Office Makeover

Workspace makeover projects are designed to inspire. Yelp, for example, recently completed a US$20 million project to create an integrated office environment for its new headquarters in New York, New York, USA. The design takes its cue from the city itself, breaking departments into distinct work neighborhoods connected by color-coded “subway lines” that run along the floor to help employees navigate. Yelp also added an inhouse coffee shop, a bar with craft beers and a gaming zone to give workers social spaces to blow off steam.

This might seem typical for a social company born in the shadow of Silicon Valley—but Yelp isn’t alone. A 2015 study sponsored by Google found that 73 percent of North American business leaders believe the organization would be more successful if employees were able to work in more flexible and collaborative ways. Organizations also are rethinking workspaces in an attempt to boost employee engagement and satisfaction, sparking an increased demand for such projects, says Meg Osman, executive director of global corporate and commercial practice, CannonDesign, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

And there’s much room for improvement. A 2016 global survey by Steelcase indicates that only 25 percent of employees are satisfied with how their workspace is organized. But it’s not enough to simply chase the latest fads in office design. To add real value, workspace makeover projects must align with an organization’s culture and workflow, says Ms. Osman.

“People jump on trends and assume that what’s good for one organization must be good for their own,” she says. “You have a lot of organizations that thought beanbag chairs and really casual environments were the way to go. But they’re suffering a little because it never matched their culture or their actual work function.”

Whether an organization wants to enhance workflow, increase collaboration or inspire creativity, creating a custom-fit workplace starts with soliciting employee feedback.

“Keeping employees involved at some level from the beginning makes a massive difference.”

—Eduard Moix Gómez, Space Matrix Design Consultants, Singapore

Yelp’s new headquarters in New York, New York, USA

YELP OFFICE PHOTOS COURTESY OF DESIGN REPUBLIC

At global design firm HOK, project teams begin by interviewing clients on their business goals for the redesign, gathering feedback on what employees like and dislike about their current workspace and what improvements would help create a more productive environment. They also observe workers to determine where social interaction, collaboration and group cohesion happens in the office. For example, one tool allows project teams to place hundreds of motion and heat sensors throughout the workspace as part of an eight-week study that gathers data on when locations are being used. This helps HOK identify which areas are in most need of redesign.

“We’re looking for indicators that highlight where workers are not frequently using spaces,” says Lee Daniels, EMEA regional leader of consulting, HOK, London, England. “We need to understand why that is and over what sort of time frame. If there are cold spots, does that indicate that perhaps there is a need to change things?”

Other approaches allow employees to test-drive designs before they’re finalized. For instance, when Ms. Osman’s team revamped Zurich North America’s new corporate headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois, USA, it set up four pilot designs on one floor of the company’s existing building. Employees from all levels of the organization sampled the designs over three months, working three weeks in each space.

Engaging end users from the start ensures their needs are reflected in the final design—and also builds buy-in, says Eduard Moix Gómez, leader of special projects, Space Matrix Design Consultants, Singapore. Ideally employees should see workspace makeovers as an exciting process that will improve their work life, rather than a mandate from above.

“When the final user doesn’t have buy-in on the project, it’s really difficult to force” optimal use of the design, Mr. Moix says. “Keeping employees involved at some level from the beginning makes a massive difference.”

However, Mr. Moix prefers to limit the number of end users who provide feedback to a small committee rather than the entire group. “Over-involving end users can be totally counterproductive. It slows the process and makes people unhappy because not all their comments are applied or executed,” he says.

CHANGING ROOM

Building a bespoke office space also requires collecting user data. Ms. Osman’s team, for instance, conducted employee surveys and observed office interactions to determine how employees used each space—and how much time workers collaborated as teams or worked in private.

The information helped her team make final design choices for the three-year, 783,800-square-foot (72,817-square-meter) Zurich headquarters project. For example, the team increased natural light in the workspace and incorporated furniture that can be used in both sitting and standing positions—changes that were requested through employee surveys. Her team shared data from employee feedback with project sponsors to show how the pilot designs helped the organization meet its goals: Employee interaction increased 19 percent, and overall workspace satisfaction increased 64 percent.

Shared Solutions

As the population of remote and freelance workers grows, so does the number of global co-working spaces. But teams tasked with these projects have to meet the needs of workers from a mix of sectors who will share the same space. Here’s a peek at three co-working spots:

ROOM FOR EVERYONE
Workspace: Open
Location: Milan, Italy
Solution: The space caters to individuals or small companies. Aside from private work stations, there are rooms for business meetings or larger spaces for company events, such as a product launch or office party.

REST AREAS
Workspace: The Farm
Location: New York, New York, USA
Solution: A dedicated nap room lets workers take a break or crash after late-night videoconferences with an overseas client.

RAPID RESULTS
Workspace: FutureWard
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Solution: A so-called makerspace includes tools for digital fabrication and prototyping, such as 3-D scanners, printers and laser cutters. Workers also can get immediate feedback on the prototypes from other FutureWard members.

“If we can prove through the metrics that the pilot design is going to positively impact the bottom line of the organization, it takes all pressure off of the C-suite from a decision-making standpoint,” Ms. Osman says.

Senior leadership support can also help encourage employee acceptance of a workspace renovation project. That’s why the London HOK project team provides change management services for senior leaders at organizations to ensure employees adapt quickly to the new workspace. The leaders are coached on the best ways to communicate the value of the makeover—including practical ways it helps employees be more productive—and how to get the best use of new workspace features.

CannonDesign project teams help their clients navigate the transition process by designating “change champions” within an organization who work with fellow employees to identify and solve unexpected issues they might encounter.

Without strong change management, employees will “just take the behaviors from one environment to another and they won’t be successful as individuals,” Ms. Osman says. “And the organization won’t realize its goals.”

FLEXIBLE AND FUTURE-PROOFED

Workspace projects should adapt to an organization’s evolving needs. That’s especially challenging for startups prone to rapid growth or industries, such as IT, where staff sizes fluctuate depending on the need for contract workers, says Dean Hopkins, a workspace consultant and projects director, JAD Projects Pty Ltd., Perth, Australia.

Mr. Hopkins works to future-proof his office projects by gathering data on a company’s growth history, current workload and growth projections. “This information is obtained by asking specific sets of questions,” he says. “It can be as simple as conducting an information-gathering meeting or more complex by requesting the clients to fill in a form or questionnaire.”

Zurich North America’s new corporate headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois, USA

Project teams must also identify growth patterns. Donald Dorsch, project manager and senior associate at engineering and design firm Stantec, Chicago, Illinois, USA, analyzes how the organization’s workspace has changed over the past five to 10 years and how its operations will change going forward. The team interviews key stakeholders, who are best suited to anticipate resource growth and how it will impact workspace configurations.

If an organization is likely to expand quickly, Mr. Hopkins creates workspace options that can be easily reconfigured to accommodate a fluctuating workforce. For instance, he might locate server rooms and backup power sources in areas that can be accessed across multiple workspace configurations. Power outlets or lighting are also a major focus, as poor placement can limit the feasibility of certain workstation arrangements.

“Open-plan workstation and desking systems are the most flexible to reconfigure, and these are often modular in design,” Mr. Hopkins says. “Even interior drywall partitioning can be altered but involves more work and cost.”

This type of flexible design plan hinges on an organization’s infrastructure, which makes the IT department an essential stakeholder, Mr. Dorsch says. Getting technical input helps mitigate the risk that organizations will have to spend more in the future to reconfigure the space, he says.

“In the end, project teams have to show the C-suite how investing in a workspace that can accommodate more employees is better than the high costs of moving to a different location down the road.” PM

“Project teams have to show the C-suite how investing in a workspace … is better than the high costs of moving to a different location.”

—Donald Dorsch, Stantec, Chicago, Illinois, USA