as people, activity, work organization/leadership culture, and workplace, tools, and services. Therefore, evidence-based guidelines that effectively support work environment designers and organizational developers in configuring "performant" workspaces would be helpful. Purpose: We are convinced that multi-dimensional preference patterns can be identified as an empirical foundation for such guidelines, even though we do not know the details of these patterns yet. What we know is that to detect them, it is necessary to simultaneously consider people, job activities, and/or work environment parameters. The first step in a more comprehensive empirical research project is therefore to identify theories and previous research projects that have addressed or investigated at least two, but preferably all three of the above-mentioned areas simultaneously to build on their findings regarding most relevant pattern dimensions and criteria. Methods: An exploratory literature review was conducted to capture the current state of research. This first step is intended to form the basis for a more extensive systematic literature analysis. Findings: Studies and theories could be identified that examine personality, job activities, and work environment parameters and their relationship. However, no existing classification could be found that considers all three dimensions together. Significance: The development of a holistic concept of multidimensional preference patterns forms the basis for the successful design and planning of work environments that can cope with the diverse challenges of today's working world.

ABSTRACT. With increasing remote work practices, meetings and events turned into virtual or hybrid settings, causing frustrations in organisations. Current research is also divided in terms of the effectiveness of online gatherings, claiming that virtual interactions cannot replicate face-to-face meetings. However, much of that research is based on videoconferencing settings and not a virtual reality (VR). In this research, we investigate the VR environment as an alternative to a physical space and its suitability for knowledge sharing and creation. This paper is based on a case study of an annual global hospitality think tank that was arranged fully remotely with different collaborative settings: VR and videoconferencing for synchronous and online platform and emails for asynchronous collaboration. Data was gathered through observations of online events, semi-structured interviews, and an experience survey. Here, the preliminary findings of the study are reported based on the analysis of ‘ba’ and knowledge creation and sharing in these different settings. The results show that overall participants were happy with the virtual setting and new insights were generated and then shared virtually. The VR environment facilitated a more immersive event experience and more ‘natural’ socialization opportunities, compared to ‘standard’ videoconferencing tools. However, the VR world is still in its infancy in terms of adoption for collaboration, thus, more research is needed. The study improves the understanding of the VR environment as a possible alternative for or an addition to face-to-face or videoconferencing meetings. It investigates the potential obstacles and advantages of VR meetings with the aim to further reduce distance between physical and digital workplaces. Improved understanding on the merging of physical and virtual environments is useful for all types of organisations. For academics, the study encourages further discussion on hybrid work and user requirements in terms of physical and virtual spaces allowing more distributed work.

ABSTRACT. Estimates for post-pandemic work organisation based on employers’ surveys show that the number of people who work at least partly from home will double or even triple. The surveys show that employees prefer hybrid forms of teleworking, which will thus be the most common way of working in the post-pandemic era. However, we do not know how hybrid teleworking affects employees’ well-being. This structured literature review aims to answer the following research question: What are the job demands and resources of hybrid teleworking based on existing academic literature? The findings of the literature review are categorised based on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model. In this literature review, 45 articles about hybrid teleworking are analysed, and findings show that the main gaps in existing knowledge are related to ICT usage and management practices. On the basis of the analysed literature, this study presents a conceptual JD-R model for hybrid teleworking, which will help leaders and HR professionals establish better strategies for the well-being of their hybrid working employees.

ABSTRACT. The development of information technologies as well as the transformation of work processes in the last few decades, accelerates the transformation of the physical territory of the workspace. The dispersion of work affects the workspace to become de-territorialized, and the question that arises is whether workspaces acquire defining new meanings, new readings of power, success and performance through spatial representation, from „working“ to representative space. In this paper, the topic is analyzed through two layers - first through the analysis of the transformation of the workspace, then through the analysis of representation (concept, mental and spatial representation) and the adopted "maps of meaning" that are related to offices. From the term place we move to the term communication code. Is a new map of the meaning of workspaces being constructed - with representation as the goal and ideology? The issue of workspace architecture is related to defining and recognizing flows, and architecture can become a framework that represents the messages of new elites. New systems are introduced in the new design guidelines - communications, flows and virtual systems. The form that allows this should be flexible due to rapid changes in work processes and flexible operation. The goal is productivity, but it cannot be achieved by users who have not implemented a set of tools from the industrial to the information age tools - transformed territories into flows.

ABSTRACT. No dimension of human everyday life has been left untouched from the COVID-19 global pandemic and organizational life has been severely disrupted and the smooth functioning, continuation, and existence of a plethora of organizations have been threatened and require firms to practice resilience (Gittell et al., 2006; Meyer, 1982; Powley, 2009; Sutcliffe & Vogus, 2003; Weick, 1993). While resilience involves both bouncing back and bouncing forward (Ali et al., 2017) and several definitions of resilience encapsulate both adsorptive and adaptive aspects, emphasis has traditionally been placed on the former rather than on the latter. Moreover, the role digital technology plays in co-creating resilient responses with a bouncing forward potential has been largely overlooked (Heeks & Ospina, 2017). To address this, we focus on digital resilience, which we define as the sociotechnical process through which people in organizations cope with adversity, maintain operations despite unprecedented uncertainty and ultimately engage in transformative activities by engaging with digital tools at hand. The nature of practice and the socio-technical links between the users’ demands and the IT systems affordances create a possibility for the organization to adapt and bounce forward while digitally transforming (Wessel et al., 2020). How do organizations exercise digital resilience in the face of an external shock? How does the bouncing forward role of digital resilience unfold? In seeking to answer our research question, we conducted an inductive qualitative study of digital resilience and explored how Greek primary school teachers developed situation-specific responses to the severe disruption triggered by COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns, by engaging with digital technologies. Our findings contribute to two distinct and until now unconnected bodies of literature, namely digital resilience and digital infrastructure evolution. FULL WORKING PAPER AND REFERENCES AVAILABLE FROM THE AUTHORS.

ABSTRACT. Purpose. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to discuss our interdisciplinary knowledge production process, which seeks ways to bridge knowledge between disciplines to produce more coherent knowledge about the impact of spatial solutions on environmental satisfaction. The workplace intervention study on work environmental satisfaction and well-being brought up novel needs to broaden interdisciplinary knowledge production to avoid a fragmentation of knowledge.

Design/methodology/approach. We are a group of researchers working with intervention-based research aiming to produce interdisciplinary knowledge to better understand the impact of spatial solutions on work environmental satisfaction and well-being. Our expertise extends from the knowledge of work and organisational psychology, environmental psychology and psychophysiology to architectural design and human-computer interaction. A spatial intervention built for running company premises provided the framework for reflecting all the research activities conducted before and during the design intervention. While using a broad variety of quantitative and qualitative methods, we found out the need to advance our understanding of the interdisciplinary knowledge production mechanisms to do our share of preventing a fragmentation of knowledge.

Findings /Originality/value. This conceptual paper reports our remarks of the interdisciplinary knowledge production in the context of an intervention-based research project. We see value in reporting the recognized needs for seeking convergence between methods and concepts. In our temporary research project, we recognised the possibilities to bring each other’s disciplines closer together and to customise common methods and broaden meanings of used concepts together with the relevant stakeholders. Discussing the bridging knowledge production process is, as such, valuable, making visible the variety of boundaries in between disciplines and approaches which are overshadowed when reporting the narrow field-specific outcomes.

ABSTRACT. Purpose – The Norwegian University of Science and Technology have started a large campus development project which has goals to e.g., promote innovation, collaboration, and knowledge development, and interdisciplinarity is seen as an important tool to reach these goals. There are multiple factors, both organizational, cultural, technological, and physical that will play a role in achieving these goals. Therefore, there is a need for an approach that makes it possible to discuss all these aspects in context. This paper will examine the concept of interdisciplinarity and whether Actor Network Theory (ANT) can be a useful approach when it comes to shaping an academic community. Design/methodology/approach – For this paper there will be conducted a literature review to investigate what existing literature says about interdisciplinarity and the different nuances of interdisciplinarity. Further it will see how interdisciplinarity can be discussed towards ANT to and if this can help extend the discussion about interdisciplinarity further. Findings – Expected outcomes of this paper is to see if looking at interdisciplinarity in light of ANT is a navigable and reasonable perspective, and if it is a useful way to approach this issue. It can also identify factors that can be perceived as drivers or barriers for interdisciplinarity. Research Implications – The findings in this paper can be helpful to further develop the discussion and understanding of interdisciplinarity. It can bring forward new insight and knowledge to the field, and by putting the different factors in a context it might help planners and designers to get a more holistic picture on how to promote innovation in e.g., campus development projects.

ABSTRACT. The design and research of contemporary work environments is ideally interdisciplinary – considering technical, personal, organisational, behavioural, and spatial aspects in an integrated manner. In the scope of his dissertation, the author came across an entity which could facilitate this interdisciplinary discourse: the “behaviour setting” according to Barker (1963). This entity is defined by both spatial and temporal boundaries and structures. It can be described in terms of the people involved and their characteristics, their behaviour (including its timing and objects involved), and the environment surrounding. Such entities are repeatedly observable in an organisational context as “standing patterns of behaviour”. This paper describes how this concept can be extended by the activity theories of Leontjew (1977) and Engeström (1987), with transactional activities as the connecting element between people and their environment. The resulting joint concept is illustrated with an example of applied practice. In the context of re-designing and optimising a typical activity-based, non-territorial office space, this entity is suggested as an interdisciplinary approach. Based on this, a specific behaviour setting is described in detail, and possible aspects resp. contributions of four disciplines are presented, which are usually involved in activity-based workplace design and research. Based on the insights of this practical example, advantages and disadvantages of behaviour settings for the interdisciplinary approach in designing and researching current office environments are discussed. It is shown that this concept is difficult to apply due to its openness and conceptual vagueness. But on the other hand, it offers great potential for a successful interdisciplinary discourse and a deeper understanding of the fit between persons and their built environment.

ABSTRACT. Robotisation and automation are transforming the demand of employee skills in many different labour markets. Thus, higher education institutions potentially need to adapt their curricula to this change as well. To date no studies have been done into the impact of robotisation on the labour market in workplace and facility management. Physical robots are however more and more visible in office environments, for instance in facility services such as cleaning, maintenance, and catering. Whereas, interactive virtual robots are seen in workplace management, security and service desks. But are these robots replacing or creating jobs? And what does this mean for competency development in higher education programs in workplace and facility management? This study has adopted Q-methodology to explore expert opinions on the impact of robotisation on workplace and facility management, in order to understand how higher education should prepare talent for the future labour market. Q-methodology is a mixed methods methodology that allows for the systemic exploration and comparison of the construction of stakeholders’ viewpoints (Boom et al., 2021). In line with the guidelines of Webler et al. (2009) this study developed 48 statements through a literature review and semi-structured expert interviews. Subsequently, 13 participants were asked to rank these statements in a Q-grid. Through rotated factor analysis thee typical viewpoints were extracted from the data. This paper provides a contribution both to practice and higher education by structuring the potential impacts of robotisation on workplace and facility management in three distinct viewpoints. Additionally, Q-methodology is introduced as a tool for systemic exploration of the construction of stakeholders’ viewpoints and can benefit workplace researchers.

ABSTRACT. Planning processes is said to be one of the predictors of success and positive outcomes when implementing Activity-based Flexible Offices (AFOs). However, research on implementation processes is limited, specifically to employee perspectives. This paper identifies the facilitators and challenges in the implementation process of AFOs from perspectives of different practitioners involved in implementing AFOs, as well as employees and staff managers. The study took place in a case organisation that had recently launched AFOs in two office buildings (approximately 2000 employees) for the regional council in two cities in West Sweden. Data collection to capture the practitioner perspectives involved: (1) semi-structured interviews with the two interior designers commissioned to design the office spaces; (2) analysis of process documentations (3) focus group discussions with 11 key stakeholders involved in the AFO implementation. To capture the employees’ and staff managers’ perspectives, focus group interviews were held with a total of 206 participants. The main challenges concerned limited employee involvement and inadequate needs analyses in the initiation, design & definition phases of implementation. Interviews with employees and staff managers show that the experience of and participation in implementation varies considerably between groups. Capturing the practitioners’ views shed light on complexities of AFO implementations and difficulties with providing standardised solutions that meet the needs of employees with a variety of needs and activities. The identified facilitators and challenges highlight a need for (1) a participative implementation process throughout the organisation, (2) a thorough and dynamic needs analyses that takes the temporality and changes in employees’ needs into consideration, (3) an iterative process were solutions can be tested and verified, and (4) processes that enable and ensure all work groups are equally involved prepared and informed about the change process.

ABSTRACT. Activity-based offices has been implemented for a couple of time, but only recently the way activity-based offices are practically used by the employees has attracted research interest. In this study results of a comprehensive post-occupancy survey in a Finnish governmental organization are provided.

The post-occupancy survey measured several aspects of the actual ABW office use both in individual and work community level: 1) which of the working zones employees actually utilised: 2) how often they utilised different working zones; 3) how many times per day employees switched their working zone; 4) how much time they spent when switching zones per day; 5) how the working zone specific speech rules and other codes of conduct were applied and obeyed; 6) were the differences in working zone switching behaviour related to differences in the employee and workplace experiences

The results of this study showed that not all working zones of the activity-based office were used actively. The basic principle of utilizing different working zones for different work activities was not fully applied. A big share of employees do not switch their work station during the work day at all. The behavioural norms regarding the use of different working zones were not fully obeyed. Those who switch their work station at least once in a working day were more proactive planners of their work and they manage more actively their work environment. Overall sense of self-rated productivity and work well-being did not differ between switchers and non-switchers. The overall sense of community was high among work communities, and the activity-based working does not seem to harm work community.

ABSTRACT. The concept of Activity Based Offices (ABOs) provides a selective choice of workstations depending on the activity type in work environments. In practice, although there are other factors besides the nature of the activities that influence employee’s choice of workstation. These factors occasionally play an obstructing role and lead to the selection of a workstation that does not fit the employee’s work activities. Also, there is still a gap in our current understanding of why employees prefer certain workstations. We therefore see the need to investigate this issue and aim to identify various physical and non-physical aspects that influence employees’ preference in choosing a workstation in ABOs.

For qualitative data collection, 21 participants are selected on a voluntary basis among knowledge workers in three ABOs. Interviews are conducted for data collection using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT), a method that examines significant situations of a particular activity from the participants’ perspective. Although this study is focused on the creative activities of knowledge workers, whose work often involves solving multiple problems, the emphasis is on the factors (rather than the type of activity) that influence individuals in their choice of workstation.

The results identified seven important factors categorized by employees' priorities in choosing a workstation in ABOs. These factors are personal, policy-related, psychosocial, organizational, availability, inspirational, and functional. These results clarify why some workstations are considered as underutilized and do not fit the activity that employees are working on, as well as why some spaces are more popular and always are occupied. Furthermore, these help to reduce the gap in understanding the reasons why employees do not use ABOs as planned. Recognizing these factors is therefore necessary for facility management practitioners and designers of ABOs to understand how to adapt the work environment to the needs of employees.

ABSTRACT. Purpose: We question the manageability of the three dimensions (spatial, digital, social) of Activity-Based Working (ABW). This framework lacks a solution to deal with the necessity to facilitate social needs of knowledge workers. The urgency of this problem is structurally labelled in literature, but never successfully addressed.

Theory: Research concerning working at home during COVID-19 has revealed the importance of cohesion and connection within organizations. Bonding with colleagues and the organization is often recognized as a point of attention, but is hardly incorporated in the framework. We explore how the framework deals with bonding, by applying the social needs theory.

The framework lacks focus on informal social relations that bind people with their peers and organization. We expect that, in the future, knowledge work will partly move to spaces outside the office. This endangers conservation of social interaction, teambuilding, involvement, identification, and the creation/sharing of knowledge. This makes the need to assess the framework even more pressing.

Design/Methodology/Approach: We analysed 30 documents on ABW offices of a large Dutch public organization, interviewed two policy makers and two independent experts. The results were compared with literature. We used the ABW framework of Van Meel (2020) to identify challenges regarding the adoption of ABW and the role of social needs within the work environment.

Findings: While interaction, teambuilding, involvement and identification with colleagues and organization are regarded as important within ABW, they are difficult to implement in practice. Our case-study shows that these factors are insufficiently covered, and thus realized, in practice. More research is needed.

Originality/Value: We theorize about better ABW environments, where knowledge sharing and interaction is secured. While continually addressed in literature, these aspects were never incorporated in the current framework. Working more remotely – or hybrid – in the future makes the subject more important than ever.