Sell for More Trivia is a weekly blog series that playfully presents a trivia question about commercial real estate.
Gone are the days of gigantic, open-plan offices. These offices may have increased serendipitous interactions…but they almost certainly reduced productivity and helped spread communicable diseases.
Going forward it will be more about how teams use offices spaces when some remain home, others split their time and others commute into the office every day.
The Dynamic Workplace
The Dynamic Workplace is a pivot away from the open plan…built on the idea that with fewer employees coming to work on any given day, offices can offer them more flexibility of layout and management.
While open offices and dynamic workplaces share similar components…privacy booths and huddle rooms to escape the hubbub, cafe-like networking spaces, etc….they’re philosophically distinct.
One is intended to be a place where people come five days a week and get most of their work done on site. The other is planned for people rotating in and out of the office.
The open office tried to improve the office-work status quo. The dynamic workplace has to convince people to even bother showing up. Its biggest lures are more varied workspaces for collaboration and a chance to be away from a distraction-filled home.
People naturally like to work in different environments throughout the day, depending on what they’re doing.
But by spending to remodel or even rebuild their offices with these new ideas in mind, companies are in danger of repeating the mistake they made when they all rushed to the open plan…ignoring the research that says these layouts may have just as many problems as the older ways.
Hot Desks
Research on hot-desking in office spaces, for example – where employees give up a dedicated space in favor of first-come-first-serve seating – finds that it decreases socialization and trust. This happens because employees figure they might never again see the person they sit next to on a given day.
In other studies, employees complain they can’t find their colleagues, that it’s a hassle to find a new spot to work every day, and that such arrangements ignore humans’ innate territoriality and desire to make a space their own.
“Neighborhood” or “Community” Flex Working
Many of these drawbacks can be overcome with what’s called “neighborhood” or “community” flex working.
In this model of flexible working, whole teams (HR or finance or engineering) sit together in one area, though its location, size and boundaries could change from day to day.
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About Beau Beach, MBA CCIM
Beau is a tenacious Commercial Real Estate Broker, author and adoring father of four. His clients appreciate his no-nonsense demeanor and his legendary work ethic.
Beau leads Beachwood which is a commercial real estate broker for sellers in the Nashville, Milwaukee and South Florida markets.
He’s the author of the books The 3 Reasons: Why Most Commercial Properties Don’t Sell and True Wealth: What Every Seller Should Know About 1031 Exchanges.
Beau can be reached at 800-721-3287, click to schedule a call or Beau@soldbybeachwood.com