5 minutes
We all know the workplace is changing in both our branches and headquarters. Branches are becoming more efficient while striving to deliver a powerful and productive member experience. In headquarters, new workforce expectations, needs for collaboration and issues of privacy vs. engagement are behind a renaissance. All these changes mean we must design new member and staff environments that provide both tangible and intangible returns in terms of performance, cultural definition, and a positive and motivating feeling about our organizations.
Many elements combine to create our environments. One that touches us all is furniture and fixtures. Each year major furniture manufacturers from around the world gather at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago for the NeoCon show, which is attended by thousands of design professionals. A few weeks ago Tony Yang, a senior designer with our firm, returned with a collection of new products. Following are a few of the items that help us raise the design bar.
Privacy vs. accessibility. When designing a branch, we want to suggest members can access staff easily, while at the same time limiting the ability of members to see into the offices. A possible solution is blinds, which are rarely raised and often left down or closed, creating a significant disconnect between staff and members. Another is sand-blasted glass, which is too expensive and costly to change. An alternative to sand-blasted glass is applied plastic sheeting with designs and colors to partially obscure visibility and recognition of people and on-screen information. This attractive and relatively low-cost solution can be sized to match windows and dividers and is easy to change. But it still creates separation.
Steelcase, an international systems furniture manufacturer, recently presented a new film product (see image) that can be clear or patterned, with designs that obscure visibility to computer screens from the outside of a room. Conference rooms, video conferencing rooms and offices in a branch can be more open to members while ensuring privacy of information. This film could also be used in headquarters for boardrooms and glass-walled offices.
Collaboration. The days of staff spending eight hours with their heads down in a cubicle are over. We know that productivity and morale improves in workplace environments that cultivate collaboration. These environments need to create ways that staff can easily move from a private space to a shared one to ask questions, exchange ideas, learn, share and be part of a team. Staff need enhanced privacy delivered by their environment and workplace policies and a variety of ways to connect with others.
When staff are walking to and from the coffee area, lavatory, lunch room or other activity, they often join in quick conversations that lead to more engaging development. A bar to lean on in the coffee area, an inset along the hall with a bench, a small seating area on one side of the central staircase, a whiteboard with markers in the hall or a table could facilitate those interactions. Gunlocke has developed a whiteboard/table area (shown in the photo) that can be used for quick conversations and short conferences. Note the white wall on one side and the table with screen on the other.
The use of white noise can provide sound privacy as well. As an alternative, an eddy with comfortable seating around a coffee table can be positioned along the traffic flow to provide a casual place to meet that is less formal than a tabled conference room and possibly more inspiring as well.
Workplace style is changing. Many companies are pulling down the walls and partial height partitions to create more open environments. Partial height partitions do not do much for sound control. Staff policies should allow the use of head phones so they can create their own sound privacy when desired. The need for visual privacy has declined as staff want to work in environments that visually connect them to others. We are also seeing an evolution in appearance from office boxes to softer more residential systems.
Controlled customization. Employees want to have some control over their work environment, including a variety of engagement locations, self-directed privacy and the ability to work in different physical positions to alleviate strain. In the late 1990s furniture manufactures experimented with adjustable desks operated manually or with electric motors, but difficult operation and high cost inhibited sales. This year several manufacturers presented their latest offerings with much simpler design and operation and a price point that may encourage more use.
Conference room efficiency. There always seems to be a shortage of conference rooms in headquarters facilities. In today’s smaller branches staff use conference rooms more frequently as shared offices and hoteling space for remote employees meeting with members. Systems manufacturers and software designers have stepped up with new options, such as programs for more accessible and easier conference room scheduling.
The competition for the best employees is fierce. Millennials and high-tech firms may take the blame for elevating the expectations of today’s workers across all ages. But the value of creating new work environments is in attracting and retaining the best employees. If it is true that we create space and spaces create us, then it is worth the investment in new products and designs that help elevate the physical context of our work, where we spend 50 percent of our waking hours, promote our culture and deliver on performance objectives toward tangible measurable goals.
Paul Seibert, CMC, is principal/financial and retail design for CUES Supplier member NELSON, Seattle.
