Traditionally, organizations have equated space performance with space efficiency. Since efficiency usually refers to the number of people per unit of space, it is straightforward to calculate the savings in real estate costs associated with housing more people in smaller and smaller spaces. Since cutting costs never goes out of style — and real estate costs will almost certainly remain high into foreseeable future — this emphasis on space efficiency will continue.
However, this trend may represent an unfortunate emphasis on space performance rather than human performance. Growing numbers of case studies demonstrate that ensuring adequate facilities for the needs of workers almost always pays for itself — usually within the first three years. Perhaps maximizing space performance through minimizing allotments to individual workers negatively impacts the productivity potential of the entire system. Could it be possible that in order to optimize overall output per unit of space, performance must come to mean more than efficiency?
If workers’ health, satisfaction, and performance aren’t sufficient to establish the need for more flexible areas — specified as complete spaces rather than cramped, individual footprints — consider these trends in office systems identified by the Office of Technology Assessment:
1. More work being done on computers and greater distributed data handling
2. Increasing networking among PCs, mainframes, and peripheral systems
3. Enhanced data capture at the point of origin, thus eliminating the need for repeated data entry and contributing to the need for rapid response to dynamic market conditions
4. Improved communication across diverse and distributed sites of data and devices
While these trends may not surprise you, they do paint a picture of continued change and flexibility within office workspaces. Facilities managers will need to do more with less space, increase productivity with decreasing numbers of workers, and support rapidly expanding technology and communications systems — perhaps even functional linkages among remote locations. But remember that maximizing a space means optimizing its output, and assessing that necessarily involves the people who use the space. Minimize what can be minimized, but not at the expense of workers. The modest proposals we have developed here to address and support rapid change constitute a hopeful step toward maintaining America’s corporate competitiveness.
For more information, visit Haworth.com.
You may also contact Hayley Hill at Facilities Connection to get started: hhill@facilitiesconnection.com, 915-834-7125.
