tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/office-10857/articlesOffice – The Conversation2022-10-19T16:40:03Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1902732022-10-19T16:40:03Z2022-10-19T16:40:03ZHow desk jobs alter your brain – and why they’re so tiring<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489812/original/file-20221014-17-wbdnit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5767%2C3847&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Friday never seems to come around fast enough at the office. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tired-business-woman-sleepy-bored-sitting-2142729487">CrizzyStudio/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A long day in the office can leave you empty of energy and overcome with desire for TV and a takeaway. But you’ve been sitting down all day. So why do you feel as tired as your friends who have physical jobs? </p>
<p>Struggling through your list of essential tasks feels ever more gruelling as the clock ticks down for home-time. Worse still is bumping into a colleague on your way out who “just wants a quick minute”. It might seem obvious that you are more likely to make impulsive decisions at the end of a long day, but people often power through anyway. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35961314/">recent study</a> that scanned people’s brains at different points in their work day found high-demand tasks which require intense, constant concentration can lead to build-up of a potentially toxic chemical called glutamate. Normally used to send signals from nerve cells, in large quantities glutamate alters the performance of a brain region involved in planning and decision making, the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC).</p>
<p>Science has shown time again that mental fatigue has real effects. There are numerous studies which show that court decisions can depend on how fatigued the judge is. For example, after a long day in court, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1018033108">judges are more likely to deny parole</a> (which is considered the safer option). Studies show that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4648561/">clinicians are more likely to prescribe</a> unnecessary antibiotics at the end of a tiring clinical session.</p>
<p>The new study, from Paris Brain Institute (ICM), investigated whether cognitive functions such as focus, memory, multitasking and problem-solving can cause fatigue of the lPFC, which influences the decisions we make when we cross things off our list. </p>
<h2>Opportunity cost</h2>
<p>The brain is the command centre of the body, regulating circulation, breathing, motor function and the nervous system. The brain coordinates these activities at the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6971497/">expense of huge energy use</a>.</p>
<p>Nerve cells break down nutrients to release energy (metabolism). But this process accumulates byproduct molecules known as <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/metabolite">metabolites</a>. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4133642/">Glutamate</a> is a type of metabolite. The brain clears this toxic waste chemical <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4651462/">in your sleep</a>. </p>
<p>The authors of the Paris study wanted to see whether prolonged cognitive tasks exhaust the brain’s supply of nutrients. They also tested whether this type of high-focus demand builds up a greater concentration of toxic substances in the lPFC than other parts of the brain. In this case, the authors compared lPFC to the primary visual cortex, which receives and processes visual information. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man reclines with eyes closed, holding paperwork" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489820/original/file-20221014-10772-azuds9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489820/original/file-20221014-10772-azuds9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489820/original/file-20221014-10772-azuds9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489820/original/file-20221014-10772-azuds9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489820/original/file-20221014-10772-azuds9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489820/original/file-20221014-10772-azuds9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489820/original/file-20221014-10772-azuds9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Familiar with this feeling? It could be time to restructure your work day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/exhausted-afro-business-man-looking-papers-1854941398">Stockbusters/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To test their hypothesis the authors divided their 40 participants into two groups. Both groups sat in an office in front of a computer for six and a half hours. One group had to do difficult tasks that called on their working memory and constant attention. </p>
<p>For example letters were displayed on a computer screen every 1.6 seconds and participants had to sort them into vowels and consonants or, depending on the colour of the letter, upper or lowercase. The second group did similar but much simpler tasks. Both groups managed an average 80% correct response rate. </p>
<p>The scientists used magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to scan participants’ brains and measure levels of metabolites. The authors took readings at the beginning, middle and end of the day. </p>
<p>They found fatigue markers, such as increased glutamate concentration, but only in the high-demand group. The build up of toxic chemicals was only observed in the lateral prefrontal cortex [lPFC]) and not the primary visual cortex. </p>
<p>After the high and low-demand cognitive tasks, the two groups had decision tests. This included choices about their willingness to exert physical effort (whether to ride a bike at different intensities), cognitive effort (whether to perform harder or easier versions of the cognitive control tasks) and patience (how long they were willing to wait to receive a larger reward). The rewards ranged from €0.10 to €50 (8p-£43). Delays for receiving the reward ranged from immediate cash after the experiment or bank transfer after one year.</p>
<h2>Rethinking the work day</h2>
<p>The authors found that the high-demand group, which had an elevated level of metabolites in the lPFC, preferred choices that were less taxing. These participants’ pupils were less dilated (dilated pupils suggests arousal) and took less time to make decisions, which indicates they experienced this part of the experiment as undemanding.</p>
<p>So <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35961314/">the Paris study</a> also raises questions about whether the working day is structured in the best format. According to the results of the study we should break up high-demand cognitive control tasks that need working memory and constant attention and take into account the fact that performance takes a hit at the end of the day. Some professions may need very different structuring considering these results.</p>
<p>During their shift, air traffic controllers only guide aircraft for up to two hours, followed by a half-hour break. But bus drivers, clinicians and pilots would benefit from regular, compulsory rests too. </p>
<p>Our brains have many different areas that are active during different tasks, such as speaking, hearing and planning. So not all of our decisions can be explained by the Paris study findings. </p>
<p>Considering the interactions across the entire body, a <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-03072-001">2006 study</a> from the USA suggested that new information may be best processed in a state of hunger. But hunger makes it harder to store newly learned information. Satiety means fuels are available to build neuron circuits to <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/books/body-brain-behavior/horvath/978-0-12-818093-8">store long-term memory</a>. </p>
<p>Decisions about a third party, for example a judge delivering a verdict on a defendant, may be better in a state of satiety while tasks that involves fine motor functions, such as surgery, may be compromised. This is is because after a meal, self interest in survival is diminished because we do not need to search for food. </p>
<p>This allows us to more objectively judge our environment. But satiety is a time when the body needs to rest to process food, which is why complex fine motor skills aren’t at their best in this state. </p>
<p>Next time you have to make a difficult decision at the end of a long day, be aware you will be inclined towards low-effort actions with short-term rewards. If possible you should sleep on it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190273/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Office work feels draining for a reason. Your brain builds up toxic chemicals when you concentrate for a long time.Zoltán Molnár, Professor of Developmental Neuroscience, University of OxfordTamas Horvath, Professor of Neurobiology and Ob/Gyn, Yale UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1713362021-11-05T16:29:19Z2021-11-05T16:29:19ZWages up as Americans are encouraged back to work and into the office – 3 takeaways from the latest jobs report<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430514/original/file-20211105-19-54gf16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C9%2C6000%2C3991&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">"Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's back to work we go."</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/business-people-crossing-over-step-stones-in-atrium-royalty-free-image/1128206402?adppopup=true">Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After a <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-the-latest-jobs-data-may-look-disappointing-but-leisure-and-transportation-sectors-give-reason-for-cheer-169576">lackluster jobs report</a> in September 2021, the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm">latest news on employment</a> gives Americans plenty of cheer about ahead of the holiday season.</p>
<p>In total, 531,000 jobs were added in October – outstripping the already optimistic predictions of economists. This caused the unemployment rate to fall 0.2 percentage points to 4.6%.</p>
<p>Even with those gains, the U.S. is still below pre-pandemic employment levels. But as an economist, I see details in the latest jobs report that suggest the workforce is emerging from 18 months of what has been the “new normal” and getting back to, well, the “normal normal.”</p>
<h2>Remote working in the rear-view mirror?</h2>
<p>Americans are returning to offices after a year-and-a-half of Zoom meetings and digital water cooler moments. The pandemic had opened the eyes of many potential workers to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-remote-work-experiment-what-happens-next-podcast-157795">possibility that working from home</a> might be preferable to on-site work.</p>
<p>But the jobs report shows that <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm">this may be passing</a>. In October, 11.6% of employees worked remotely due to the pandemic, down from 13.2% in the previous month.</p>
<p>Working from home offered flexibility, especially to people who held down two jobs. A lot of people found they could get by with one job, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/04/19/work-from-home-parents-remote-flexibility/">work from home</a> and save money on commuting and child care. The drop in remote working could indicate that some families came to realize that while this worked to cover a shorter-term period during the pandemic, it ate away at household savings, getting to a point where working on site was necessary again.</p>
<p>It also signifies a change of attitude that may explain why employment in the leisure and hospitality sector has bounced back. One possible reason for lower-than-expected job gains in September was that people were hesitant to return to worksites where they would have to mix with people – such as at bars, restaurants and in stores – preferring to spend more time at home.</p>
<p>October’s jobs report – which saw strong gains in leisure and hospitality – suggests that peoples’ ability to delay returning to work may be coming to an end and potentially that they are more open to returning to on-site jobs, perhaps encouraged by vaccination rates and falling case numbers.</p>
<h2>Wages up, workers back … time for the Fed to act?</h2>
<p>There is some evidence that the “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/great-resignation-accelerating/620382/">great resignation</a>” – or more accurately, the great “not taking up low-paid jobs” – era was short-lived and winding down.</p>
<p>Many potential workers had seemingly been hesitant to return to lower-paid food service jobs as well as employment in the leisure and hospitality sector due to relative low wages and rigid work schedules.</p>
<p>But the latest report shows <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t19.htm">evidence of increases in wages and salaries</a>. In October, average hourly earnings increased by 11 cents to US$30.96 – continuing the upward trend of recent months. It means that average earnings are almost 5% higher that they were a year ago.</p>
<p>Wage increases look set to continue for some time. The latest report shows that labor costs increased 8.3% year-on-year in the third quarter as job opening rates remained pretty high, putting further upward pressure on pay.</p>
<p>This is great for workers but does pose a challenge to the Federal Reserve, which must keep inflation in check. </p>
<p>On Nov. 3, the Fed said <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20211103a.htm">it would begin scaling down</a> its <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fed-tapers-its-support-for-bond-markets-and-the-economy-5-questions-answered-about-what-that-means-171151">pandemic-era policy of buying Treasury bonds and other assets</a>, which has the effect of gently reducing the supply of money in the economy. The Fed has also said it might lift interest rates earlier than planned if necessary to tamp down inflation risks.</p>
<p>The stronger-than-expected jobs report and increases in employment costs may prompt it to act more quickly. That said, the Fed may still want to tread cautiously here. Supply chain concerns remain and will need to be worked out before central bankers can conclude that overall inflation is more than a short-term issue.</p>
<h2>Not all American workers are seeing the bounce</h2>
<p>There is no doubt that the October jobs report was encouraging.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm">public sector employment was down</a>, and that is important. This is largely a result of the pandemic. Retail sales were <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-retail-sales-fall-may-producer-prices-increase-2021-06-15/">down significantly</a> in 2020 and as a result state budgets are tight - in short, they have suffered from lackluster tax revenue sources. </p>
<p>This might make it harder for public sector jobs – in local government and schools – to bounce back as robustly as the rest of the economy.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 115,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171336/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Decker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>October’s employment report was rosy, with more than 500,000 jobs added in the month. There were also signs that the American workforce was heading back to the old normal.Christopher Decker, Professor of Economics, University of Nebraska OmahaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1663852021-10-07T11:07:42Z2021-10-07T11:07:42ZHybrid working is fuelling demand for more tech and bigger homes – both are bad news for the planet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419598/original/file-20210906-27-oolorb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C2398&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Working from home or the office? Hybrid working means splitting your time between both.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/hybrid-workplace-employees-working-both-office-1952399338">Piscine26/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just 5% of employed people in the UK worked from home <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/coronavirusandhomeworkingintheuklabourmarket/2019#:%7E:text=Download%20this%20chart&text=For%20the%2012%2Dmonth%20period,week%20prior%20to%20the%20interview">in 2019</a>. The onset of the pandemic and the overnight shuttering of offices during the first lockdown meant <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/coronavirusandhomeworkingintheuk/april2020">47% of employees</a> were doing the same in April 2020. </p>
<p>Although returning to work in offices full time <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-covid-19/offices-factories-and-labs">is now possible</a>, the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/businessandindividualattitudestowardsthefutureofhomeworkinguk/apriltomay2021">latest figures</a> from May show 26% are still working from home while a further 11% are hybrid working: splitting their work time between the office and home. </p>
<p>With fewer people <a href="https://www.prca.org.uk/SustainableCommsIndustry">commuting</a> and less food wasted as previously <a href="https://www.britsafe.org/publications/safety-management-magazine/safety-management-magazine/2020/home-working-measuring-the-sustainability-benefits/">catered work events</a> were held online instead, many hoped that a shift to remote working would benefit workers and the environment.</p>
<p>But that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/02/is-remote-working-better-for-the-environment-not-necessarily">may not</a> be the case. Not everyone can <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/06/working-from-home-uk-inequality-housing-income">afford</a> a home office, nor the additional heating or internet bills. And <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200218-why-working-from-home-might-be-less-sustainable">the loss of scale</a> involved in heating and cooling individual homes during the day compared to offices may mean remote working is less energy efficient. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14695405211039616">research</a> into the adaptations office workers made to work from home during 2020’s first lockdown revealed two troubling trends: the duplication of office equipment and demand for more space and larger homes. </p>
<h2>The duplication of stuff</h2>
<p>Interviews with 17 UK households, selected for their diverse professional backgrounds, ages and sizes, uncovered how and why some people went from working at kitchen tables and on sofas, expecting lockdown to last a few weeks, to creating more permanent and higher quality set-ups.</p>
<p>To accommodate this and recreate offices at home, workers bought tech and furnishings which were often transported across the globe. Worldwide sales of laptops and desktops increased by <a href="https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS46691020">11.2%</a> between April and June 2020, with 72.3 million units shipping. Monitor sales also spiked and webcams were <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53506401">temporarily sold out</a> across the UK. <a href="https://www.lovethesales.com/press/articles/growth-for-home-office-equipment-has-skyrocketed-during-covid-19-lockdown">Online searches</a> for office desks and chairs increased by 438% and 300% respectively on the previous year. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A modern home office with desk, monitor, chair and shelves." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419612/original/file-20210906-13-1pb2qdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419612/original/file-20210906-13-1pb2qdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419612/original/file-20210906-13-1pb2qdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419612/original/file-20210906-13-1pb2qdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419612/original/file-20210906-13-1pb2qdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419612/original/file-20210906-13-1pb2qdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419612/original/file-20210906-13-1pb2qdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A good home office isn’t cheap.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/interior-room-comfortable-designer-workplace-1505521289">Shadow Inspiration/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Office equipment and furniture purchases peaked during the first lockdown, but demand is likely to remain high. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/20/wfh-not-office-working-from-home-2020-radical-change-effects-lockdown">Five times more people</a> now want to work from home compared to 2019.</p>
<p>And making offices at home with new chairs, computers, monitors, desks and stands has also driven desire for bigger houses.</p>
<h2>The demand for bigger homes</h2>
<p>Our research revealed how working from home meant more people wanting homes with bigger kitchens, spare rooms, offices, garages and gardens. Whether it was the embarrassment of your partner’s colleagues spotting you in your yoga shorts or the horror of dashing offscreen to chase after your naked son, lockdown led to a collective reassessment of what one needs from a home. A sense of quiet and privacy tends to be lost when multiple people share a room. And although many offices are in essence co-working spaces, it has proved difficult to work in the same room as another doing different work – especially when making audio or video calls. </p>
<p>Since the first lockdown house sales have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/aug/24/uk-house-sales-stamp-duty-holiday-deadline-tax-break">shot up</a>, with June seeing the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/21/uk-record-houses-sold-in-a-month-stamp-duty">most sales since records began</a>.</p>
<p>Much of these sales have involved people moving out of cities and into suburbs and the countryside, where homes tend to offer <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56359865">more space</a>. This, sadly, is bad news for sustainability. More domestic space per person can <a href="https://theconversation.com/average-home-is-more-spacious-now-than-ever-heres-why-thats-a-problem-for-the-environment-131582">increase energy consumption</a> and suburban households typically have <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/32/19122">higher carbon footprints</a>. Even people who might have moved to the countryside to work from home more often may ultimately emit more carbon per commute due to less frequent, but <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab8a84/meta">longer distance travel</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A residential street in England." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419602/original/file-20210906-15-2wzird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419602/original/file-20210906-15-2wzird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419602/original/file-20210906-15-2wzird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419602/original/file-20210906-15-2wzird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419602/original/file-20210906-15-2wzird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419602/original/file-20210906-15-2wzird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419602/original/file-20210906-15-2wzird.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Suburban homes tend to use more energy and are more likely to have more than one car.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/view-houses-on-street-typical-english-1942618342">1000 Words/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/average-home-is-more-spacious-now-than-ever-heres-why-thats-a-problem-for-the-environment-131582">Average home is more spacious now than ever – here's why that's a problem for the environment</a>
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<hr>
<h2>Possible responses</h2>
<p>The duplication of equipment and the simultaneous need for heating and lighting in offices and homes that arises from workers splitting time across both is a particularly unsustainable arrangement. </p>
<p>While some workplaces allowed employees to take their office set-ups home during the first lockdown, the difficulty in acquiring a webcam and long wait times for office equipment showed how most failed to adequately redistribute resources or support workers. Businesses that are currently <a href="https://www.fenews.co.uk/press-releases/68173-a-quarter-of-uk-businesses-looking-to-downsize-or-close-offices">downsizing their offices</a> could offer discounts on spare items <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/hidden-costs-downsizing-office-space/">like Hootsuite did</a>. Or, they could reject the hybrid model and encourage home or office working only.</p>
<p>The movement out of cities and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56359865">smaller accommodation</a> was arguably bolstered by the UK government’s stamp duty holiday, too. The decision to temporarily raise the threshold at which this property tax kicked in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/aug/24/uk-house-sales-stamp-duty-holiday-deadline-tax-break">is credited</a> with sparking a frenzy of buying. Housing policies are also <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421518305810?casa_token=t_8FLpDyz1YAAAAA:KkYZp6F8HlgBuMtD7W8mCM4mo-XFXfM3zeZ3evEBWt1hi8-9jZbAdpubZ-oMMfez2xtWP375isw">climate policies</a>, and the UK government, as a self-proclaimed <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-at-the-leaders-summit-on-climate-22-april-2021">climate leader</a> and host of the 2021 UN climate talks, should be more sensitive to the implications of all policies for climate change.</p>
<p>The hybrid model of working is still emerging, and so it can be made more sustainable. That means appropriate policies to support people moving out of cities and navigating flexible working arrangements.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166385/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Ellsworth-Krebs receives funding from Research England Expanding Excellence in England (E3). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Torik Holmes received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as part of a Postdoctoral Fellowship (award number: ES/V009419/1). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carolynne Lord does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The environmental benefits of less commuting and fewer in-person events could be lost.Katherine Ellsworth-Krebs, Senior Research Associate in Sustainability, Lancaster UniversityCarolynne Lord, Senior Researcher, Sociology; Research Associate, School of Computing and Communications, Lancaster UniversityTorik Holmes, Research Associate, Sustainable Consumption Institute and Sustainable Innovation Hub., University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1581862021-07-21T10:00:05Z2021-07-21T10:00:05ZReturning to the workplace? Here’s how to stay focused in a noisy office<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410323/original/file-20210708-15-1vo33ik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C0%2C6533%2C4254&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>With some offices set to reopen as restrictions ease, more of us may soon be working from somewhere other than the kitchen table. While a return to the office may sound thrilling for some, this isn’t going to be the case for everyone.</p>
<p>A 2020 <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/economy/articles-reports/2020/09/22/most-workers-want-work-home-after-covid-19">poll from YouGov</a> found that most workers want to continue to work from home in some capacity after restrictions lift. But with news that <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57727567">some firms</a> have requested staff to return to the office from September (in some form or another), office life will be on the horizon for at least some of us. </p>
<p>For many people, a return to the office may also mean a return to shared workspaces, which may take a bit of adjustment after so long working at home. This may be particularly the case if your at home office has been fairly quiet. </p>
<p>Shared working spaces can mean more interruptions and noise to contend with. And this can increase feelings of <a href="https://interruptions.net/literature/O_Conail-CHI95-p262-o_conaill.pdf.">stress and frustration</a>. <a href="https://interruptions.net/literature/Hodgetts-JEP06.pdf">Research</a>, for example, shows that when we get interrupted and have to unexpectedly suspend what we’re doing to complete a separate activity – such as have an impromptu meeting with a colleague – our memory for the original task can decay. This can make it harder to pick up where we left off when we resume working.</p>
<p>Interruptions also increase the chance of <a href="https://interruptions.net/literature/Altmann-JExpPsycholGen14.pdf">errors and omissions</a> creeping in to our work. This can result in inaccuracies or more time needed to rectify those mistakes. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.noiseandhealth.org/article.asp?issn=1463-1741;year=2013;volume=15;issue=62;spage=73;epage=78;aulast=Perham;type=0;aid=NoiseHealth_2013_15_62_73_107160">Studies</a> show that we don’t even have to stop and attend to the distraction in the environment for it to impair our performance. Even when trying to block out background sound, mental disruption still arises. Simple tasks such as mental arithmetic are impaired by acoustically varying sounds – such as speech and music – as they clash with our brain’s ability to process information in a certain order.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two office workers wearing masks and sitting at their desks chatting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410346/original/file-20210708-25-15v9tkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410346/original/file-20210708-25-15v9tkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410346/original/file-20210708-25-15v9tkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410346/original/file-20210708-25-15v9tkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410346/original/file-20210708-25-15v9tkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410346/original/file-20210708-25-15v9tkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410346/original/file-20210708-25-15v9tkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Office chat can be a welcome distraction after months of sitting at home alone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/communication-meeting-office-after-returning-covid19-1823837372">Prostock-studio/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, tasks that involve understanding the meaning of language, such as reading and writing, are more impaired by sounds that contain language – such as speech and music with lyrics – due to a clash of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/acp.1731?referrer_access_token=O9FRyKeM8MJNmqlYdIqg5U4keas67K9QMdWULTWMo8MP_iLK3G4zV9ktCbehgrNVg8QdUhJXf4fA1hO0wpIgnlhKmWH8L8wiEQo5c8idyHCNgv94lwkMjxKzpHiu3wmP6UF0GZyRUJKZa6zZiNCMfIbk4WjwyibZOPtVoQjBBHhBSjeSLNYBhHaT1a0Rf0ODNkGtkw6zN-ZixyNiOSMqwLevKJqW5HqAgQOJsT_3SAlg7ur1O9oHKzFs3aFl0OpX34-tD4_HEevpij7g2tSpl-6PtBUvqrMunAQo8UUAdOVyKulbbESMUynbCckp1gE1">processing semantic information</a>. So while it may feel lovely to be back surrounded with your colleagues again, it might initially be a little harder to get your head down if lots of conversations are going on around you.</p>
<p>While ignoring interruptions or background sound altogether isn’t always possible, research shows there are things you can do to help to keep disturbances to a minimum.</p>
<h2>Prepare your space</h2>
<p>Background sound can reduce performance on some tasks by <a href="https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1348/000712699161314">up to 50%</a>, so it’s worth thinking about what might help to keep this to a minimum. </p>
<p>If you really need to concentrate on a task, think about swapping desks or moving to a quieter area. If this isn’t possible, then <a href="https://content.iospress.com/articles/work/wor2421">noise-cancelling headphones</a> may help block out background noise. If nothing else, wearing headphones sends a message to co-workers that you are less open to conversation and therefore less likely to be interrupted. </p>
<h2>Plan for interruptions</h2>
<p>If you do need to break off, or get pulled away, try to find a natural pause in your work. <a href="https://interruptions.net/literature/Adamczyk-CHI04-p271-adamczyk.pdf">Research</a> shows that dealing with interruptions between tasks is less disruptive than stopping what you are doing in the moment and trying to pick it up again later. You might want to quickly note down key points that were foremost in your mind, or leave the mouse cursor on the position reached in an article. These <a href="https://interruptions.net/literature/Hodgetts-JEP_LMC06.pdf">cues</a> can help you to pick up where you left off. Even just pausing to make a mental note of what you were about to do next, can be beneficial when you come to resume.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="people working in office with breakout spaces." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410349/original/file-20210708-15-1rr5eqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410349/original/file-20210708-15-1rr5eqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410349/original/file-20210708-15-1rr5eqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410349/original/file-20210708-15-1rr5eqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410349/original/file-20210708-15-1rr5eqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410349/original/file-20210708-15-1rr5eqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410349/original/file-20210708-15-1rr5eqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t be afraid to change desks or even move to a different part of the office to get away from distractions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/businesswomen-working-socially-distanced-cubicles-modern-1815143768">Southworks/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Consider music (depending what you’re doing)</h2>
<p><a href="https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1348/000712699161314">Research</a> shows that it’s easier to work in quieter spaces, but some people feel that listening to music can be <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014107680109400404">beneficial</a>.<a href="https://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/music_brain.pdf">Research</a> has shown, for example, that if your task is design-based – such as product design or architecture – and if the task you are working on requires you to mentally rotate objects, then listening to your favourite music before you start can improve your performance for a short period of time. </p>
<p>But for tasks that involve remembering things in order or understanding the meaning of text - such as mental arithmetic and reading and writing – your brain will process background music as distraction. It doesn’t matter if it’s music you like or dislike, or even whether the music is loud or quiet – <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/acp.1731">studies</a> show that you will be more prone to making errors.</p>
<p>Ultimately, heading back to the workplace is going to mean an adjustment period and some level of compromise when it comes to noise levels and interruptions. But, with many companies taking a flexible approach to remote and office working, hopefully you’ll be able to find a balance (and noise level) that suits you wherever you are.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158186/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Your brain may have got used to working from home, here’s how to transition back to the office.Helen Hodgetts, Lecturer in Psychology, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityNick Perham, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1631462021-07-19T13:02:38Z2021-07-19T13:02:38ZIs quitting contagious? Depends on who else leaves and who’s in charge<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411354/original/file-20210715-17-1rb9b26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1630%2C44%2C5508%2C4021&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When star performers leave, research shows it can lead to turnover contagion — especially when company leaders fail to motivate or inspire.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Quitting is <a href="https://qz.com/work/1859274/steven-levitts-advice-for-making-big-life-decisions/">one of life’s big decisions</a>. It takes an emotional and financial toll on the employee, their families and their co-workers. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000329">People want power over these types of big life decisions</a>, aiming to have self-control over their circumstances and decisions. </p>
<p>But what happens when our colleagues quit? Are we more or less likely to quit? Essentially, is quitting contagious?</p>
<p>A multi-phased study of 201 car salespeople working for 93 different car dealerships suggests that quitting behaviour depends on two factors: who else leaves and the employee’s relationship with their manager or leader. There are important employee and management implications of this study, which will be published in the next edition of the <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/0143-7739#all"><em>Leadership & Organizational Development Journal</em></a>.</p>
<h2>Who else quits matters</h2>
<p>The phenomenon of people quitting because co-workers quit is known as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2483">turnover contagion</a>.</p>
<p>When strong performers quit, employees are more likely to re-evaluate their relationship with the company. Employees may perceive the departure as a signal that the company may be a <a href="https://www.pearson.com/store/p/human-resources-management-in-canada-fourteenth-canadian-edition/P100002580566/9780134856193">“sinking ship” or that it doesn’t reward or value star performers</a>. </p>
<p>The loss of strong performers, in fact, can be demoralizing and legitimizes the belief that quitting is a viable option. Remaining employees might also interpret the loss of strong performers as an indication that they will have to work more, given that the work that the strong performer was doing needs to redistributed to others. Therefore, the exit of strong performers increases the likelihood that others in the workplace will consider leaving.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman stares forlornly at her laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411360/original/file-20210715-25-5qo17h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411360/original/file-20210715-25-5qo17h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411360/original/file-20210715-25-5qo17h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411360/original/file-20210715-25-5qo17h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411360/original/file-20210715-25-5qo17h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411360/original/file-20210715-25-5qo17h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411360/original/file-20210715-25-5qo17h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Do I really want to work here?’ The departure of a star performer can prompt others to ponder quitting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast, when weak performers quit, existing employees interpret that positively. Employees who perform poorly at work usually have lower <a href="https://www.pearson.com/store/p/human-resources-management-in-canada-fourteenth-canadian-edition/P100002580566/9780134856193">work skills, knowledge</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12930">resilience</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/piq.21248">motivation and commitment to their employer</a>. They are also more likely to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-06-2018-0087">cynical towards their company</a>. </p>
<p>Remaining employees feel that the exit of sub-par performers is desirable and might result in more fair distribution of work. It can also indicate that the replacement will add more value to the business unit or team. Overall, the exit of poor performers reduces other employee’s intent to quit, and increases their intent to stay with the employer. </p>
<h2>Leaders’ behaviour matters too</h2>
<p>The study also indicates that workplace leaders’ efforts and actions can reduce the impact of turnover contagion. At times, employees don’t know why their co-workers quit and they make assumptions based on who left. Managers should provide employees with accurate and timely information about why their colleagues left, which should reduce gossiping and misinterpretation. </p>
<p>For example, a strong performer who left to return to school, for early retirement or to move to another city wouldn’t trigger turnover contagion, because that doesn’t signal a problem or concern with the company. </p>
<p>Open communication can help to inhibit the spread of false information, alleviating the remaining employees’ insecurities, and ultimately reduce quitting contagion.</p>
<p>Also, when employees feel that they’re working for a transformational leader — someone who encourages, supports, motivates and inspires employees — they are less likely to be impacted by turnover contagion. Essentially, employees’ relationships with their managers can mitigate the turnover contagion caused when strong performers quit.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman boss yells at her employees in a meeting room." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411355/original/file-20210715-27-z3pbca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411355/original/file-20210715-27-z3pbca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411355/original/file-20210715-27-z3pbca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411355/original/file-20210715-27-z3pbca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411355/original/file-20210715-27-z3pbca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411355/original/file-20210715-27-z3pbca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411355/original/file-20210715-27-z3pbca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A motivational, supportive and inspiring leader can reduce quitting contagion, while the opposite type of manager can fuel it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Leaders should take note of these study results with the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in view. Without support and timely communication from leaders, employees may begin to engage in a mass exodus as they make return-to-work decisions when COVID-19 restrictions ease. This can be destabilizing for companies that don’t want to lose strong performers who have the potential to help the organization recover and succeed in the post-pandemic world. </p>
<h2>Think before you leap</h2>
<p>As the economy begins to recover, not all of us are interested in returning to our previous employers. Roughly <a href="https://www.hrreporter.com/focus-areas/culture-and-engagement/1-in-5-workers-looking-for-new-job/357217">one in every five employees plans to look for a new job</a>. Given the research on turnover contagion, that means the post-pandemic period may be challenging for many companies if they lose strong performers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A closed laptop on a desk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411351/original/file-20210715-27-pn1uvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411351/original/file-20210715-27-pn1uvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411351/original/file-20210715-27-pn1uvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411351/original/file-20210715-27-pn1uvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411351/original/file-20210715-27-pn1uvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411351/original/file-20210715-27-pn1uvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411351/original/file-20210715-27-pn1uvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Roughly one in five employees is considering leaving their jobs following COVID-19. This could hav a major impact on organizations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luca Bravo/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While employees want control over their decision to stay with their employers or quit, they’re clearly impacted by what others decide to do. We interpret the departure of our co-workers as a signal about whether we should leave or stay. </p>
<p>Often, we make assumptions about who people quit, based on our interpretation of their job performance. Additionally, the research shows that we are more likely to make such interpretations when we think our organizational leader fails to motivate, support or inspire us.</p>
<p>Given the results of the study, top performers should feel empowered to be proactive and discuss what is making them unhappy or dissatisfied at work with their employers. Sometimes, working together to address these issues can result in a mutually beneficial outcome for both the employee and their company. </p>
<p>Other times, although life-altering in the short term, quitting is the correct course of action.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163146/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When our colleagues quit, are we more or less likely to quit too? Is quitting contagious? Research shows it depends on the departing
employee’s performance — and what kind of manager is in charge.Nita Chhinzer, Associate Professor, Human Resource Management and Business Consulting, University of GuelphJinuk Oh, Lecturer, Organizational Behaviour, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1586922021-05-19T12:27:16Z2021-05-19T12:27:16ZEmployees are feeling burned over broken work-from-home promises and corporate culture ‘BS’ as employers try to bring them back to the office<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401449/original/file-20210518-17-1d2m338.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=485%2C323%2C5505%2C3664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some workers aren’t that excited about a return to the office.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/high-angle-view-of-businessman-using-laptop-while-royalty-free-image/1248148364?adppopup=true">Antonio Sanchez Albacete/EyeEm via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home">vaccinations</a> and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html">relaxed health guidelines</a> make returning to the office a reality for more companies, there seems to be a disconnect between managers and their workers over remote work.</p>
<p>A good example of this is a recent op-ed written by the CEO of a Washington, D.C., magazine that suggested workers <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/06/ceo-i-want-my-employees-understand-risks-not-returning-work-office/">could lose benefits</a> like health care if they insist on continuing to work remotely as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes. The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/07/washingtonian-staffers-work-stoppage-ceo-op-ed/">staff reacted by refusing to publish</a> for a day. </p>
<p>While the CEO <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/washingtonian-ceo-catherine-merrill-sorry-for-op-ed-threatening-jobs-if-they-dont-return-to-office">later apologized</a>, she isn’t alone in appearing to bungle the transition back to the office after over a year in which tens of millions of employees were forced to work from home. A recent survey of full-time corporate or government employees found that two-thirds say their employers either <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/what-employees-are-saying-about-the-future-of-remote-work#">have not communicated a post-pandemic office strategy</a> or have only vaguely done so. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0NMqlxAAAAAJ&hl=en">workforce</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=eO0QxFoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholars</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tOZet8kAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">we</a> are interested in teasing out how workers are dealing with this situation. Our recent research found that this failure to communicate clearly is hurting morale, culture and retention. </p>
<h2>Workers relocating</h2>
<p>We first began investigating workers’ pandemic experiences in July 2020 as <a href="https://www.nashp.org/2020-state-reopening-chart/">shelter-in-place orders</a> shuttered offices and remote work was widespread. At the time, we wanted to know how workers were using their newfound freedom to potentially work virtually from anywhere. </p>
<p>We analyzed a dataset that a business and technology newsletter attained from surveying its 585,000 active readers. It asked them whether they planned to relocate during the next six months and to share their story about why and where from and to. </p>
<p>After a review, we had just under 3,000 responses, including 1,361 people who were planning to relocate or had recently done so. We systematically coded these responses to understand their motives and, based on distances moved, the degree of ongoing remote-work policy they would likely need. </p>
<p>We found that a segment of these employees would require a full remote-work arrangement based on the distance moved from their office, and another portion would face a longer commute. Woven throughout this was the explicit or implicit expectation of some degree of ongoing remote work among many of the workers who moved during the pandemic. </p>
<p>In other words, many of these workers were moving on the assumption – or promise – that they’d be able to keep working remotely at least some of the time after the pandemic ended. Or they seemed willing to quit if their employer didn’t oblige.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">One of authors explains the research.</span></figcaption>
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<p>We wanted to see how these expectations were being met as the pandemic started to wind down in March 2021. So we searched online communities in Reddit to see what workers were saying. One forum proved particularly useful. A member asked, “Has your employer made remote work permanent yet or is it still in the air?” and went on to share his own experience. This post generated 101 responses with a good amount of detail on what their respective individual companies were doing. </p>
<p>While this qualitative data is only a small sample that is not necessarily representative of the U.S. population at large, these posts allowed us to delve into a richer understanding of how workers feel, which a simple stat can’t provide. </p>
<p>We found a disconnect between workers and management that starts with but goes beyond the issue of the remote-work policy itself. Broadly speaking, we found three recurring themes in these anonymous posts. </p>
<h2>1. Broken remote-work promises</h2>
<p>Others have also found that people are taking advantage of pandemic-related remote work to relocate to a city at a distance large enough that it would require partial or full-time remote work after people return to the office.</p>
<p>A recent survey by consulting firm PwC found that <a href="https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/workforce-of-the-future/library/workforce-pulse-survey.html">almost a quarter of workers</a> were considering or planning to move more than 50 miles from one of their employer’s main offices. The survey also found 12% have already made such a move during the pandemic without getting a new job. </p>
<p>Our early findings suggested some workers would quit their current job rather than give up their new location if required by their employer, and we saw this actually start to occur in March.</p>
<p>One worker planned a move from Phoenix to Tulsa with her fiancé to get a bigger place with cheaper rent after her company went remote. She later had to leave her job for the move, even though “they told me they would allow me to work from home, then said never mind about it.”</p>
<p>Another worker indicated the promise to work remotely was only implicit, but he still had his hopes up when leaders “gassed us up for months saying we’d likely be able to keep working from home and come in occasionally” and then changed their minds and demanded employees return to the office once vaccinated.</p>
<h2>2. Confused remote-work policies</h2>
<p>Another constant refrain we read in the worker comments was disappointment in their company’s remote-work policy – or lack thereof. </p>
<p>Whether workers said they were staying remote for now, returning to the office or still unsure, we found that nearly a quarter of the people in our sample said their leaders were not giving them meaningful explanations of what was driving the policy. Even worse, the explanations sometimes felt confusing or insulting. </p>
<p>One worker complained that the manager “wanted butts in seats because we couldn’t be trusted to [work from home] even though we’d been doing it since last March,” adding: “I’m giving my notice on Monday.” </p>
<p>Another, whose company issued a two-week timeline for all to return to the office, griped: “Our leadership felt people weren’t as productive at home. While as a company we’ve hit most of our goals for the year. … Makes no sense.”</p>
<p>After a long period of office shutterings, it stands to reason workers would need time to readjust to office life, a point expressed in <a href="https://news.prudential.com/press_file.cfm?content_id=125026">recent survey results</a>. Employers that quickly flip the switch in calling workers back and do so with poor clarifying rationale risk appearing tone-deaf. </p>
<p>It suggests a lack of trust in productivity at a time when <a href="https://news.prudential.com/press_file.cfm?content_id=125026">many workers report putting in more effort than ever</a> and being <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work">strained by the increased digital intensity of their job</a> – that is, the growing number of online meetings and chats.</p>
<p>And even when companies said they wouldn’t require a return to the office, workers still faulted them for their motives, which many employees described as financially motivated. </p>
<p>“We are going hybrid,” one worker wrote. “I personally don’t think the company is doing it for us. … I think they realized how efficient and how much money they are saving.”</p>
<p>Only a small minority of workers in our sample said their company asked for input on what employees actually want from a future remote work policy. Given that leaders are rightly concerned about <a href="https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/chro.html">company culture</a>, we believe they are missing a key opportunity to engage with workers on the issue and show their policy rationales aren’t only about dollars and cents. </p>
<h2>3. Corporate culture ‘BS’</h2>
<p>Management gurus such as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4165974?seq=1">Peter Drucker</a> and other scholars have found that corporate culture is very important to binding together workers in an organization, especially in <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.5465/amj.2006.21794663">times of stress</a>. </p>
<p>A company’s culture <a href="http://dspace.vnbrims.org:13000/jspui/bitstream/123456789/2373/1/ORGANIZATIONAL%20CULTURE%20Organizational%20Culture%20and%20Leadership%2C%203rd%20Edition.pdf">is essentially its values and beliefs</a> shared among its members. That’s harder to foster when everyone is working remotely. </p>
<p>That’s likely why corporate human resource executives rank <a href="https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/chro.html">maintaining organizational culture as their top workforce priority for 2021</a>. </p>
<p>But many of the forum posts we reviewed suggested that employer efforts to do that during the pandemic by orchestrating team outings and other get-togethers were actually pushing workers away, and that this type of “culture building” was not welcome.</p>
<p>[<em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>One worker’s company “had everyone come into the office for an outdoor luncheon a week ago,” according to a post, adding: “Idiots.” </p>
<p>Surveys have found that <a href="https://news.prudential.com/press_file.cfm?content_id=125026">what workers want most from management</a>, on the issue of corporate culture, are more remote-work resources, updated policies on flexibility and more communication from leadership.</p>
<p>As another worker put it, “I can tell you, most people really don’t give 2 flips about ‘company culture’ and think it’s BS.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158692/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A divide is growing between workers and management over the return to the office and other issues.Kimberly Merriman, Professor of Management, Manning School of Business, UMass LowellDavid Greenway, Doctoral Candidate in Leadership/Organization Studies, UMass LowellTamara Montag-Smit, Assistant Professor of Business, UMass LowellLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1594172021-05-05T15:52:47Z2021-05-05T15:52:47ZSurvey shows some bosses are using the pandemic as an excuse to push workers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398724/original/file-20210504-15-ybmo2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4200%2C2999&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Workers manufacture partitions made from cardboard and chipboard material in Mississauga, Ont., in January 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A middle-aged woman in the public sector says she and her colleagues have been “underappreciated, overworked and mentally stressed out” as they faced pandemic-related challenges and stresses, without any pay increase. </p>
<p>An older worker in the not-for-profit sector says her employer asked her and her colleagues to do more work and expected them to feel grateful to keep their jobs at all, even with the government subsidizing three-quarters of their wages. </p>
<p>These are just two stories we heard as we surveyed hundreds of employed Ontario residents during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>We all know, of course, about the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-unemployment-job-losses-1.5919133">pain of job losses</a>, the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-growing-cohort-of-overwhelmed-parents-unengaged-children-drop/">challenges of home-schooling</a> and the hardship and worry of doing <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/it-breaks-my-heart-essential-workers-in-ontario-plead-for-paid-sick-days-amid-covid-19-wave-1.5404771">essential work on the front lines</a>. But we know less about how work itself has changed and how the pandemic is altering the relationship between workers and employers. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-year-of-covid-19-has-illuminated-the-urgent-need-for-paid-sick-days-154224">A year of COVID-19 has illuminated the urgent need for paid sick days</a>
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<p>We wanted to look under the hood of the Canadian workplace to study how work has changed and become more stressful. Nearly 500 Canadians working in Ontario shared their thoughts with us <a href="https://labourstudies.mcmaster.ca/research/impact-of-covid-19/workplace-dynamics-covid">through an online survey between August and December 2020</a>. </p>
<h2>Work is harder, more stressful</h2>
<p>We learned that the changes associated with the pandemic are far more complex than simply having to deal with a deadly virus. The overall message is that work has become harder and more stressful. Many workers feel their employers are taking advantage of the pandemic.</p>
<p>More than two-thirds of respondents reported feeling less safe at work and more than three-quarters reported experiencing more stress and anxiety while on the job. Those numbers are even higher among women. Contributing to this rising sense of unease were significant increases in work tasks and work effort. Again, women were more likely to report having to do more because of COVID-19. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Workers at an ice cream shop wear face masks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398721/original/file-20210504-13-199ntlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398721/original/file-20210504-13-199ntlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398721/original/file-20210504-13-199ntlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398721/original/file-20210504-13-199ntlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398721/original/file-20210504-13-199ntlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398721/original/file-20210504-13-199ntlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398721/original/file-20210504-13-199ntlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Workers at an ice cream shop wear face masks to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Richmond, B.C., in January 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nearly one in four respondents reported some sort of negative interaction with their employer during COVID-19, ranging from difficulty getting paid to not being allowed to take time off and being bullied. </p>
<p>A recurring view among respondents was that employers were taking advantage of them because of the pandemic.</p>
<p>A male health-care employee reported his employer used the pandemic to override collective agreements and “bully” employees. </p>
<p>A young man in manufacturing suggested employers had unfairly cut hourly rates for skilled labour. “I strongly feel that employers are deliberately using mass unemployment as a veil to decrease already low wages even further,” he said. </p>
<p>A young female construction worker said her employer neglected and even laughed at recommendations for creating a safer work environment. </p>
<p>In other words, it’s not just the deadly virus stressing people out at work. In many cases, it’s how employers are choosing to treat people.</p>
<h2>Unions have protected workers</h2>
<p>Not all workers are having the same experiences during the pandemic. An important factor is whether they are members of unions. Unions have helped preserve jobs and incomes and protected workers from abuse during the pandemic. </p>
<p>Just under 10 per cent of unionized workers we surveyed had experienced weeks without paid employment, compared to more than 26 per cent of non-unionized workers. Non-union workers also tended to have much longer spells without paid employment. </p>
<p>This can partly be explained by the fact that many collective agreements require employers to discuss ways to mitigate job losses before laying people off.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two women GM workers carry truck fenders." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398723/original/file-20210504-13-1jmlady.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398723/original/file-20210504-13-1jmlady.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398723/original/file-20210504-13-1jmlady.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398723/original/file-20210504-13-1jmlady.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398723/original/file-20210504-13-1jmlady.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398723/original/file-20210504-13-1jmlady.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398723/original/file-20210504-13-1jmlady.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">GM workers place vehicle truck fenders on a rack at the General Motors assembly plant during the COVID-19 pandemic in Oshawa, Ont., in March 2021. Unionized workers have fared better during the crisis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unionized workers’ incomes also remained more stable than those of their non-union counterparts. Nearly 40 per cent of non-union workers reported their monthly incomes fell compared to less than 20 per cent of union workers. </p>
<p>Unions have helped reduce staff turnover during COVID-19, with 89 per cent of unionized respondents continuing to work for the same employer, compared to 72 per cent of non-union workers. Non-union workers were seven times more likely to report their employment had changed because their workplace closed, twice as likely to have changed jobs due to a temporary layoff and five times as likely to have experienced a permanent layoff. </p>
<h2>Changing power dynamics</h2>
<p>The higher rate of departure among non-unionized workers may have something to do with how the pandemic has changed workplace power dynamics. </p>
<p>Some workers told us their employers threatened them with job loss to make them work harder for less money, and even to do things that weren’t safe. One non-union administrator said her supervisor “held employment over our head as a threat and a way to force us to do additional work for them — even tasks that were not work-related. COVID-19 had our boss on a power trip and exploiting workers.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two men stand in front of a residential construction site." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398718/original/file-20210504-15-l7eyq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1920%2C1276&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398718/original/file-20210504-15-l7eyq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398718/original/file-20210504-15-l7eyq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398718/original/file-20210504-15-l7eyq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398718/original/file-20210504-15-l7eyq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398718/original/file-20210504-15-l7eyq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398718/original/file-20210504-15-l7eyq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many bosses and supervisors are using the pandemic as an excuse to mistreat or push workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pixabay)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2021/01/16/unions-say-more-workers-looking-to-organize-during-the-pandemic.html">uptick in attempts at unionization in 2020</a>, especially in private services that have been the most resistant to unions, suggests workers believe unions could help protect them from such manipulations. </p>
<p>COVID-19 is changing many aspects of our lives. Our study shows that in the short run, it’s changed workplace dynamics, mostly to the detriment of workers. </p>
<p>The extent to which these changes become permanent will depend in part on the ability of workers to have a meaningful voice in their workplaces — and to influence what happens next.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159417/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Ross receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and MITACS.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wayne Lewchuk receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>The pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives, and new study shows it’s also changed workplace dynamics — mostly to the detriment of workers.Stephanie Ross, Associate Professor and Director, School of Labour Studies, McMaster UniversityWayne Lewchuk, Professor Emeritus School of Labour Studies and Department of Economics, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1514262020-12-14T15:58:15Z2020-12-14T15:58:15ZThe office Christmas Zoom party: what to do, and what not to<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374901/original/file-20201214-23-14l9f37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C0%2C6541%2C4367&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The party could be an opportunity - but don't go if you don't want to</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/business-video-conferencing-young-man-having-1848787798">Girtis Ragelis / shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether you look forward to the Christmas party or see it as a seasonal obligation, that time of year is here again. Restrictions on social interactions mean that workplaces are turning to virtual Christmas parties as the trend of working remotely in 2020 continues.</p>
<p>The origins of the office Christmas party date back to Victorian times, with Charles Dickens and his tale of <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/12/4-reasons-to-kill-the-office-holiday-partyand-one-reason-to-save-it">Scrooge</a> encouraging employers to give food and days off to bring a little festive cheer. Nowadays, employers see office Christmas parties as an opportunity to improve employee morale, facilitate the development of relationships and increase staff engagement, all of which lead to <a href="http://www.smf.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Social-Market-Foundation-Publication-Briefing-CAGE-4-Are-happy-workers-more-productive-281015.pdf#page=9">greater productivity</a> and staff retention. </p>
<p>However, it could be that organisations are more interested in throwing an office bash than employees are in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/dec/04/party-on-how-offices-are-keeping-the-christmas-spirit-alive?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other">attending one</a>. The risk of telling your manager that you don’t want to attend could be interpreted that you’re not a team player and that you aren’t committed to the organisation. With the usual excuses like lack of transport and the absence of childcare difficult to feign, this year the Christmas party could be more difficult to avoid than ever. With that in mind, here are six tips which will help you think more positively about the office Christmas Zoom party. </p>
<h2>1. Network</h2>
<p>Evidence shows that it’s <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2189/asqu.52.4.558?casa_token=HW6o3hlQ3JYAAAAA:AX-5ucUDtLjAr5RkYyf6r13eZXRarEzJGm99U0wAw09MCNakbMH4i2zOUHwvQF3kdhfVwWK-_N0">very rare</a> to mix with new colleagues at an office party, but the new social norms of partying over Zoom – automatic “break out” rooms, for example – may just make this a bit more achievable. After all, sitting on Zoom for hours allows you to become familiar with faces that you wouldn’t normally spend time with. </p>
<p>Make a list of relationships that could be beneficial for you to build. Successful careers are often based on <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1016/S0733-558X(06)24009-6/full/html">who you know</a>, not what you know. The convenience of networking with senior managers over Zoom can be seen as an opportunity too good to miss. Despite the online platform, you could still find yourself talking to someone you’re desperate to impress. </p>
<h2>2. Set realistic expectations</h2>
<p>The true essence of a Christmas party is that you get to spend time with like-minded individuals with gossip and conversations happening spontaneously in toilets or smoking areas. Unfortunately, it is difficult to create spontaneity and informality using Zoom because the main room affords no privacy and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200428-the-zoom-social-etiquette-guide">simultaneous conversations</a> are near impossible. </p>
<p>Instead, expect that this year, organised fun is likely to be the name of the game. Take a look at the vast array of virtual experiences on offer ranging from magic shows to cooking, pottery and escape rooms and hope for the best. It could be that the Christmas party will not turn out to be the tedious event you imagined.</p>
<h2>3. Embrace technology</h2>
<p>It used to be that the <a href="https://www.theregister.com/2002/12/19/dont_photocopy_your_bum/">photocopying of body parts</a> was the height of technological misfortune in the office. Then we all went online and a plethora of videos went viral of online conference meetings gone wrong.</p>
<p>The use of technology to host a Christmas party will always come with an element of risk – make sure you are muted. This year, the risk might come from that obligatory shot of the Zoom main room with everyone’s smiling faces shared on internal communications. Such images could be examined in detail by HR advisors and managers looking for evidence of organisational commitment.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman sits on her laptop and waves at it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374900/original/file-20201214-17-1oqypcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374900/original/file-20201214-17-1oqypcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374900/original/file-20201214-17-1oqypcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374900/original/file-20201214-17-1oqypcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374900/original/file-20201214-17-1oqypcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374900/original/file-20201214-17-1oqypcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374900/original/file-20201214-17-1oqypcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Use the Zoom as an opportunity to network with people you normally wouldn’t.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-give-gifts-online-on-1865750242">NadyaVetrova / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Show the real you</h2>
<p>Organisations have long talked about <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/02683941111124854/full/html">authenticity</a> as the key to success. In fact, allowing people to be themselves at work has strong links to improved wellbeing. Seeing inside someone’s home, becoming acquainted with their children, partners and pets has become the norm. It’s an opportunity for everyone to show their “human side”, create a level-playing field and talk to each other as real people. </p>
<p>For managers, it’s an excellent opportunity to hear gossip, opinions and comments which you might not otherwise hear. For employees, it’s an opportunity to test the water informally and take the opportunity to raise that concern you’ve had for a while. </p>
<h2>5. Don’t go if you really don’t want to</h2>
<p>Employees do <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-6486.00387">feel worried</a> about how their attitudes are perceived by managers, so you may feel unsure about telling your boss you don’t want to attend. It’s understandable if you are worried about being labelled a party pooper, or gossiped about behind your back. But, feeling you should attend rather than wanting to attend could impact negatively on your wellbeing. Approach the decision by weighing up the pros and cons of going and not going. Make sure you do what’s right for you.</p>
<h2>6. Keep it in perspective</h2>
<p>Having a Christmas party to attend is a <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/12/4-reasons-to-kill-the-office-holiday-partyand-one-reason-to-save-it">good sign</a>. Christmas parties can be viewed as a sign of organisational prosperity and in previous times of austerity, they have been cancelled or employees were asked to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8409155.stm">pay for themselves</a>. </p>
<p>With so many people on furlough, having been made <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/november2020#redundancies">redundant</a> or facing financial hardship, having an office Christmas party is a sign that you’re better off than some.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151426/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Brooks does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s a wonderful time of the year.Sarah Brooks, Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1475482020-12-09T13:19:48Z2020-12-09T13:19:48ZWorkers are looking for direction from management – and any map is better than no map<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373697/original/file-20201208-17-13r1k09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=297%2C154%2C7051%2C3371&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Workers need a map to lead them through the crisis.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/battle-tactics-royalty-free-image/478690919">PeopleImages/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over eight months ago, with haste and necessity, workers and organizations across the globe were thrown into “the <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/07/the-implications-of-working-without-an-office">great remote work experiment</a>.” </p>
<p>What was arguably an adequate short-term solution is now showing signs of wear and tear: Remote workers <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/28/remote-work-burnout-is-growing-as-coronavirus-pandemic-stretches-on.html">are burning out</a>, organizational cultures are <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/08/dont-let-the-pandemic-sink-your-company-culture">under threat</a>, and leaders are fretting about the loss of <a href="https://www.cio.co.ke/apples-tim-cook-shares-his-companys-wfh-experience/">creativity and collaboration</a>. </p>
<p>While some companies are beginning to forge ahead with longer-term plans – like proclaiming that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/12/twitter-tells-employees-they-can-work-from-home-forever.html">remote work will go on indefinitely</a> or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/business/economy/coronavirus-office.html">bringing at least some employees back to the office</a> in a COVID-19-safe way – most organizations remain in a holding pattern: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/technology/offices-reopening-delay-coronavirus.html">intent on returning to the physical office in some capacity</a>, but repeatedly kicking the can down the road. </p>
<p>This is understandable, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-54253776">given the amount of uncertainty</a> about the pandemic. Although a <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/12/who-hails-covid-vaccine-progress-urges-nations-double-down-mitigation">vaccine seems to be in sight</a>, <a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/coronavirus/health-officials-warn-americans-not-to-let-their-guard-down/2387692/">health officials are warning</a> of a grim winter. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.uml.edu/msb/faculty/latham-scott.aspx">management</a> <a href="https://www.uml.edu/msb/faculty/humberd-beth.aspx">scholars</a> actively researching and advising companies on their responses to COVID-19, we believe the consequences of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/as-you-return-from-the-summer-break-can-you-lead-toward-a-covid-exit">just continuing to wing it</a> are piling up. </p>
<p>This doesn’t mean the only solution is an immediate return to the office. Based on research in our field and lessons we’ve learned from our work with companies during the pandemic, we believe there’s a way to make the best of a tough situation. It requires acknowledging the real costs of the remote work experiment – and charting a path forward.</p>
<h2>Employee burnout</h2>
<p>The remote work experiment seemed to offer an <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/08/research-knowledge-workers-are-more-productive-from-home">initial boost</a> in productivity. But sustaining such productivity has been difficult, in part because the <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2020/03/30/productivity-pitfalls-working-home-age-covid-19/">home wasn’t designed for work</a> and the consequences of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/coronavirus-zoom-fatigue-is-taxing-the-brain-here-is-why-that-happens/">“Zoom” fatigue</a> are real. Indeed, emerging evidence suggests <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/28/remote-work-burnout-is-growing-as-coronavirus-pandemic-stretches-on.html">burnout is plaguing remote workers</a> across the board.</p>
<p>Yet managing employee burnout is particularly difficult during a pandemic, when people are asked to mostly isolate at home, away from <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-office-is-dead-long-live-the-office-in-a-post-pandemic-world-138499">colleagues whose mere presence can often ease work-related stress</a>. <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/09/what-happens-when-teams-fight-burnout-together">Recent research</a> suggests that even small interactions like going out to lunch together and taking a walk can help reduce worker burnout. </p>
<p>Even if <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/enough-of-zoomoffice-happy-hours-return-11601665066">re-creations of after-work rituals help</a> in the short term, poor communication from company leaders is a primary <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/12/burnout-is-about-your-workplace-not-your-people">cause of burnout</a>. Without some sense of direction, burned out employees simply can’t be reengaged via another virtual happy hour. </p>
<h2>Weakened cultures</h2>
<p>Another downside of the lack of interaction with colleagues is the <a href="https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-to-sustain-your-organizations-culture-when-everyone-is-remote/">impact on organizational culture</a>. </p>
<p>We know from research that organizational culture is a key contributor to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2008.05.021">job satisfaction</a> and <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1002/job.1985">organizational performance</a>. Initial hopes of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-3-lessons-learned-remote-work-take-back-to-office-2020-5">strengthened cultures</a> as employees navigated the unprecedented shift together are dwindling as time wears on without a physical anchor for <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/08/dont-let-the-pandemic-sink-your-company-culture">sustaining shared cultural beliefs</a>. </p>
<p>What’s worse, <a href="https://covid19.nj.gov/forms/violation">corporate policies</a> meant to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/26/workplace-apps-tracking-coronavirus-could-test-privacy-boundaries-340525">monitor</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/05/13/854014403/your-boss-is-watching-you-work-from-home-boom-leads-to-more-surveillance">control</a> employee behavior – whether while they work remotely or as means to make the office safer – risk eroding <a href="https://www.inc.com/marissa-levin/harvard-neuroscience-research-reveals-8-ways-to-build-a-culture-of-trust.html">worker trust</a> and <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1111/joms.12625">undermining cultural norms</a>.</p>
<p>And the impact of these policies <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/joms.12625">will likely endure</a> long after the crisis subsides, making it very important for companies to think carefully about the lasting impact and strategies for dealing with COVID-19.</p>
<h2>Interrupted innovation</h2>
<p>A third major cost of this sustained remote period of work is the lack of collaboration and its <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2020/03/30/productivity-pitfalls-working-home-age-covid-19">disruptive impact on innovation</a>. </p>
<p>Sure, some collaborations and idea generation can take place via Zoom meetings, but innovation still largely happens in physical spaces: at <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2259257">lab benches</a>, alongside a <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/nai/ti/2017/00000019/00000001/art00005">3D printer</a> or in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/radm.12261">unintended office interactions</a> that spark interdisciplinary collaborations. These initial steps become the source of intellectual property, new startups, future commercialization and ultimately consumer value. </p>
<p>But when workers can’t get into their labs and research centers, they can’t plant the seeds for future innovations. Overall, patents have <a href="https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2020/11/01/technology-specific-patent-filing-trends-pandemic/id=126901/">fallen almost 10% year to date</a>, with patents in the life sciences down 20%. </p>
<h2>A purpose-driven plan</h2>
<p>Though the pandemic is still with us, organizations and workers need a plan now – and can’t wait for a vaccine to allow everyone to come back to the office. </p>
<p>To us, this isn’t simply about logistics, such as deciding whether, when and how to return to the office, but starting to address the downsides of this sustained remote work experiment by reengaging workers around a <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/07/creating-a-purpose-driven-organization">sense of organizational purpose</a>. </p>
<p>And honestly, it really doesn’t matter all that much what goes into the plan. A long history of scholarship on <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Making_Sense_of_the_Organization.html?id=ZJpCtAEACAAJ">organizations</a> emphasizes that even the most imperfect plan can have positive effects on morale and team confidence. When <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-02-13-9502130021-story.html">conditions are uncertain</a>, a plan provides direction, a sense of purpose and foundation for unity. Moreover, it’s a great way to turn a crisis into an opportunity. </p>
<p>For example, some companies we’ve worked with have crafted plans that focus on addressing pre-pandemic threats such as how automation and AI are changing <a href="https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/four-ways-jobs-will-respond-to-automation/">the very nature of work</a>. They’ve been conducting a top-to-bottom review of jobs and roles to better understand which ones are providing the most and least value, and adjusting accordingly. Others, such as local health care organizations in the Boston area, are focusing on accelerating <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-patients-put-remote-care-to-the-test-11602840627">their adoption of technologies</a> to improve the level of care they can provide patients.</p>
<p>[<em>Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Making a plan doesn’t require certainty about the path of the virus or committing to a return to the office. Rather, it’s about creating a shared sense of purpose to lead workers through one of the toughest periods in world history. </p>
<p>The value of having a plan reminds us of an anecdote – frequently shared by management scholars – <a href="https://www.tolstoytherapy.com/brief-thoughts-on-maps-miroslav-holub/">involving a Hungarian army platoon</a> briefly thought lost in the Alps during a snowstorm during World War I. Gone for two days, the soldiers suddenly showed up on the third. Asked how they survived, the group leader showed his commander the map that led them back. The punchline: It depicted the Pyrenees, not the Alps.</p>
<p>While it’s not clear if the story is factually based, the message still rings true: In times of uncertainty, often any map will do – even a wrong one.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147548/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Although the end of the pandemic may be in sight, the costs of working remotely are growing. It’s time companies had a plan – even if they aren’t returning to the office any time soon.Scott F. Latham, Associate Professor of Strategic Management, UMass LowellBeth Humberd, Associate Professor of Management, UMass LowellLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1463902020-10-15T12:34:46Z2020-10-15T12:34:46ZHow the needs of monks and empire builders helped mold the modern-day office<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362735/original/file-20201009-23-1ca2ae6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=56%2C0%2C4137%2C2885&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The East India House, 1928. From 'A History of Lloyd's,' by Charles Wright and C. Ernest Fayle. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-east-india-house-from-the-east-1928-from-a-history-of-news-photo/1003476124?adppopup=true">Macmillan and Company Limited, London, 1928. Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The coronavirus pandemic forced many people to create an office space of their own – whether by devoting a room in our homes for work, sitting socially distanced in common areas or just creating a “Zoom worthy” corner in a bedroom.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.design.iastate.edu/interior-design/faculty/nicolep/">As a scholar</a> who researches and designs learning and workspaces, I’m aware how the modern-day workplace was shaped over several centuries. But few people may know that the origins of the office can be found in the monasteries of medieval Europe.</p>
<h2>Early origin in monasteries</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362737/original/file-20201009-23-17gazxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362737/original/file-20201009-23-17gazxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362737/original/file-20201009-23-17gazxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362737/original/file-20201009-23-17gazxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362737/original/file-20201009-23-17gazxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=698&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362737/original/file-20201009-23-17gazxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=698&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362737/original/file-20201009-23-17gazxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=698&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Monk at work on a manuscript in the corner of a scriptorium, 15th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/monk-at-work-on-a-manuscript-in-the-corner-of-a-scriptorium-news-photo/463920165?adppopup=true">Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Beginning around the fifth century, monks that lived and worked in <a href="https://www.ancient.eu/Medieval_Monastery/">monasteries</a> preserved ancient culture by copying and translating religious books, including the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Jerome">Bible, which was translated from Hebrew and Greek to Latin</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/construction-and-design-manual-offices/oclc/969094081&referer=brief_results">workspaces</a> during this time consisted mainly of a table, covered with cloth to protect the books, and a writing room, or “<a href="https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/scriptorium/">scriptorium</a>” in Latin. It was common for monks to stand before their writing desks in the scriptorium – a practice that has come back into fashion with the advent of the standing desk in recent years.</p>
<p>Only during the Renaissance did the chair-and-table combination start to be seen in workspaces.</p>
<p>In 1560, <a href="https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/bust-cosimoI-bronze">Cosimo I de’ Medici</a>, who later became the grand duke of Tuscany, wanted a building in which both the administrative and judiciary offices of Florence could be under one roof. So he commissioned the building of <a href="https://www.uffizi.it/en/the-uffizi/history">the Uffizi</a>, which in Italian means “offices.” </p>
<p>The lower two floors of the Uffizi were designed as offices for the Florentine magistrates that were in charge of overseeing production and trade, as well as the administrative offices. The top floor was a <a href="https://www.westburygardenrooms.com/blog/what-is-a-loggia/">loggia</a> – an area open on one or more sides.</p>
<p>The Medici family grew an art collection on the top floor of the Uffizi. The loggia underwent various renovations to house statues and paintings, until it grew into a vast art collection and <a href="https://www.visituffizi.org/museum/history/">gallery</a>. Today the entire building is an art <a href="https://www.uffizi.it/en">museum</a>. </p>
<h2>Government, merchants and commerce</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362545/original/file-20201008-14-1h1n2wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=321%2C246%2C2917%2C2387&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362545/original/file-20201008-14-1h1n2wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362545/original/file-20201008-14-1h1n2wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362545/original/file-20201008-14-1h1n2wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362545/original/file-20201008-14-1h1n2wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=647&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362545/original/file-20201008-14-1h1n2wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=647&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362545/original/file-20201008-14-1h1n2wz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=647&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Board Room of the Admiralty,
Jan. 1, 1808.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/dp/original/DP873986.jpg">Designed and etched by Thomas Rowlandson/Metropolitan Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It wasn’t until the 18th century that buildings with dedicated office spaces were constructed. </p>
<p>The process started in London when the growth of the British empire required office administration. Two buildings were designed to handle paperwork and records related to office administration, the navy and the increased commerce. These included the Admiralty Office, a building for the Royal Navy and a building for the East India Company.</p>
<p><a href="https://britainexplorer.com/listing/old-admiralty-buildings/">The Old Admiralty Office</a>, built in 1726, housed government offices and meeting rooms, including the Admiralty Board Room. Today it is known as the Ripley Building, named after the architect who designed it.</p>
<p>Rebuilt in 1729, the <a href="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.177522/page/n163/mode/2up?q=headquarters">headquarters for the East India Company</a> is an early example of a multipurpose building with offices. An expansion of the East India House in London, the reconstruction was designed so the company could conduct public business and manage the trade of spices and other goods from Eastern trade. </p>
<p>The public areas within the building included a spacious hall and courtyard used as a reception for sales and meetings, with large rooms for the directors and offices for the clerks. An <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2599322">elite group of established clerks</a> at the East India Company administered the growth of company commerce in London and thousands of miles away in East Asia.</p>
<h2>New York and the modern office</h2>
<p>It was in the United States that the modern offices that most people are familiar with today were developed. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362742/original/file-20201009-23-gq6p2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362742/original/file-20201009-23-gq6p2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362742/original/file-20201009-23-gq6p2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362742/original/file-20201009-23-gq6p2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362742/original/file-20201009-23-gq6p2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362742/original/file-20201009-23-gq6p2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1065&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362742/original/file-20201009-23-gq6p2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1065&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362742/original/file-20201009-23-gq6p2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1065&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New York Stock Exchange and surrounding skyscrapers, early 20th century. Etching by Joseph Pennell, American artist: 1857-1926.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-york-stock-exchange-and-surrounding-skyscrapers-early-news-photo/171076568?adppopup=true">Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2120893?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">number of clerks in North America</a> increased tenfold between 1870 and 1930. At first, insurance, banking and finance sectors led the need for skilled clerks with good penmanship. Later, clerks performed specialized, though routine, tasks such as <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/how-typewriters-changed-everything/">typewriting</a> while sitting next to each other in an open office floor plan. At that point, offices grew larger and began to resemble factories.</p>
<p>Women’s share of clerical employment increased from <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2120893?seq=1">2.5% to 52.5%</a> due to the emergence of the typewriter, drastically altering the work environment. Women entered the workforce as typists, which introduced an opportunity for independence and a break away from solely domestic responsibilities.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://flwright.org/researchexplore/wrightbuildings/larkincompanyadministrationbuilding">Larkin Company Administration Building</a>, a soap manufacturing facility designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1903, was one of the first modern office buildings to follow the open office floor plan.</p>
<p>[<em>The Conversation’s science, health and technology editors pick their favorite stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-favorite">Weekly on Wednesdays</a>.]</p>
<p>The <a href="https://comparativemedia.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/ZCAlexander_Larkin%27s%20Technologies%20of%20Trust.pdf">soap company</a> used this floor plan in New York to ensure efficiency and productivity among employees. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/how-skyscrapers-became-possible-1991649">Skyscrapers</a> were designed during this same period, using iron or steel frame structures borrowed from factory buildings. The advances in building technology and the open office workspaces paved the way for architects and designers in the 1950s and 1960s to develop the offices and office furniture we recognize today.</p>
<p>While we don’t know what the office of the future holds, we can look back at how necessity molded office space. Today the same necessity is helping us carve out workspaces in small nooks and makeshift offices.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146390/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Kay Peterson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The coronavirus epidemic has made us all rethink our workspaces. But the needs of the times have always influenced the office space – whether for the colonial empire or a growing commerce.Nicole Kay Peterson, Assistant Professor, Iowa State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1465052020-09-23T11:37:01Z2020-09-23T11:37:01ZCompanies are trying to connect remote workers with ‘virtual water coolers’ – but it’s harder than it sounds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359378/original/file-20200922-18-2wlxy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Spontaneous conversation between colleagues was easier in pre-covid times.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-coworkers-discussing-while-standing-office-680362435">wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not all donuts are bad for you. One in particular claims to be good for communication within organisations. An app that plugs into the collaboration platform <a href="https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/">Slack</a>, <a href="https://www.donut.com/">Donut</a> creates random virtual meetings between colleagues to foster connection and community. Other apps such as <a href="https://slack.com/apps/AQMDLSL72-watercooler">Watercooler</a> offer similar features and in my own university we have a group on Microsoft Teams called “Virtual Canteen”, nostalgically referring to the real canteen we can’t enjoy since COVID-19 closed it.</p>
<p>For as long as there has been remote working, companies have sought ways to replicate the serendipitous conversations we have in a physical work space. But turning to algorithms to achieve this may not have the desired effect. </p>
<p><a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9x76q5cd">Lots</a> <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17459435.2014.955593">of</a> research documents the importance of the informal conversations that take place around the office photocopier, coffee machine or water cooler. These in-between spaces that can result in awkward conversation with someone you don’t know very well play an important role in building community between colleagues, which fosters commitment to a company. </p>
<p>These spaces also play an important role in the sharing of work-related information – sometimes referred to as “<a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/14777261011064968/full/html">water-cooler learning</a>”. Spaces like the coffee area are knowingly created by companies, because people share knowledge, stories of their experiences and talk about the problems they are facing in these spaces.</p>
<p>In the health sector, <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=305691933675194;res=IELBUS">researchers have identified</a> how corridor conversations are an important way to deal with crises and complexity. These impromptu encounters can often result in colleagues (often unknowingly) working out how to fix problems, deal with crises, de-stress, and avoid reinventing the wheel.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of co-workers walking through office and talking." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359405/original/file-20200922-20-1elv90k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359405/original/file-20200922-20-1elv90k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359405/original/file-20200922-20-1elv90k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359405/original/file-20200922-20-1elv90k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359405/original/file-20200922-20-1elv90k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359405/original/file-20200922-20-1elv90k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359405/original/file-20200922-20-1elv90k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The old walk and talk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-diverse-coworkers-walking-through-corridor-1178790337">bbernard / Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These are “<a href="https://inaliminalspace.org/about-us/what-is-a-liminal-space/">liminal spaces</a>” that are beyond formal definition. As soon as we try to design them too tightly, they tend to flee elsewhere – the stairwell, the bus stop, the dead space at the back of the building. We like them because no one is in particular control of what goes on there or what we say to each other. They are thresholds, places of transition. And because we are passing through, there’s a potential spontaneity in what we may think, say and even do. </p>
<p>So, what about in the digital world? The online water coolers and corridors can be found in sidebar conversations in the one-on-one chats in Zoom meetings. You’ll find people creating informal Whatsapp groups for out-of-earshot commenting, alongside the more formal channels of online conferences. </p>
<p>Smaller businesses in the tech space who work primarily online set up virtual water coolers years ago. They take the form of virtual meetings rooms that are left open indefinitely. Anyone can go in at any time and meet up with anyone. And the best ones are truly private, encrypted and out of the snooping range of over-interested managers. They are liminal because anyone can pass through or stick around, anyone can say whatever they want, and no one really knows where anything is leading. Because of that, we can sometimes think up and share our most crazy, creative and innovative thoughts.</p>
<h2>Can you design spontaneity?</h2>
<p>Donut offers itself as something that “regularly introduces team members who don’t know each other well to spread trust and collaboration across your organisation”. It randomly pairs co-workers through Slack and encourages them to have coffee together over a video call. </p>
<p>Apps like this certainly have positive benefits. They serve as connectors in a complex working environment, offering fast and smart connection. They offer the chance to pair up colleagues and trigger all kinds of interesting conversations and exchanges. And they also invite us to meet people we wouldn’t usually bump into, people we might get to like and to share valuable thoughts with.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Shot of a screen of teammates doing a video call." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359406/original/file-20200922-22-bhbpdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359406/original/file-20200922-22-bhbpdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359406/original/file-20200922-22-bhbpdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359406/original/file-20200922-22-bhbpdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359406/original/file-20200922-22-bhbpdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359406/original/file-20200922-22-bhbpdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359406/original/file-20200922-22-bhbpdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s harder to be spontaneous on a video call.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/shot-screen-teammates-doing-virtual-conference-1716591502">Cabeca de Marmore / Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But a more fundamental question being debated in the world of artificial intelligence is: can you turn serendipity into an algorithm, or at least convincingly fake it? And potentially undermining the efforts of these algorithms is the fact that if we think our bosses are forcing these kinds of meetings or that we are being manipulated into bumping into each other, will we just take our coffee breaks elsewhere?</p>
<p>It’s more likely that the real virtual water cooler will pop up outside of the official channels. And that is because, in highly planned organisations, chance and the sudden surprises become valuable – a kind of cultural good – for the very reason that no one from higher up designed or planned them. Spontaneous, informal communication is clearly valuable for business, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0018726714536938">but it takes place in liminal spaces</a>.</p>
<p>If you want to rediscover in a virtual world the benefits of what the water cooler has been achieving in the physical workplace for decades, then control is the enemy for the simple reason you can’t push this on people. They’ll be too busy looking over their shoulder to see who is pushing them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146505/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Levy owns shares in CATS3000 Limited</span></em></p>For as long as there has been remote working, companies have sought ways to replicate the serendipitous conversations we have in a physical work space.Paul Levy, Senior Researcher in Innovation Management, University of BrightonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1438792020-08-17T12:24:27Z2020-08-17T12:24:27ZIn the work-from-home battle for space, women are the reluctant nomads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352985/original/file-20200814-16-pdao5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C1398%2C1021&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ward Cleaver of the popular sitcom 'Leave It to Beaver' in his study.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/72/d5/4e/72d54e1687267db51b65becc2caa3dc8.jpg">Universal Pictures</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s just past 10 a.m. and my partner, on his third virtual meeting today, is working non-stop in our home office. Since late August, my son has taken over the family room to attend distance learning classes, play video games, and socialize with friends online. I am teaching online this fall and do not have daily access to my campus office, which closed in March. </p>
<p>For these reasons, each morning, I find myself carrying my laptop and tea around my house trying to find a quiet place to work. Before the pandemic, unlike my spouse who already telecommuted one to two days per week, I never needed a dedicated space at home for work. </p>
<p>With Google announcing that its <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-to-keep-employees-home-until-summer-2021-amid-coronavirus-pandemic-11595854201">200,000 employees can work from home</a> until June 2021 – and Twitter, Square and Slack <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/22/tech/work-from-home-companies/index.html">announcing</a> that employees could still continue working remotely after the pandemic ends – I’m sure others find themselves in the same boat of not having their own dedicated professional workspace. </p>
<p>And as I explain in <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/easy-living/9781978802223">my recent book on the social history of the home office</a>, historically, it’s been women who have been the ones left searching for space.</p>
<h2>The emergence of the ‘chamber room’</h2>
<p>To better understand the makeshift nature of workspaces in the home – and why the spaces are often gendered – it’s important to look at how the home office first emerged as a distinct space.</p>
<p>In the 18th century, <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/H2h6zK4PvpsC?hl=en&gbpv=0">three separate spheres of domestic activity</a> started to appear in middle-class and wealthy single-family homes. There was a social area for hosting guests, such as dining and living rooms; a service zone, which included the kitchen, cellar and laundry areas; and a sleeping area, which was the most private part of the house.</p>
<p>What we now call the home office emerged from generically named “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chamber">chamber</a>” rooms used by both men and women prior to the 19th century. The majority of the chamber rooms were later simply labeled “bedrooms” on builders’ floor plans. However, beginning in the 19th century, some of these spaces depicted on floor plans were interchangeably referred to as the library, den or study. </p>
<p>By the late 19th century, the study became primarily a space reserved for male professionals to conduct business at home, indulge in scholarly pursuits and entertain friends. For example, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/202373">clergy, merchants and doctors needed a study or “interview room”</a> because their work was more likely to be conducted at home. </p>
<p>The study was often separated from the private zones of the house and placed as close to the front door as possible – in the home’s social zone – to maintain family privacy. </p>
<p>But then, in the early 20th century, the <a href="http://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2019.0034">study largely disappeared</a> from standard, middle-class homes, which were getting smaller, remaining only in houses built for upper-middle-class professionals, creative professionals and the wealthy. </p>
<h2>Selling the idea of working from home</h2>
<p>Even though the study was a male space for leisure and occasional work, the home was largely seen – <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Home_and_Work.html?id=NGrRD9hBs8wC">and championed</a> – as a place that fostered family life. </p>
<p>Yet companies that sold office supplies <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/easy-living/9781978802223">saw the home as an untapped market</a>. All they needed to do was convince Americans that being able to work from home was a form of convenience. Through advertisements, these companies encouraged Americans to create distinct spaces for work that needed to be properly outfitted with office equipment.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352995/original/file-20200814-16-wt859z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An advertisement for a portable typerwriter depicts women huddling around a man typing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352995/original/file-20200814-16-wt859z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352995/original/file-20200814-16-wt859z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352995/original/file-20200814-16-wt859z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352995/original/file-20200814-16-wt859z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=932&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352995/original/file-20200814-16-wt859z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1172&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352995/original/file-20200814-16-wt859z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1172&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352995/original/file-20200814-16-wt859z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1172&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An early ad for the portable typewriter.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Remington Rand Papers: Advertising and Sales Promotion Department—Typewriter Division; Hagley Museum, Wilmington, Del.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, in 1921, <a href="https://digital.hagley.org/I_PAM_20091218">Remington Rand began marketing portable typewriters</a>, with advertisements that tried to sell consumers on the idea of flexibility and the ability to work in the comfort of one’s home. And in the 1950s, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2019.0034">Bell Telephone teamed up with the builders of middle-class homes</a> to market the installation of additional telephone lines as a way to combine work and leisure under one roof.</p>
<p>When PCs replaced typewriters, computer companies such as Apple and IBM <a href="https://medium.com/the-mission/40-lessons-from-40-years-of-apple-ads-7a653e2738ab">geared their ads towards professionals</a>, depicting their products as tools that would allow them to telecommute, run a business out of the home or make it easier for their kids to complete homework. </p>
<h2>Separate but unequal spaces</h2>
<p>As these technologies started appearing in more and more homes, families started to wonder where to put them. </p>
<p>Popular culture offered some models. In the sitcom “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050032/">Leave It to Beaver</a>,” the study of the father, Ward Cleaver, is equipped with bookshelves, a globe, two leather chairs, a desk and a telephone. It’s a place where Ward occasionally works from home in the evening and relaxes during the weekend.</p>
<p>By then, however, most middle-class homes lacked studies.</p>
<p>Furthermore, during the postwar period, typewriter and telephone companies didn’t just advertise their products to men. They also sought to entice middle-class women into using their products to better manage tasks like corresponding with schools, insurance brokers and doctors, as well as keeping family records and paying bills. However, unlike men, women’s workspaces in advertisements, newspapers and on television were often depicted as a <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=XNwDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false">planning desk in the kitchen</a> or as a little desk in the master bedroom. Rarely, if ever, did they have their own space.</p>
<p>Where to put office equipment was another issue. Placing it in the master bedroom interfered with the perceived functions of the bedroom: intimacy and relaxation. A PC in the living room competed with the television, while office equipment in the kitchen or dining room impeded the ability to work uninterrupted by other family members. For these reasons, advertisements and computing magazines in the 1980s began to recommend new spaces dedicated exclusively to PCs, such as the <a href="https://archive.org/details/family-computing-50/mode/2up?q=home+office">home office</a> or a “<a href="https://www.timberhomeliving.com/articles/article/how-to-create-a-hobby-room">hobby room</a>.” </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>The home office works well as a quiet room to concentrate and work, but in homes that do have one – and when both partners are at home, as is increasingly the case – <a href="https://www.hfndigital.com/covid-19-and-home-furnishings-industry/survey-reveals-how-people-are-working-from-home/">that space often defaults to the man</a>.</p>
<p>In the end, all those companies’ advertising dollars <a href="https://secondmeasure.com/datapoints/coronavirus-spending-at-office-depot-staples/">paid off</a>. We were working from home <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-creating-huge-stressful-experiment-working-home/607945/">in greater numbers</a> before the pandemic, and <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2020/06/29/snapshot-new-working-home-economy/">the number has since risen</a> as offices around the country shuttered. But we’re still stuck with the same issues of too much work and not enough space to do it – with women often getting the short end of the stick.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143879/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Patton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For decades, home workspaces were portrayed as the domain of men. Now, with many families all working under one roof, women are paying the price.Elizabeth Patton, Assistant Professor of Media and Communication Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1384992020-07-24T12:29:41Z2020-07-24T12:29:41ZThe office is dead! Long live the office in a post-pandemic world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349387/original/file-20200724-15-ldrybi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=103%2C159%2C5223%2C3386&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Long live the office. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: The future of the office has become an open question after the coronavirus lockdown forced tens of millions of Americans to work from home. Will office workers flock back to their cubicles and water coolers when the pandemic ends? Or will employees want to hold on to their newfound freedom and flexibility, while employers eye the lower costs of the lack of a physical footprint?</em> </p>
<p><em>At least a few companies have already answered this question: Twitter, for example, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52628119">says</a> most of its employees can continue working from home forever, making the office merely a place to meet clients. We asked three scholars to weigh in on the future of the office.</em> </p>
<h2>Relationships need proximity</h2>
<p><strong>Beth Humberd and Scott Latham, University of Massachusetts, Lowell</strong></p>
<p>Although we’ve seen <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/health/coronavirus-office-makeover.html">numerous</a> <a href="https://www.economist.com/1843/2020/04/29/death-of-the-office">office</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-pandemic-wont-kill-office-but-it-will-change-forever-2020-4">epitaphs</a> in recent weeks, we believe the pre-pandemic workspace isn’t going away anytime soon. Why? </p>
<p>Organizational life is founded on relationships. Sure, the current remote work experiment <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/09/magazine/remote-work-covid.html">has demonstrated that more jobs can be done virtually</a> than many managers previously assumed. But jobs are comprised of tasks; organizations are comprised of relationships. And relationships require ongoing – and often unintended – interactions.</p>
<p>Decades of research provide important insight into how effective work relationships are built. We know that they <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/fostering_high_quality_connections">require mutual trust and cooperation</a>, and that <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.5465/amr.2016.0240">physical proximity is critical</a> to fostering trusting and cooperative relationships. </p>
<p>This is especially true in the knowledge and creative economies, as shared space promotes information sharing and collaboration. A 2009 study found that Google employees sharing physical space <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03821-1_2">exchanged information more effectively</a> than those located even on separate floors in the same building. A similar study from 2013 showed that when scientists had to walk further from the lab to places like the restroom or the printer, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916513493909">they developed more research collaborations</a>. And a more recent study found that <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1111/radm.12261">“water cooler” socialization was critical</a> to new idea generation at <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/52802">business incubators</a>, which support the growth of startup companies.</p>
<p>And as <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/10/you-will-lose-your-job-to-a-robot-and-sooner-than-you-think/">robots take over more human jobs</a> thanks to automation and artificial intelligence, these relationships will matter more than ever. <a href="https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/four-ways-jobs-will-respond-to-automation/">Our own research</a> has found jobs that are inherently relational are more likely to endure.</p>
<p>So we believe that it’s not the office itself that will remain but the necessity of physical proximity to keeping the modern organization – and our work relationships – running smoothly. </p>
<h2>Worker flexibility is here to stay</h2>
<p><strong>Deborah Salon, Arizona State University</strong></p>
<p>Office employees want more flexibility in where they work. That’s the main finding from a <a href="https://www.covidfuture.org">survey I’m conducting with other researchers</a> at Arizona State University and the University of Illinois. </p>
<p>Our survey aims to understand how the nationwide lockdown that forced much of the professional workforce to telecommute changed employee views on going to the office, among other topics. The survey is ongoing and, if you are at least 18 and live in the U.S., you can <a href="https://asu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6sSpYqN0Eko5Dmt?org=covidfuture_homepage">take it online</a>. The results reported below reflect nearly 2,100 responses collected from mid-April to mid-July and have been weighted to the U.S. population in terms of age, gender and education level. </p>
<p>Our data indicates that nearly two-thirds of those who still had jobs during the pandemic were almost exclusively working from home. That compares with just 13% of workers who said they did so even a few times a week pre-COVID-19. </p>
<p>Among those who had previously not regularly worked from home, 62% said they were enjoying the change, and 75% expect their employers to continue to provide flexibility in where they work after the pandemic has passed.</p>
<p>Of course, there may be a gap between employee expectations and the reality of what employers <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/benefits/2019/ownership/civilian/table39a.pdf">are willing to provide</a>. One of the arguments companies have traditionally used in opposing offering workers more flexibility is the belief that <a href="https://www.wired.com/insights/2013/05/yahoos-mayer-is-right-work-from-home-employees-are-less-efficient/">they are less productive</a> or efficient working from home. </p>
<p>But even at a time when workers face many distractions, particularly those with young children, nearly two-thirds of our working respondents reported normal or above-normal productivity. This is consistent with <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/10/cover-remote-work">prior psychological research on remote work</a> that found that those who telecommute often perform about the same or somewhat better than their in-the-office colleagues. Workers in our survey credited not having to commute to the office and fewer distractions such as meetings for their increased productivity. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>That’s why I believe the future of office work is likely to be much more flexible than ever before. Overall, including those who previously worked from home, a full 26% said they plan to work remotely at least a few times each week when the pandemic is over – double the 13% that said they did so prior to it. </p>
<p>Only 9% of the workers we surveyed, however, said they want to completely abandon the traditional office. They seem to just want more balance. Given the option, many office workers would like to commute to a traditional office on some days and work from home on others.</p>
<p>With luck and a bit of good planning, I believe the U.S. workforce could become not only more productive post-pandemic, but also enjoy their lives just a little bit more.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138499/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Salon receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Transportation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beth Humberd and Scott F. Latham do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The post-pandemic office will be a lot more flexible but still will be necessary to help build relationships among colleagues, according to three scholars.Beth Humberd, Associate Professor of Management, UMass LowellDeborah Salon, Associate Professor of Transportation Planning, Arizona State UniversityScott F. Latham, Associate Professor of Strategic Management, UMass LowellLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1421542020-07-07T12:15:50Z2020-07-07T12:15:50ZCOVID-19: As offices reopen, here’s what to expect if you’re worried about getting sick on the job<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345915/original/file-20200706-3947-1l72ntt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=80%2C171%2C6629%2C4295&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A brave new world. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luis Alvarez/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you’re among the tens of millions of people returning to work or preparing to do so after months sheltering in place, you may be worried it will put you and your family at increased risk of exposure to COVID-19.</p>
<p>The dilemma may be especially stark for the millions of Americans who can expect to see a significant cut in their unemployment insurance benefits <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/06/24/unemployment-americans-will-lose-their-extra-600-days-earlier-than-expected/3253111001/">near the end of July</a>, when the US$600 per week subsidy from the federal government is set to expire.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://law.uoregon.edu/people/faculty/tippett">professor specializing in employment law</a>, I don’t have a lot of reassurance to offer. Employment law is a patchwork at the best of times – let alone during a global pandemic – and legal protections may not cover your situation. Like so many of the challenges people are facing right now, you may be mostly on your own, negotiating the least bad of many bad options.</p>
<p>Here is a basic overview of what your options are under some common scenarios.</p>
<p><strong>I’ve been called back to the office, but I don’t like the idea of being in an enclosed space for nine hours a day.</strong></p>
<p>Workers have good reason to worry about indoor spaces, as scientists <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/04/health/239-experts-with-one-big-claim-the-coronavirus-is-airborne.html">increasingly acknowledge</a> that the virus may be airborne. </p>
<p>If you have a medical condition that makes you especially vulnerable to the coronavirus, you may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation under the <a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-about-covid-19-and-ada-rehabilitation-act-and-other-eeo-laws">Americans with Disabilities Act</a>. That means your employer needs to engage in a dialogue with you to figure out if there is a way to limit your exposure – such as remote work, a temporary reassignment or a modified shift. </p>
<p>Alternatively, <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2020/05/06/some-states-let-vulnerable-workers-turn-down-jobs">some states</a> are allowing medically vulnerable workers to refuse work and remain on unemployment insurance.</p>
<p>[<em>The Conversation’s newsletter explains what’s going on with the coronavirus pandemic. <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-daily">Subscribe now</a>.</em>]</p>
<p>If the business is opening in defiance of a state or local order, you might be able to file a complaint with a <a href="https://www.osha.gov/stateplans">state workplace health and safety agency</a>. Or you could try negotiating a temporary or intermittent remote work arrangement with your employer.</p>
<p>Everyone else has little choice but to head back to the office.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Law professor Michael Z. Green and the author discuss the difficult choices workers face in returning to work.</span></figcaption>
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<p><strong>I believe I’m being asked to work in unsafe conditions.</strong></p>
<p>If you live in a state or city that has adopted a mask requirement – and your worksite is not allowing or enforcing the mask rules – look into how that requirement is being enforced. In Oregon, for example, the governor has <a href="https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/06/oregon-coronavirus-cases-osha-enforce-gov-brown-face-mask-requirement/5363667002/">tasked</a> the state Occupational Safety and Health Agency with enforcing the rule. By contrast, the Texas governor’s mask order is being enforced – somewhat inconsistently – by <a href="https://www.cbs19.tv/article/news/local/list-which-east-texas-law-enforcement-offices-will-enforce-mask-mandate-and-which-ones-wont/501-8fab494b-a5e9-4b7e-a01f-029687d0376f">local law enforcement</a>.</p>
<p>For other <a href="https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1977/1977.12#1977.12(b)(2)">safety-related concerns</a>, the first thing you are expected to do is talk to your employer about the unsafe condition. Be specific about the condition that concerns you and the fact that you are worried about your safety.</p>
<p>If you are unionized, conveying your concern to the union will enable it to address the problem on behalf of everyone. Even if you’re not unionized, <a href="https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/coronavirus-protected-concerted-activity-unions.aspx">banding together</a> with other employees to advocate for safer working conditions is <a href="https://time.com/5832140/going-back-to-work-coronavirus-rights/">protected</a> under the National Labor Relations Act.</p>
<p>If your employer does not address your safety concerns, you can complain to the state workplace safety agency or the local branch of the federal <a href="https://www.osha.gov/stateplans">Occupational Safety and Health Administration</a>. The agency <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article243816822.html">should</a> send an inspector to examine the situation or at least send a letter to the employer inquiring about your complaint.</p>
<p>In the meantime, you should refuse to work only if you have no <a href="https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1977/1977.12#1977.12(b)(2)">“reasonable alternative”</a> and the unsafe condition would pose a “real danger of death or serious injury.”</p>
<p><strong>I have to go to work but have children at home and no child care options.</strong></p>
<p>If you work for a company with fewer than 500 employees, <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-federal-sick-leave-law-whos-eligible-whos-not-and-how-many-weeks-do-you-get-134180">you may be eligible for up to 12 weeks</a> of paid leave under the <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employer-paid-leave">Families First Coronavirus Response Act</a>. But if you’ve been using this leave over the spring or summer, you may be in a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cuomo-says-no-decision-on-whether-new-york-schools-will-reopen-in-the-fall-amid-coronavirus">dicey situation</a> by the fall if schools do not fully reopen. </p>
<p>Beyond those 12 weeks of leave, companies are not required to make accommodations for employee child care issues. But failing to do so can make for <a href="https://tallahasseereports.com/2020/07/02/fsu-reverses-remote-work-policy-after-pushback/">bad PR</a>, as Florida State University discovered when it tried to ban parents from watching their kids while working remotely. </p>
<p><strong>I live with a family member who is in a vulnerable population, and I don’t want to expose the person to the virus.</strong></p>
<p>If you <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employer-paid-leave">need to care</a> for the family member – and work for a company with fewer than 500 employees – you may be eligible for leave under the <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employer-paid-leave">Families First Coronavirus Response Act</a>. Your employer might request documentation that a health care provider advised the family member to self-quarantine.</p>
<p>Otherwise, you may be out of luck – and may not even get <a href="http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/UIPL/UIPL_16-20_Attachment_1.pdf">unemployment insurance</a> if you refuse to work. That may mean doing your best to limit your exposure at work and <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/16/834424572/how-to-stay-healthy-when-your-child-spouse-or-roommate-has-covid-19">transmission at home</a>.</p>
<p><strong>I think I just got sick from exposure to the coronavirus at work.</strong></p>
<p>You should be eligible for two weeks of paid sick leave under the <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employer-paid-leave">Families First Coronavirus Response Act</a> if you work for a company with fewer than 500 employees. If you are still sick after that, you may be eligible for <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla">Family and Medical Leave</a>. You’ll also want to check your company’s sick leave policy.</p>
<p>You might be eligible to file for workers’ compensation, which covers <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2014-110/pdfs/2014-110.pdf">medical costs and provides some wage replacement</a> for workers who are injured because of work. State law varies a lot when it comes to workers’ compensation, including whether infectious diseases like COVID-19 count as a workplace injury. Your claim will also <a href="https://www.ncci.com/Articles/Pages/Insights-Coronavirus-FAQs.aspx">depend on</a> whether you can show that you contracted the coronavirus at work – as opposed to exposure from other places. <a href="https://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/evolving-state-responses-to-workers-compensation-amid-covid-19-a-50-state-survey-cv19-lf">Some states</a> are issuing presumptions that certain kinds of front-line workers – like health care workers and first responders – contracted the virus at work.</p>
<p><strong>My company asked me to sign a contract saying I waive my legal rights if I contract COVID-19.</strong></p>
<p>If you are presented with a waiver to return to work, consider asking whether you are required to sign it. Sometimes workplace contracts are actually optional, but you may not find out without asking directly or reading the fine print. </p>
<p>But even if signing is mandatory, workers compensation claims are generally not waivable. In other words, if you contract COVID-19 as a result of a workplace exposure, a waiver form shouldn’t be a barrier to filing a claim and potentially receiving compensation.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/returning-to-work-an-employment-law-expert-explains-your-rights-in-getting-your-boss-to-accommodate-you-and-your-familys-safety-138675">article originally published</a> on May 18, 2020.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142154/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth C. Tippett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tens of millions of Americans who have been telecommuting during the pandemic are beginning to head back to the office – even though COVID-19 remains a threat.Elizabeth C. Tippett, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1385162020-06-28T20:10:05Z2020-06-28T20:10:05ZIn praise of the office: let’s learn from COVID-19 and make the traditional workplace better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343869/original/file-20200624-132955-2rix55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C7337%2C4912&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Having had to rapidly adjust to working from home due to COVID-19, many people are now having to readjust to life back in the office. Many will have enjoyed aspects of what is sometimes called “distributed work”, but some may be dreading the return. </p>
<p>So is there a middle ground? Could hybrid work arrangements, known for boosting well-being and productivity, be a more common feature of workplaces in the future?</p>
<p>We say yes. Organisations need to recognise the valuable habits and skills employees have developed to work effectively from home during the lockdown. But they will need good strategies for easing the transition back into the physical workplace. </p>
<p>In doing so, they should aim for the best of both worlds — the flexibility of distributed work and the known benefits of the collaborative workplace.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-death-of-the-open-plan-office-not-quite-but-a-revolution-is-in-the-air-140724">The death of the open-plan office? Not quite, but a revolution is in the air</a>
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<h2>Good riddance to hot-desking</h2>
<p>A good start would be a proper re-evaluation the two worst aspects of office life: crowded open-plan designs and so-called “hot-desking”. </p>
<p>Cramped shared offices and free-for-all hot-desking are both known for their negative impacts on quality of workplace life. The results are often interpersonal conflict, reduced productivity and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00140139.2013.871064?casa_token=unvpxgFLhAoAAAAA%3AlA8XgmDqRNfm9uk4rlxXD7idNBPeQ56HjZfDxOQy7IKBVubHBgxN-PIYXxHYkbl8C81Hg721X_AAXYM&">higher rates of sickness</a>.</p>
<p>Some organisations have already done away with hot-desking in an effort to improve <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/hot-desking-is-dead-why-workers-can-refuse-to-return-to-the-office-20200515-p54thr.html">physical and mental well-being</a>. Acknowledging the evidence that tightly packed, cost-saving, open-plan office arrangements have not delivered what was promised should be another priority. </p>
<p>Hopefully, the impact of COVID-19 on business as usual will spell the end of these often poorly thought through management fads.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343866/original/file-20200624-132972-6sfjhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343866/original/file-20200624-132972-6sfjhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343866/original/file-20200624-132972-6sfjhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343866/original/file-20200624-132972-6sfjhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343866/original/file-20200624-132972-6sfjhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343866/original/file-20200624-132972-6sfjhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343866/original/file-20200624-132972-6sfjhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Work-life imbalance: how do companies help their employees and also boost productivity?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<h2>Working from home can be isolating</h2>
<p>At the same time, there is no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The office still has its advantages, and there is research showing that working from home has clear disadvantages for employees and organisations when it is offered as a permanent arrangement.</p>
<p><a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amd.2014.0016">One study</a> involved a large (anonymous) US Fortune 100 technology firm. It began as a traditional survey of what it was like for individuals to work from home, but evolved into a study of the effect of what happened to the company’s community when working from home was normalised. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-research-on-hot-desking-and-activity-based-work-isnt-so-positive-75612">The research on hot-desking and activity-based work isn't so positive</a>
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<p>The option of unrestricted distributed work meant employees simply stopped coming to work at the office. Many reported the well-known benefits of working from home, such as work-life balance and productivity. </p>
<p>They also reported a kind of “contagion effect”. As colleagues began to stay at home a tipping point arrived where fewer and fewer people opted to work in the office. </p>
<p>But this actually increased a sense of isolation among employees. It also meant the loss of opportunities to collaborate through informal or unplanned meetings. The chance to solve problems or be given challenging assignments were lost as well. </p>
<p>Those who participated in the study said social contact and productively interacting with colleagues was the main reason they wanted to come to work. Without it there was no real point. The research raises the possibility of a net loss in well-being if everyone were to work remotely. </p>
<p>Well-being and job satisfaction depend on a <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199211913.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199211913-e-004">range of factors</a>, including having clear goals, social contact and the structure of the traditional working day. Of course, jobs can also be toxic if there is too much structure. But fully distributed work may not provide the support, identity and community that offices provide for some. </p>
<p>Nor is technology always adequate when it comes to the subtle value of face-to-face catch ups. Five minute water-cooler talks and post-meeting debriefs still matter for both productivity, social contact and cohesion. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343867/original/file-20200624-132951-8e3h7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343867/original/file-20200624-132951-8e3h7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343867/original/file-20200624-132951-8e3h7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343867/original/file-20200624-132951-8e3h7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343867/original/file-20200624-132951-8e3h7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343867/original/file-20200624-132951-8e3h7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343867/original/file-20200624-132951-8e3h7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A different kind of management: motivating and maintaining morale in a distributed workplace requires new skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Management has to adapt too</h2>
<p>None of which is to suggest there are not identifiable advantages of distributed work and the flexible workplace. As many of us discovered during the lockdown, just avoiding the daily commute helped with lowering stress and better work-life balance. Choosing <em>when</em> we worked was attractive too.</p>
<p>But this requires better management skills. Distributed workers require different (often better) engagement strategies, including the ability to build mutual trust. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/working-from-home-what-are-your-employers-responsibilities-and-what-are-yours-133922">Working from home: what are your employer's responsibilities, and what are yours?</a>
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<p>Research into how best to manage the health and safety of distributed workers has found that some leaders simply <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02678373.2017.1390797">can’t adapt</a> to the digital environment. Trust, consideration and communicating a clear vision or sense of purpose matter more for distributed workers than for those in the traditional office. </p>
<p>Recognition, reward, development and advancement in a distributed working environment will all need special attention. So too will ways to deal with people not pulling their weight, maybe because of too much time on social media. </p>
<p>Even the simple benefits of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0020852316681446">spontaneous humour</a> in meetings or informal team interactions are easily lost with “e-leadership”, so new ways of building and maintaining morale are vital. </p>
<p>This is not an either/or question. Rather, the challenge is to strike a new balance — how to retain the benefits of distributed work while maintaining the sense of community that comes from personal interaction in the office.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138516/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diep Nguyen receives funding from the Centre for Work Health and Safety (New South Wales Government) and Western Australia Government COVID-19 Research Funding.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Esme Franken currently receives funding from Australian Medical Association, Western Australia Government, and BHP. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Teo receives funding from the following bodies: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Western Australia Government COVID-19 Research Funding, the Institute of Public Administration Australia, and the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management (Tasmania). He is affiliated with the following professional associations: Australian Human Resources Institute (Fellow), Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (Chartered Fellow), Royal Society of Arts, and the USA Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (Associate).
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoff Plimmer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Working from home during lockdown reminded many of us of the benefits of office life. With a bit of imagination we could have the best of both worlds.Geoff Plimmer, Senior lecturer in Human Resource Management, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonDiep Nguyen, Lecturer, Edith Cowan UniversityEsme Franken, Lecturer in Management, Edith Cowan UniversityStephen Teo, Professor of Work and Performance, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1195982019-07-08T20:12:01Z2019-07-08T20:12:01ZLike to work with background noise? It could be boosting your performance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282796/original/file-20190705-51288-11bmkqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A certain optimal noise level allows people to see, hear and feel better.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Like to work in a noisy environment while your colleague prefers silence? It could be your brain is simply less “noisy” so this extra, external noise improves your cognitive functioning. </p>
<p>Every day of our lives we effortlessly use our senses to perceive the world around us. We take in information so we can learn new things, taste our food, watch our favourite Netflix show. What we often don’t consider is that our senses are being bombarded with “noise”, and by that I mean random interference.</p>
<p>This interference can be noise that you hear – for example the humming of an air-conditioner in your office or listening to background music played through your headphones – or noise that you see (for example when your TV is not tuned in properly and you see some “snow” on your screen). </p>
<p>Such noise would usually be considered a nuisance, but evidence shows that small amounts of noise can actually be beneficial for our senses. The phenomenon is known as “stochastic resonance”. </p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-centuries-long-quest-for-a-quiet-place-94614">Our centuries-long quest for 'a quiet place'</a>
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<h2>Noise can improve performance</h2>
<p>Stochastic-resonance was originally investigated in animals. For example, crayfish were shown to be better at avoiding predators when a small amount of random electrical currents were added to their tail fins. Paddlefish caught more plankton when small currents were added to the water.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282799/original/file-20190705-51288-cyr0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282799/original/file-20190705-51288-cyr0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282799/original/file-20190705-51288-cyr0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282799/original/file-20190705-51288-cyr0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282799/original/file-20190705-51288-cyr0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282799/original/file-20190705-51288-cyr0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282799/original/file-20190705-51288-cyr0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282799/original/file-20190705-51288-cyr0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Paddlefish are a smooth-skinned freshwater fish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mississippi-paddlefish-615843854?src=oWbh2G-UVkEeksBrSLp6Nw-1-0&studio=1">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>These experiments demonstrate that sensory signals can be enhanced by noise and improve behaviour in various animals. Research in humans has manipulated noise levels by making people listen to noisy sounds, look at static on a screen or by adding random vibration to the skin. </p>
<p>It’s been shown that as the intensity of noise is increased, a certain optimal noise level allows people to see, hear and feel better. Too much noise degrades our performance.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282804/original/file-20190705-51273-s46k7n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282804/original/file-20190705-51273-s46k7n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282804/original/file-20190705-51273-s46k7n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282804/original/file-20190705-51273-s46k7n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282804/original/file-20190705-51273-s46k7n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282804/original/file-20190705-51273-s46k7n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282804/original/file-20190705-51273-s46k7n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Stochastic resonance occurs when an optimal level of noise is added to a weak signal. In this example the signal alone (red line) remains below the threshold for detecting the signal (dotted line). Adding an optimal amount of noise raises the stimulus periodically above the system threshold. If the added noise is too weak, the threshold is not crossed. Conversely, if the noise is too strong, the signal remains buried and cannot be discriminated from the noise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This inverted-U relationship between performance and noise levels is a characteristic of stochastic-resonance. The phenomenon has real life applications. For example, adding noise to the feet of people with vibrating insoles can improve balance performance in elderly adults. It also has applications for patients with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003999302627091">diabetes</a>, those recovering from <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24112371">stroke</a> and it may be used to <a href="https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0218127496000813">augment muscle function</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/playing-sound-through-the-skin-improves-hearing-in-noisy-places-97033">Playing sound through the skin improves hearing in noisy places</a>
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<hr>
<h2>Noise plays a crucial role in the brain</h2>
<p>Human behaviour and perception occurs due to the firing of brain cells. Sometimes your brain cells fire randomly. There is more and more evidence that this random activity of your brain cells can be beneficial for your perception and cognitive performance. </p>
<p>My research team is interested in finding out what happens when we change noise levels in the brain directly with non-invasive brain-stimulation.</p>
<p>Your brain cells use electricity for their communication. In experiments conducted with my colleague Nicole Wenderoth at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, we applied currents to the brain to activate brain cells in a random fashion with transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS). We <a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/19/5289/tab-e-letters">found</a> that when participants received stimulation, it improved how well they could see a low-quality image. This suggests that brain noise can help us see better.</p>
<p>In two additional experiments, conducted with Jason Mattingley and Matthew Tang at the Queensland Brain Institute, we used tRNS to provide further insight into how noise affects the brain. In one <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6066257/">study</a> we found that decision making can actually be improved. That is, decisions were more accurate and faster when brain cell noise levels are tuned up. Improved decision making only occurred for difficult decisions, such as when the information was ambiguous.</p>
<p>In a third <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30858404">study</a> we found that tRNS can influence what you see during a visual illusion. This suggests that noise is important in making sure that your brain doesn’t get stuck on one way of looking at things.</p>
<p>In summary, our data showed that brain noise is a crucial part of human perception, decision making and being able to see from different perspectives. </p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/growing-evidence-that-noise-is-bad-for-your-health-104709">Growing evidence that noise is bad for your health</a>
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<h2>How much noise you need</h2>
<p>The optimal level of noise that can enhance cognitive functions could be different for everyone. That might explain why some people perform best in noisy environments, while others prefer silence.</p>
<p>There might also be a role played by brain noise in various neurological conditions. For example, it <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661315000911?via%3Dihub">seems</a> that individuals with autism, dyslexia, ADHD and schizophrenia have excessive brain variability compared to others.</p>
<p>Elderly individuals might also have more brain noise, which might be associated with a decline in cognitive performance. Small amounts of noise can improve performance, but excessive amounts degrade performance. This could explain some of the disease characteristics and cognitive and perceptual problems occurring with increasing age.</p>
<p>The level of brain noise can be altered with tRNS, which opens up new avenues of studying the role of brain noise on human performance. Our understanding of the role of noise in the human nervous system is expanding. This allows us to develop interventions or devices to manipulate noise levels, which could improve cognitive functioning in health and disease.</p>
<p>For now, if you do prefer to work in a noisy environment, you can safely make the argument that it’s likely boosting your performance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119598/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Onno van der Groen received funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>The ‘right’ amount of noise is different for everyone. That might explain why some people perform best in noisy environments, while others prefer silence.Onno van der Groen, Research Fellow in the school of medical and health sciences, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1108782019-02-08T11:33:23Z2019-02-08T11:33:23ZFlorence Knoll Bassett’s mid-century design diplomacy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257820/original/file-20190207-174873-8lb3sm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Architect and designer Florence Knoll Bassett poses with her dog, Cartree, in this photograph circa 1950.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy Knoll Archive</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The look, feel and functionality of the modern American office can be traced back to the work of one woman.</p>
<p>Florence Knoll Bassett, <a href="https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/13884-obituary-florence-knoll-bassett-1917-2019">whom Architectural Record called</a> the “single most powerful figure in modern design,” died at 101 on Jan. 25. </p>
<p>In the early 20th century, offices consisted of rows of dark, heavy desks and chairs, with the executive desk angled toward an office door.</p>
<p>Knoll, who believed that a building’s interior was as important as its exterior, introduced an office aesthetic based on function. She interviewed people about how they did their job so they could do it efficiently and comfortably. She then went on to design products like <a href="https://www.knoll.com/search-results?searchtext=florence%20knoll%20desk&newTab=discover">the Model 1500 series</a> – a desk that allowed drawers and cabinets to be added to the frame based on need.</p>
<p>The press <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=0QpwDwAAQBAJ&dq=knoll:+a+modernist+universe&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM6v67lKrgAhWLnOAKHV2vBQgQ6AEIKjAA">coined a term</a> for her “humanist interpretation of European modernism”: the “Knoll Look.” Her clients included CBS, Connecticut General, Alcoa and the University of Michigan, and you’ll see <a href="https://www.wired.com/2015/03/go-behind-scenes-mad-mens-exquisite-set-design/">her influence in mid-century period pieces</a> like “Mad Men.” </p>
<p>The U.S. State Department <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=0QpwDwAAQBAJ&dq=knoll:+a+modernist+universe&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM6v67lKrgAhWLnOAKHV2vBQgQ6AEIKjAA">had also noticed</a> Knoll’s growing reputation. As part of a Cold War propaganda effort to align consumer choice with political choice, they used her and her “look” to help establish and promote an American identity abroad.</p>
<h2>Reimagining the textile</h2>
<p>Knoll attended the Cranbrook Academy of Art, a school that’s considered the birthplace of American modernism, where she was a classmate of future star designers <a href="https://www.dwr.com/designer-charles-and-ray-eames?lang=en_US">Charles and Ray Eames</a>, <a href="https://www.phaidon.com/store/architecture/eero-saarinen-9780714865928/">Eero Saarinen</a>, <a href="https://www.knoll.com/shop/by-designer/harry-bertoia">Harry Bertoia</a> and <a href="https://www.moma.org/artists/309">Benjamin Baldwin</a>.</p>
<p>She eventually moved to New York, where she joined the architectural firm of Harrison & Abromovitz in 1941. While living and working in New York, she met Hans Knoll, the owner of a small furniture company, and she joined his firm in 1943. The couple married in 1946; that same year, the H. G. Knoll Company was renamed “Knoll Associates,” and the Knoll Planning Unit, which focused on interior design, was set up. Florence was named head. </p>
<p>“I am not a decorator,” <a href="https://www.knoll.com/story/shop/the-planning-unit">she famously declared</a> in a 1964 New York Times article that credited her for revolutionizing office design as an architect in a predominantly male profession. </p>
<p>Frustrated by the challenge of finding fabrics suitable for use on modern furniture, <a href="https://www.bgc.bard.edu/research-forum/articles/203/knoll-before-knoll-textiles-1940">Knoll initially used men’s suiting fabrics for upholstery and interiors</a>.</p>
<p>Then, in 1947, Knoll Textiles, which worked closely with the Planning Unit, was launched, giving Knoll the opportunity to develop, market and sell printed and woven textiles. </p>
<p>“Textiles were among the most visible and industrially innovative products produced in the U.S. in the 1950s and impacted many aspects of postwar life,” Berry College historian Virginia Troy told me in an interview. </p>
<p>Wartime rationing, which included clothing and textiles, had ended in 1946. As the economy grew, <a href="http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/outlines/history-1994/postwar-america/the-postwar-economy-1945-1960.php">so did the appetite for textiles</a>. Used for upholstery, curtains and carpeting, they were integral to modern architecture: They could unify open floor plans, serve as dividers and separate work areas from living spaces.</p>
<p>Knoll’s unobtrusive textile designs – which tended to feature subtle colors – often included geometric or <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/b/biomorphic">biomorphic</a> prints and woven fabrics in which <a href="https://www.knoll.com/media/142/457/Honour-Upholstery-10286_m.jpg">vertical and horizontal weaves</a> formed a pattern. </p>
<p>Her textiles were quite different from the <a href="https://www.joann.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-joann-product-catalog/default/dw4aa01aec/images/hi-res/14/14749071.jpg">brocade</a> and chintz <a href="https://ebth-com-production.imgix.net/2017/07/31/13/04/14/39aa2fa3-bfd2-4ad4-8310-997e69274f80/Untitled-1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&w=880&h=880&fit=crop&crop=&auto=format">cabbage roses</a> sold in most of the era’s textile showrooms. </p>
<h2>Branding and selling America abroad</h2>
<p>Around this time, the U.S. government started sponsoring international expositions to introduce the American people and their innovations abroad – what historian Robert Haddow called “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/PAVILIONS_OF_PLENTY.html?id=7jTbAAAAMAAJ">Pavilions of Plenty</a>.” </p>
<p>The most famous is probably the 1959 American National Exhibition in Moscow, during which then-Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev held their “<a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-and-khrushchev-have-a-kitchen-debate">kitchen debate</a>” and argued about the merits of capitalism and communism. </p>
<p>But there were smaller exhibits that preceded the American National Exhibition in Moscow including “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2gZxM4BdNIMC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=%22How+America+Lives%22+1949&source=bl&ots=hA0qAUwvhl&sig=ACfU3U0vYy-dw0UXxU1Vw49nNIgetNXnLQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOm7XWpqrgAhVuT98KHZ-3DXkQ6AEwCHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22How%20America%20Lives%22%201949&f=false">How America Lives</a>,” which was held in Frankfurt in 1949, and “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/659392?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">America at Home</a>,” an exhibition in Berlin that took place in 1950. </p>
<p>In 1951, the Traveling Exhibition Service – now called <a href="https://www.sites.si.edu/s/">the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service</a> – asked Knoll to curate and design an exhibit. She had been recommended by Edgar Kaufmann Jr., the director of the Museum of Modern Art’s Good Design program. It also didn’t hurt that Knoll <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Knoll-Modernist-Universe-Brian-Lutz/dp/0847831868">was known in some government circles</a>. She had designed Secretary of War Henry Stimson’s office, and Knoll Associates had outfitted government buildings in the U.S. and Europe.</p>
<p>Titled “Contemporary American Textiles,” Knoll and the Planning Unit designed an exhibit that, like her office designs, was meant to be experienced as a whole. The self-lit aluminum-framed pavilion included its own drop-in floor, and double-sided wall panels assembled from textiles were hung by straps and braced by cross-wires. </p>
<p>For a 2018 exhibit titled “<a href="https://cadvc.umbc.edu/a-designed-life/">A Designed Life</a>,” organized by UMBC’s Center for Art, Design & Visual Culture, I recreated Knoll’s original exhibit using photographs and plans from the Archives of American Art.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257312/original/file-20190205-86195-eigejm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257312/original/file-20190205-86195-eigejm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257312/original/file-20190205-86195-eigejm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257312/original/file-20190205-86195-eigejm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257312/original/file-20190205-86195-eigejm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257312/original/file-20190205-86195-eigejm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257312/original/file-20190205-86195-eigejm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257312/original/file-20190205-86195-eigejm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For the 2018 exhibit ‘A Designed Life,’ the author rebuilt Knoll’s ‘Contemporary American Textiles.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dan Meyers</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Brightly colored panels were used to make rooms within a room. Sight lines formed by triangular shapes and patterns directed visitors through the exhibit, offering a continuously changing viewpoint <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/florence-knoll-bassett-papers-6312/series-5/box-3-folder-9">described by</a> the magazine Interiors as “kaleidoscopic.”</p>
<p>The display showcased over 150 well-designed, mass-produced and readily available fabrics; in the forward of the accompanying catalog, Knoll described the textiles as “designs of beautiful color in all price ranges.” Over 50 of these fabrics were sold under the Knoll Textile label. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257844/original/file-20190207-174870-ex37y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257844/original/file-20190207-174870-ex37y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257844/original/file-20190207-174870-ex37y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257844/original/file-20190207-174870-ex37y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257844/original/file-20190207-174870-ex37y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257844/original/file-20190207-174870-ex37y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257844/original/file-20190207-174870-ex37y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257844/original/file-20190207-174870-ex37y1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The recreated Knoll exhibition allows visitors to participate in the original ‘kaleidoscopic’ experience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dan Meyers</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The goal was to sell the idea of capitalism, America and democracy in a post-war Europe that was anxious to rebuild, and it appeared in West German and Austrian schools, museums and trade fairs.</p>
<p>Government records note that the exhibit was included in the 1952 Berlin Cultural Festival and presented in 1953 in Munich and Essen. The U.S. Embassy in France also sponsored its display in a 1954 Parisian trade show dedicated to household management. </p>
<p>To date, there’s no known physical trace of this exhibit.</p>
<p>Was it thrown away or donated to a German school or museum in order to earn some goodwill? Was it discarded because <a href="https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/177574.pdf">the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act</a>, which authorized international public diplomacy, discouraged the presentation of these exhibitions back in the United States? </p>
<p>I have no way of knowing.</p>
<p>I do know, however, that Knoll was proud of this exhibit: When German architect <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walter-Gropius">Walter Gropius</a> praised it, she wrote that it was “a great honor.” And she included sketches, plans and photographs of “Contemporary American Textiles” in her papers that she donated to the Archives of American Art.</p>
<p>The exhibit is a reminder that one of the country’s most influential designers was also one of its great ambassadors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110878/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This article discusses an exhibition project "A Designed Life" that received from funding the National Endowment for the Arts and the Coby Foundation. The funding is managed through UMBC. I have not received any personal support from these grants.</span></em></p>Knoll is best known for transforming the design of America’s corporate offices. But she was also on the front lines of a State Department effort to promote American ingenuity and capitalism abroad.Margaret Re, Associate Professor of Graphic Design, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1010732018-09-20T10:36:48Z2018-09-20T10:36:48ZHere’s how Trump-era politics are affecting worker morale – and what managers can do about it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236973/original/file-20180918-158246-13qb0yn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Politics are creating divides in the office.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-american-businessman-disagreeing-arguing-debating-1017665245?src=Rx3NC9SBNvgdW3ki-4YUeg-1-2">fizkes/shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pundits are projecting this year’s midterm elections to be <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/trumps-steady-approval-polls-point-to-a-nasty-and-divisive-midterm-election-ahead">nasty</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/as-midterm-elections-approach-a-growing-concern-that-the-nation-is-not-protected-from-russian-interference/2018/08/01/7f0f4324-95b2-11e8-810c-5fa705927d54_story.html">polarizing</a> and “<a href="http://www2.philly.com/philly/news/politics/elections/midterm-elections-2018-donald-trump-congress-democrats-republicans__trashed-20180912.html">epic</a>.”</p>
<p>They’re also expected to <a href="https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/americans-lose-sleep-politics">stress a lot of Americans out</a> in every part of their lives. And that includes at the <a href="https://smallbusiness.chron.com/negative-consequences-politics-workplace-20176.html">office</a>. </p>
<p>I recently conducted a study on a broad range of workplace issues, including how the stress of our increasingly divisive politics is affecting worker health, productivity and relationships with colleagues. I also wondered: Is there anything company managers can do about it? </p>
<h2>Growing divisiveness</h2>
<p>Political divisiveness in America is hardly new. </p>
<p>Historians <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/09/the-origins-of-todays-bitter-partisanship-the-founding-fathers/244839/">have traced its history</a> all the way back to the founding founders. But politics <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/">seem to be dividing Americans</a> more and more. </p>
<p>In a recent article in <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-identity-not-issues-explains-the-partisan-divide/">Scientific American</a>, psychologists Cameron Brick and Sander van der Linden explained that individuals of different political ideologies “not only disagree on policy issues, they are also <a href="https://pcl.stanford.edu/research/2012/iyengar-poq-affect-not-ideology.pdf">increasingly unwilling</a> to live near each other, be friends, or get married to members of the other group.”</p>
<p>Consequences include <a href="https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/02/07/poll-2016-election-breakups/21708912/">marital stress</a>, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/trump-presidency-destroying-marriages-country-article-1.3386982">divorce</a>, <a href="https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/02/07/poll-2016-election-breakups/21708912/">family separations</a> and even <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nfl-not-dying-may-plateauing-161457955.html">sharp divides</a> over national pastimes like football. </p>
<p>There is a bright side – if you’re a therapist and benefiting from an uptick in business perhaps as the result of a malady described as “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-anxiety-disorder-mental-health-political-divide-us-1.4762487">Trump Anxiety Disorder</a>.”</p>
<h2>Politics at work</h2>
<p>I wanted to see just how bad it’s getting in the workplace.</p>
<p>My field study, conducted this past summer and part of a larger project I intend to have peer-reviewed and published on the anxiety-inducing properties of political conflict, conjoins my interests in the areas of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3492-8">incivility</a>, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/1059601117696676">entitlement</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2015.1066295">worker self-serving behavior</a> and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704717004575268701579722946">bullying</a>.</p>
<p>I asked 550 full-time workers whose email addresses I obtained through my undergraduate students to react to hundreds of statements about a wide variety of work issues, from abusive bosses and workplace relationships to incivility and health. I also asked about the pervasiveness and impact of unwelcome partisan exchanges. </p>
<p>Participants were asked to indicate how much they agreed with each statement, from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Most of the workers were based in the eastern or southeastern United States, but some were scattered throughout the country. Key characteristics of the data such as age, gender and ethnicities are broadly in line with national statistics.</p>
<p>Using students to solicit participants in a survey <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12043">has become an increasingly common</a> and important research tool. As such, although the data aren’t entirely representative of the U.S., I believe they still offer meaningful insights. </p>
<p>Twenty-seven percent of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that work had become more tense as a result of political discussions, while about a third said such talk about the “ups and downs” of politicians is a “common distraction.” </p>
<p>One in 4 indicated they actively avoid certain people at work who try to convince them that their views are right, while 1 in 5 said they had actually lost friendships as a result. </p>
<p><iframe id="FVJNH" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/FVJNH/6/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>And all this has serious consequences for worker health and productivity. </p>
<p>Over a quarter said political divisions have increased their stress levels, making it harder to get things done. Almost a third of this group said they called in sick on days when they didn’t feel like working, compared with 17 percent among those who didn’t report feeling stressed about politics. A quarter also reported putting in less effort than expected, versus 12 percent. And those who reported being more stressed were 50 percent more likely to distrust colleagues. </p>
<p>These percentages represent fairly high increases from similar surveys taken before the 2016 election. For example, back in September 2016, 17 percent of those <a href="http://www.apaexcellence.org/assets/general/2017-politics-workplace-survey-results.pdf">surveyed</a> by the American Psychological Association said they felt tense or stressed out as a result of political discussions at work. </p>
<p>The association did a follow-up survey in May 2017 already revealing increased stress levels, a drop in worker productivity and other consequences following the election of Donald Trump. My findings, however, suggest things have gotten even worse. That 2017 survey, for example, reported 15 percent of respondents saying they had difficulty getting work done. My data put it at 26 percent. </p>
<h2>What managers can do</h2>
<p>After conducting this study, I wondered what company managers are doing about politics-related stress in the workplace. So I reached out to 20 business leaders from a variety of industries whom I have become acquainted with over the years in my role as a professor. </p>
<p>I discovered a few common themes. </p>
<p>One was that the problem often began with a higher-level employee sharing his or her political views with others, whether welcome or not, making underlings feel they could engage in similar behavior in the office. A manager of a publishing company, for example, noted that he had to fire one of his unit leaders because he could not put his political beliefs away during his shift despite a series of reprimands.</p>
<p>Another was that <a href="https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/articles/2016-03-14/can-your-employer-forbid-you-from-talking-politics-at-work">banning all political discussions</a> was also bad policy, since it opened the door to <a href="https://www.laboremploymentreport.com/2016/02/26/politics-in-the-workplace/">lawsuits</a> over free speech issues. </p>
<p>What the “right” policy about what boundaries to set for political chatter at work remains an open question. The key point is that the business leaders I spoke with tended to agree that managers need to get their heads out of the sand and address the problem head on. They seemed to think a lot of managers appeared to be ignoring the problem and hoping it would go away.</p>
<p>Also, a number of them added that they are now investing in programs that help manage conflicts and disagreements at work – among employees and with customers. </p>
<p>At the end of the day, there’s little companies can do about how politically divided the nation becomes. But keeping it from stressing out employees at work and causing productivity and other problems is primarily about effective leadership and being proactive, and showing employees a level of civility that is often absent outside of the workplace.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wayne Hochwarter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The midterm elections have put America’s political divide front and center, increasingly invading the work space and stressing out employees.Wayne Hochwarter, Professor of Organization Behavior, Florida State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/937892018-04-11T20:08:30Z2018-04-11T20:08:30ZChill out. A slightly warmer office won’t make it too hot to think<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214203/original/file-20180411-554-1n47dtu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C0%2C2179%2C1184&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The study showed that boosting the office temperature a little can save energy and keep office workers comfortable without sacrificing their cognitive performance.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mami Kempe / The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you’re reading this article in your office, chances are the air conditioning is set to around 22°C. Setting the temperature to 25°C could cut your office’s daily air-conditioning energy consumption by 18%, drive down electricity bills and help save the planet.</p>
<p>But would it be too hot to think?</p>
<p>Not according to our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132317302834?via%3Dihub">study</a>, published recently in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/building-and-environment">Building and Environment</a>.</p>
<p>Our experiment found that office workers’ “cognitive load” – the total amount of mental effort being used in the working memory – was not significantly affected by a little temperature boost.</p>
<h2>What we did and how we did it</h2>
<p>To test our hypothesis, we asked volunteers to sit some performance tests, under various air-con temperature settings. We ran the experiments at 22°C and 25°C.</p>
<p>Our experiments took place in the University of Sydney’s Indoor Environmental Quality Laboratory climate chamber. It has a floor area of about 25 square metres, and is designed such that it’s easy for us to control the room temperature. </p>
<p>Participants sat at separate workstations, each consisting of a desk,
a chair, and a computer. </p>
<p>A total of 26 office workers (12 men and 14 women) volunteered as subjects in this study.</p>
<p>A little over 70% of the participants were aged between 31 and 50 years and about a third were aged 30 years or under. These people had diverse employment circumstances, ranging from professional (35%) and technical (31%) to managerial (15%) and administrative (19%). Participants wore their normal office clothes, and were also free to adjust their clothing as they liked during the experiments.</p>
<p>All participants, in groups of two to four, were given half an hour to acclimatise to the environment, and then sat two one-hour tests (with a break in between the tests).</p>
<p>Before they sat the tests, our participants were fitted with a number of electrodes worn via a headset, so we could monitor their brain activity and “cognitive load” – how hard their brains were working – through an electroencephalogram (EEG). They also wore a heart rate monitor.</p>
<p>During each one-hour experiment session, participants first filled in a questionnaire designed to ascertain how comfortable they were with the room temperature. Then it was time to test how their brain power coped at the different temperature settings.</p>
<h2>Assessing ‘cognitive load’</h2>
<p>The first test they did is called the <a href="https://www.cambridgebrainsciences.com/">Cambridge Brain Science</a> (CBS) test, which has been used in many studies aimed at measuring cognitive performance. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213101/original/file-20180404-189813-1wdrvpq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213101/original/file-20180404-189813-1wdrvpq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213101/original/file-20180404-189813-1wdrvpq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1045&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213101/original/file-20180404-189813-1wdrvpq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1045&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213101/original/file-20180404-189813-1wdrvpq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1045&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213101/original/file-20180404-189813-1wdrvpq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1313&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213101/original/file-20180404-189813-1wdrvpq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213101/original/file-20180404-189813-1wdrvpq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1313&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) is a widely used assessment tool that rates perceived workload.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA-TLX">Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then, we asked them to fill in a questionnaire aimed at determining how challenging they found that task. This questionnaire is called the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA-TLX">NASA Task Load Index</a> and asks participants questions such as: how much mental and perceptual activity was required? Was the task easy or demanding, simple or complex?</p>
<p>After a 10 minute break, we then asked our participants to complete three different difficulty levels of another brain-power test, called the <a href="https://www.nationalmssociety.org/For-Professionals/Researchers/Resources-for-Researchers/Clinical-Study-Measures/Paced-Auditory-Serial-Addition-Test-(PASAT)">Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT)</a>. Again, when the test was over we asked them to fill in the NASA-TLX questionnaire to ascertain how cognitively challenging they found the test.</p>
<p>At the end of the one hour experiment session, our test participants then completed the thermal comfort questionnaire again.</p>
<p>Our results showed that their CBS test scores were not significantly affected by temperature. </p>
<p>In fact, many of the participants performed even better at a warmer temperature of 25°C, (but this could be due to what scientists call “the learning effect”, meaning it is not uncommon to do better the second time you sit a test compared to the first).</p>
<p>And when we analysed and compared the EEG and heart rate monitoring results during the PASAT tests, we did not find any significant difference, whether the room temperature was at 22°C or 25°C.</p>
<h2>Why does this matter?</h2>
<p>A typical Australian commercial lease stipulates indoor air temperatures of between 20°C and 24°C. This means that building managers or landlords who set the indoor temperature higher than 24°C during summer run the risk of breaching leases and incurring penalties.</p>
<p>However, the research shows there is no empirical evidence that this temperature range should be maintained. The significant over-cooling in commercial buildings not only often leads to office workers complaining their workplaces are too cold, but also affects building energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and electricity bills.</p>
<p>The standard 22°C setpoint for office air conditioning has prevailed in Australia for over a decade now. Many employers may fear that boosting the office temperature will make it too hot to think, and reduce worker productivity.</p>
<p>However, our study shows that boosting the office temperature a little can save energy and keep office workers comfortable without sacrificing their cognitive performance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93789/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christhina Candido received funding from from the City of Sydney Environmental Performance-Innovation Grant scheme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This project was funded in part by City of Sydney.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dian Tjondronegoro and Fan Zhang do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Our study found that office workers performed just the same, whether the air conditioning was set at 22°C or 25°C. But making that tweak can cut energy use by 18%.Dian Tjondronegoro, Professor of IT, Southern Cross UniversityChristhina Candido, Senior Lecturer, University of SydneyFan Zhang, Lecturer in Architectural Science, Griffith UniversityShamila Haddad, Research Associate, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/894522018-01-08T19:36:13Z2018-01-08T19:36:13ZOpen plan offices CAN actually work, under certain conditions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201089/original/file-20180108-195558-ppomyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C74%2C1554%2C960&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research shows open plan offices work for teams who set rules about their space.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">K2 Space/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You might be back in your open plan office after holidays, struggling to concentrate and pining for quiet time, but the bad rap open plan offices usually get is not always deserved.</p>
<p>My research found that teams generally had positive experiences in open plan offices. <a href="https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:401844">I studied different types of professionals</a> in these office spaces and found it helped engineering teams work together on process improvements. Open plan offices helped business performance teams with initiatives such as building an intranet and a contact database. And this office design helped learning teams produce new online courses.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/get-out-of-my-face-were-more-antisocial-in-a-shared-office-space-64734">Get out of my face! We're more antisocial in a shared office space</a>
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<p>But there are certain conditions crucial to success of the open plan. It helps workers collaborate when they had shared goals and adjusted their behaviour to respect their colleagues’ noise preferences. The workers I studied could overhear useful information, learn from others, and contribute to solving problems in these environments. </p>
<p>Employees valued getting instant help from their team members in the open plan, instead of being distracted or having issues with privacy. They viewed interruptions as an opportunity to help others, rather than as a problem. Team members could access shared whiteboards, flipcharts and drawings to help coordination and <a href="https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=359005">improve team productivity</a>. </p>
<p>If you’re going to make the open plan work, rules for sharing the space are also important. These rules help employees to manage the negative impacts of open plan offices. </p>
<p>In one team I studied, employees used flags to signal “do not interrupt”. They also agreed to minimise conversations in the office. Break-out rooms were available for quiet work. </p>
<p>The rules for this team were the result of a formal discussion. For other teams, rules were informal and emerged over time. </p>
<h2>Making your open plan office work for you</h2>
<p>I found that open plan offices are suitable for collaboration that requires employees to interact frequently <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/job.1973/full">on connected tasks</a>. Open plan offices allow employees to quickly exchange information in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9310.2008.00524.x/full">many short interactions</a>. </p>
<p>But this doesn’t mean you should lean over the desk and have a long chat at will. Lengthy face-to-face or online discussions are usually best carried out in private offices or meeting rooms. This is because people feel free to talk at length when they cannot be overheard. </p>
<p>Other research finds employees in private offices <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/2392911">interact less frequently</a>, but overall spend more time interacting than employees in open plan offices. This is backed up by <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0170840606068310">research</a> that also suggests that privacy is an important ingredient for informal interaction.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-backlash-against-open-plan-offices-segmented-space-61506">The backlash against open-plan offices: segmented space</a>
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<p>Open plan offices are also good for teams who need to respond to change. In this context, constant interaction can help teams rapidly assimilate new information.</p>
<p>Although interruptions can have a small, negative impact on the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2012.00517.x/full">fellow worker’s productivity</a>, the team member who is receiving help will save time. Overall this improves team productivity. </p>
<p>Instead of being unsure of how to perform a task, novices in teams learn when they can <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/11/is-your-company-encouraging-employees-to-share-what-they-know">observe and ask questions</a> of experts in open plan offices. </p>
<h2>It doesn’t work for everyone</h2>
<p>Research shows that many people who work in an open plan office have experienced <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687016302514">poor relationships with colleagues</a> and reduced <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0013916507307459">job satisfaction and well-being</a>. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494413000340">Other research</a> confirms that the drawbacks of open plan offices often outweigh the benefits. </p>
<p><a href="https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:401844">As part of my reseach</a> I also studied how individual scientists use open plan offices and found that they had difficulty concentrating, managing private conversations and that the shared workspace didn’t improve collaboration. </p>
<p>Scientists preferred to collaborate through intermittent meetings with experts from around the world and did not need to interact with others in their open plan office. Others collaborated using <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0149206314559946">virtual technologies</a>. </p>
<p>While teams might find these offices helpful, many workers still do struggle with the challenges of open plan offices. The key is to match the environment to the interactions employees need to do their job.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89452/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gemma Irving received funding from an Australian Postgraduate Award. </span></em></p>Rather than being distracting, open plan offices can actually work for certain situations.Gemma Irving, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Strategy, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/877582018-01-07T19:08:46Z2018-01-07T19:08:46ZHeading back to the office? Bring these plants with you to fight formaldehyde (and other nasties)<p>Humans have built high-rises since ancient Roman times, but it wasn’t until the 20th century that they became the default work space for a significant slice of the world’s workers. While these buildings are certainly efficient, they can cause <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-013-9809-8">real health issues</a>. </p>
<p>Office buildings, where many Australians spend much of their time, are even worse than apartment buildings. Cubicles in offices <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132309003199">usually consist</a> of partitions made of particle board and vinyl carpet, synthetic flooring, a particle board desk and plastic or synthetic office chair, mostly lit by artificial lighting. The lucky few get natural light and a view from a window, but <a href="https://www.hindawi.com/journals/apm/2011/124064/abs">poor ventilation still spreads germs</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-apartment-dwellers-need-indoor-plants-80196">Why apartment dwellers need indoor plants</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>One excellent way to combat both sick days and stress is by filling your office with plants. Ideally, you want plants that will “scrub” the air of pathogens, improve the office’s mix of bacteria, and survive in low light with little care. </p>
<h2>Fight formaldehyde (and other nasty chemicals)</h2>
<p>One of the many chemical compounds given off by synthetic office furnishings is <a href="https://theconversation.com/clearing-the-air-the-hidden-wonders-of-indoor-plants-15339">formaldehyde</a>, which can irritate the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and throat, and also cause allergic contact dermatitis. </p>
<p>Irritation of the eyes and upper respiratory tract, as well as headaches, are the most common reported symptoms of <a href="http://www.wolvertonenvironmental.com/NASA-Report-89.pdf">exposure to formaldehyde toxins</a>. Other harmful chemicals in the office may include benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylene, and even ammonia from cleaning products. High levels of carbon dioxide breathed out by a roomful of colleagues can give the room that “stuffy” feeling, particularly if there is no air conditioning.</p>
<p>Indoor plants will purify the air, reducing <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-apartment-dwellers-need-indoor-plants-80196">volatile organic compounds</a>, including formaldehyde.</p>
<p>A NASA <a href="https://archive.org/details/nasa_techdoc_19930072988">clean air study</a> tested common indoor plants for the ability to filter pollutants, and found many are very effective at removing multiple kinds of organic compounds from the air (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Clean_Air_Study">this chart</a> is very handy for finding high performers). </p>
<p>To best remove indoor pollutants, try for <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/how-a-pot-plant-or-five-is-good-for-you?ct=t(UniMelb_Experts_Wednesday_September_6_209_5_2017)">one medium-sized plant per 2.2 square metres</a>. Look for species with large leaves (the more leaf surface area, the more efficient it is). </p>
<h2>Improve indoor bacteria balance</h2>
<p>There are already trillions of bacteria in high-rise offices, but only a limited amount come in through open windows and air conditioning from the outdoor environment. Most of the bacteria, fungi and viruses come from people; we leave behind a <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/1258/">microbial cloud</a> from our skin wherever we go. </p>
<p>The office environment then creates new habitats for microbial communities that may be quite foreign to human skin, and may not be good for your health.</p>
<p>Beneficial bacteria on indoor plants and in their soil are an important addition to the office, stabilising the ecology of the built synthetic environment. </p>
<p>Plant-associated bacteria could also help to avoid outbreaks of pathogens by <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3905206/">enhancing microbial biodiversity</a> and balancing the complex network of the ecosystem. A wholesome balance may reduce the incidence of viral illness and the number of sick days among staff.</p>
<p>It’s not just the size of the plant that’s important here. Larger pots mean more root mass and soil surface for helpful bacteria and root microbes. </p>
<h2>Beat stress</h2>
<p>Over the past 30 years, research has shown that green spaces promote public health, and that contact with nature can shift highly stressed people to a <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(06)69921-2/abstract">more positive emotional state</a>. One <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016920460900231X">study</a> identified eight ways people perceive green urban spaces (described as Serene, Space, Nature, Rich in Species, Refuge, Culture, Prospect, and Social) and confirmed the importance of considering plant life when creating public places. </p>
<p>Offices, particularly those with many people, poor ventilation or low natural light, should also consider plants and green spaces a necessity. </p>
<p>There are a few basic principles for a good office plant. It must be hardy and easy to maintain, and able to survive without water over weekends (or when the regular plant-carer goes on holiday). Many plants will do the most good in cubicles and spaces away from windows, so they need to be adapted to low light.</p>
<p>It’s also a good idea to avoid plants that flower extravagantly, which may cause allergic reactions. Check with your colleagues before introducing new plants.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hay-fever-survival-guide-why-you-have-it-and-how-to-treat-it-34000">Hay fever survival guide: why you have it and how to treat it</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Some of the best all-rounders across these categories are Devil’s Ivy, Bamboo Palm, Kentia Palm, Variegated Snake Plant (also known as mother-in-law’s tongue), and the Peace Lily, but there are many beautiful plants that will improve your atmosphere and mood. </p>
<p>So if you’re heading back to work in an office soon (or know someone who is), why not bring along an indoor plant?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87758/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most modern offices contain a surprising amount of harsh chemicals. If you’re heading back to work, check out our list of the best plants to clean the air (and reduce stress).Danica-Lea Larcombe, PhD Candidate in Biodiversity and Human Health, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/869672018-01-04T13:13:47Z2018-01-04T13:13:47ZBig data could bring about workplace utopia – or the office from hell<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200537/original/file-20180102-26157-1x6pj05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/isometric-office-cubicles-men-women-working-230150206?src=qIsqh0JFSBeqH8yJetge6w-1-54">Jesus Sans/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The cost of poor employee well-being for individuals, organisations and society is significant – 25.7m <a href="http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/dayslost.htm">days were lost</a> to work-related ill health during 2016-17, half of which can be accounted for by stress, depression and anxiety. Not only is this problematic for employees and organisations, it can put added pressure on health services. </p>
<p>Assessing and reducing such risks is therefore important. One way this could be done is through using <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/big_data">big data</a>. Analysis across different data sets held within organisations could possibly improve our ability to predict and prevent such problems arising. </p>
<p>Organisations are required to assess risks and have a <a href="http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3751">duty of care</a> to ensure the health, safety and well-being of their employees. They may do so via an annual survey, but this is just one snapshot in time. Where problems are exposed, the events and patterns of behaviour leading up to these are in the past; the damage is already done. <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/67469/fitness-tracker">Fitness tracking devices</a>, currently provided to employees by some workplaces, might offer more continuous measurement. </p>
<p>But such an approach focuses on limited aspects of individual well-being and not on the organisational systems and pressures that contribute to these outcomes. Concentrating on individuals without also considering organisational factors is likely to be less effective in the long term. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197150/original/file-20171130-30907-1xjo5ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197150/original/file-20171130-30907-1xjo5ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197150/original/file-20171130-30907-1xjo5ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197150/original/file-20171130-30907-1xjo5ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197150/original/file-20171130-30907-1xjo5ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197150/original/file-20171130-30907-1xjo5ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197150/original/file-20171130-30907-1xjo5ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some workplaces can track the exercise taken by their employees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, increasingly there are other data sources that might help to pinpoint well-being risks as they emerge. Employees provide huge amounts of data about their activity through their use of modern information and communication technologies. Such data includes log-in and log-off times, email traffic, use of mobile devices for work purposes, use of work-based systems and web access. </p>
<p>This could be linked with other data sources to find work patterns that relate to well-being. For instance, growing workload might be highlighted in part of the organisation through analysis that reveals rising work hours, fewer breaks, logging in more often at weekends (or during holidays) and more sick days. Emails could also be processed using <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sentiment_analysis">sentiment analysis</a> for language that reveals well-being problems. This could provide an early warning sign, allowing the problem to be fixed before employees reach breaking point.</p>
<p>There are a number of things that will effect whether monitoring well-being like this could work in practice. These include the quality of data available and the ability to analyse it. But most important is the organisational culture in which it is carried out as well as legal and ethical considerations. Different cultures could lead to several possible scenarios – some more utopian; others more dystopian. </p>
<h2>Big data utopia</h2>
<p>Using big data for monitoring well-being could have positive effects if conducted in a culture of care and trust, where employees and the organisation co-own and co-design the data collection effort, analysis and resulting actions.</p>
<p>Within such a scenario, there would be an exercise of joint responsibility between the organisation and employees for well-being. A <a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/code-of-conduct">code of conduct</a> or set of action-guiding principles could be developed with employees to ensure a shared set of values to underpin fair and lawful monitoring within the organisation. Employees would be able to influence the principles, goals and best practice guidelines, and to agree what data would be gathered and how it would be used. Employees would be able to opt out of the programme without giving a reason. </p>
<p>If the data analysis reveals work processes that are a risk to well-being, then the organisation would take responsibility to change the way work is done or managed and would design this intervention with employees. This way the solution would fit employee and organisational needs. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196980/original/file-20171129-12032-1irzm9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196980/original/file-20171129-12032-1irzm9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196980/original/file-20171129-12032-1irzm9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196980/original/file-20171129-12032-1irzm9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196980/original/file-20171129-12032-1irzm9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196980/original/file-20171129-12032-1irzm9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196980/original/file-20171129-12032-1irzm9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Communication and co-ownership between employees and employers would be key.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Micolas/Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Big data dystopia</h2>
<p>But more dystopian outcomes are also possible. If data is collected within a culture of fear and distrust, then concerns about “Big Brother” and how data might be used could create an environment where employee well-being suffers dramatically. </p>
<p>Within this dystopian scenario, the organisational attitude would emphasise employee responsibility for well-being. Less attention would be placed on the possible work-based causes and demands. Instead, employees would be encouraged to get fitter through gym membership or cope better by attending stress management training, without the same focus on changing the work environment. </p>
<p>While the organisation would need to provide notification of data collection and may have received employee consent, employees might have agreed to it within the employment contract without really taking much notice at the time. If the organisation can justify that data is collected with consent or is necessary to their business, then there is little effective control offered by the law. Although there are some improvements within <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/reform/index_en.htm">new data protection law</a> these may not go far enough. </p>
<p>In such a culture, employees might fear that data will be used to get rid of them if they are not considered healthy enough or not coping with the work. There is legal protection against unfair discrimination, although this may not be as extensive as an individual would like, and there may be relatively little protection if the data predicts a future health <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-laws-dont-do-enough-to-protect-our-health-data-85511?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitterbutton">condition</a>. </p>
<p>The utopian and dystopian scenarios describe two extremes. Clearly there is a need to ensure organisational practice is closer to the utopian vision and further from the dystopian. But such steering is difficult to achieve. The complex interplay between organisational culture, behaviour, data science and the law means that <a href="http://www.dew.group.shef.ac.uk/">consultation and guidance</a>, involving experts from different subject areas, is crucial when considering the use of big data for examining employee well-being.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86967/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This article is based on some of the findings of a multi-disciplinary seminar series funded by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC). The other investigators on the project (Professor Bridgette Wessels, Dr. Christine Sprigg, Dr. Mark Taylor and Professor Stephen Pinfield) also contributed to this article.</span></em></p>The use of big data at work could promote well-being – but only in very specific conditions.Carolyn Axtell, Senior Lecturer in Work Psychology, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/843702017-09-26T03:24:48Z2017-09-26T03:24:48ZThe rise of the corporate campus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187475/original/file-20170926-32444-fmpocb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Niharb/Flckr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>My God … It’s heaven. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This was the thought Mae Holland had on her first tour of The Circle’s campus. The landscaping, exercise classes, cafeteria and entertainers had Mae’s head spinning. Compared to the grey cubicle of her previous workplace, the campus was idyllic. </p>
<p>Mae’s workplace in Dave Eggers’s bestselling novel <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18302455-the-circle">The Circle</a> sounds remarkably similar to Apple’s new “spaceship” campus, also shaped in a giant circle. </p>
<p>The corporate campus might have taken its time to work into popular fiction but the idea of getting all your employees together in one giant university-style space is the continuation of something that started over fifty years ago. </p>
<h2>The suburban campus</h2>
<p>Early corporate campuses in the United States were originally designed for research scientists and engineers. Surrounded by landscaped gardens or centred around a grassy quadrangle like an Ivy League university, the campus was a safe, serene workplace. </p>
<p>In 1942, communications giant AT&T created the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17449359.2016.1141690">first corporate campus</a>, called Bell Labs in New Jersey. General Motors, General Electric and General Life Insurance followed suit with similar suburban campuses in the 1950s. Early campuses had various names – industrial park, research park or technology park – that emphasised a connection to industry and science on the one hand, and nature on the other. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187480/original/file-20170926-4607-e0jdab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187480/original/file-20170926-4607-e0jdab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187480/original/file-20170926-4607-e0jdab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187480/original/file-20170926-4607-e0jdab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187480/original/file-20170926-4607-e0jdab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187480/original/file-20170926-4607-e0jdab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187480/original/file-20170926-4607-e0jdab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Corporate campuses were tied to the movement of middle class, white Americans, to the suburbs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Warren/Flckr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In post-war America, cities were popularly portrayed as “dangerous”, racially divided, crowded and polluted. The suburban campus became a drawcard in <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=lbkwDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PR1&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false">“white flight”</a>, as middle class, white Americans fled for the suburbs. Importantly, campuses were only accessible by car.</p>
<h2>The lure of the campus</h2>
<p>As well as a physical workspace, the campus was a symbolic, cultural and social place. The new campuses were photogenic, promoting the corporation and its values in the media and to potential employees.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12767721-pastoral-capitalism?from_search=true">Pastoral Capitalism: A History of Suburban Corporate Landscapes</a>, Louise Mozingo argued that the campus could “cloak the corporation in high-minded institutional garb”. A university-like campus signalled that this was not simply a business, but an organisation working towards a higher purpose. </p>
<p>A campus also suggested a sense of community. With recreational facilities and social spaces, the low-rise campus aimed, symbolically and practically, to promote interaction and collaboration. </p>
<p>As complete environments, corporate campuses expanded the idea of the workplace by including leisure facilities, cafeterias, shopping and service facilities. Playing tennis and drinking coffee on campus became part of an integrated lifestyle curated by the corporation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187478/original/file-20170926-31238-1cubdnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187478/original/file-20170926-31238-1cubdnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187478/original/file-20170926-31238-1cubdnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187478/original/file-20170926-31238-1cubdnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187478/original/file-20170926-31238-1cubdnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=615&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187478/original/file-20170926-31238-1cubdnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=615&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187478/original/file-20170926-31238-1cubdnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=615&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The top floors of offices were reserved for male managers’ private offices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Seattle Municipal Archives/Flckr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A paternalistic sense of “family” pervaded the carefully designed “home” for employees. As architect <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17449359.2016.1141690?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=rmor20">Gordon Bunshaft noted</a> “the head man was personally involved and personally building himself a palace for his people that would not only represent his company, but his personal pleasure”. This translated to office design that typically situated women in open plan floors, with the top floors reserved for male managers’ private offices. </p>
<h2>The 21st century campus</h2>
<p>By the 1990s, the possibilities of working from home (or anywhere), outsourcing and offshoring challenged the need for a campus. Committing to so much space represented a liability for businesses in an increasingly digital, economically uncertain environment. </p>
<p>Changing political landscapes also presented challenges. For example, in 2014 <a href="http://business.financialpost.com/news/fp-street/royal-bank-of-scotland-lloyds-will-move-to-england-if-scots-vote-yes-for-independence">RBS bank and Lloyds considered moving to England</a> at a cost of £1 billion to each company to manage the “irreversible risk” created by Scotland’s independence plebiscite. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/14630010310812163">Natural disasters and terrorism</a> also raise questions about centralising an organisation in a single location. Given these risks, why would Apple build a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/nov/15/norman-foster-apple-hq-mothership-spaceship-architecture">$US5 billion campus</a>? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187472/original/file-20170926-12134-in7phd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187472/original/file-20170926-12134-in7phd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187472/original/file-20170926-12134-in7phd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187472/original/file-20170926-12134-in7phd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187472/original/file-20170926-12134-in7phd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187472/original/file-20170926-12134-in7phd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187472/original/file-20170926-12134-in7phd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Apple 2 corporate campus sounds a lot like the fictional campus in the book The Circle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joe Wolf/Flckr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 21st century Silicon Valley model, complete with sports and recreational facilities, free cafeterias, health-care and commuter buses – as well as institutionalised casual dress and flexible working hours - seems to be an ideal egalitarian workplace. Indeed, a <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JCRE-04-2012-0005">study</a> identified “having a corporate campus” as a critical factor in attracting and retaining staff.<br>
The compressed culture of the campus can promote the idea that work is fun, palaces of informality to house workers driven by a belief in a technologically-driven utopia. But the reality might still be sitting for long hours in front of a computer screen. </p>
<p>Campuses can also be exclusive utopias with limited interactions with their surroundings. Private buses shuttling employees to the Google campus have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/12/geeks-google-bus-social-problem-san-francisco">the source of community resentment and social conflict</a>.</p>
<p>Just as “white flight” contributed to the suburban low-rise and the horizontal corporate campus, the <a href="https://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/urbanmap/#">shift from rural to urban environments</a> is shaping the vertical campus. For example, Chinese internet provider Tencent’s <a href="http://www.nbbj.com/work/tencent/">campus rises 250 metres above ground</a>, it’s a new model driven by necessity in constrained cities. </p>
<p>Not limited to tech firms, the corporate campus has been embraced by airlines like <a href="https://www.hassellstudio.com/en/cms-projects/detail/qantas-headquarters">Qantas</a> and financial institutions like <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/property/anz-to-anchor-office-complex-in-victoria-harbour/news-story/a45d81a23473b5791e141fe501a981c6">ANZ</a>. Swiss-based pharmaceutical <a href="http://au.phaidon.com/agenda/architecture/picture-galleries/2011/january/25/the-novartis-headquarters-campus-an-aerial-view/">Novartis campus</a> is building a campus composed of buildings by high-profile architects with construction scheduled until 2030. </p>
<p>And the Spanish-based Telefonica campus <a href="https://www.e-architect.co.uk/madrid/telefonica-buildings">hosts 14,000 employees</a>, a population higher than that of <a href="https://bitre.gov.au/publications/2014/files/report_136_CHAPTER_4_WEB_FA.pdf">90% of Australian towns</a>. </p>
<p>But corporate campuses are not simply big offices. Their popularity over the past fifty years suggests the form is here to stay. A central campus offers an organisation the opportunity to materialise their culture, brand and sense of purpose in the physical landscape. </p>
<p>For employees, it is not just a place to work, but a place they will want to stay and play, eat and socialise. But, as Mae discovers in The Circle, the campus might not be turn out to be the utopia it appears to be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84370/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Agustin Chevez has received Government and Industry funding to undertake workplace research. Agustin is affiliated with HASSELL.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>DJ Huppatz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The popularity of the corporate campus over the past fifty years suggests the form is here to stay.Agustin Chevez, Adjunct Research Fellow, Centre For Design Innovation, Swinburne University of TechnologyDJ Huppatz, Acting Director, Architecture, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/820002017-08-14T01:17:57Z2017-08-14T01:17:57ZA short history of the office<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181740/original/file-20170811-1202-9p7a0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the seventeenth century lawyers, civil servants and other new professionals began to work from offices in Amsterdam, London and Paris. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">British Museum/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For centuries people have been getting up, joining a daily commute or retreating to a room, to work. The office has become inseparable from work.</p>
<p>Its history illustrates not only how our work has changed but also how work’s physical spaces respond to cultural, technological and social forces.</p>
<p>The origins of the modern office lie with large-scale organisations such as governments, trading companies and religious orders that required written records or documentation. Medieval monks, for example, worked in quiet spaces designed specifically for sedentary activities such as copying and studying manuscripts. As depicted in Botticelli’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Augustine_in_His_Study_(Botticelli,_Ognissanti)#/media/File:Sandro_Botticelli_050.jpg">St Augustine in His Cell</a>, these early “workstations” comprised a desk, chair and storage shelves.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181737/original/file-20170811-1153-9aqmfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181737/original/file-20170811-1153-9aqmfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=931&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181737/original/file-20170811-1153-9aqmfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=931&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181737/original/file-20170811-1153-9aqmfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=931&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181737/original/file-20170811-1153-9aqmfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1171&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181737/original/file-20170811-1153-9aqmfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1171&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181737/original/file-20170811-1153-9aqmfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1171&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sandro Botticelli St Augustin dans son cabinet de travail or St Augustine at Work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Augustine_in_His_Study_(Botticelli,_Uffizi)#/media/File:Sandro_Botticelli_-_St_Augustin_dans_son_cabinet_de_travail.jpg">Wikipedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another of Botticelli’s paintings of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Augustine_in_His_Study_(Botticelli,_Uffizi)#/media/File:Sandro_Botticelli_-_St_Augustin_dans_son_cabinet_de_travail.jpg">St Augustine at work</a> is now in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery. This building was originally constructed as the central administrative building of the Medici mercantile empire in 1560.</p>
<p>It was an early version of the modern corporate office. It was both a workplace and a visible statement of prestige and power.</p>
<p>But such spaces were rare in medieval times, as most people worked from home. In <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Home-Short-History-Witold-Rybczynski/dp/0140102310">Home: The Short History of an Idea</a>, Witold Rybczynski argues that the seventeenth century represented a turning point.</p>
<p>Lawyers, civil servants and other new professionals began to work from offices in Amsterdam, London and Paris. This led to a cultural distinction between the office, associated with work, and the home, associated with comfort, privacy and intimacy.</p>
<p>Despite these early offices, working from home continued. In the nineteenth century, banking dynasties such as the Rothschilds and Barings operated from luxurious homes so as to make clients feel at ease. And, even after the office was well established in the 1960s, Hugh Hefner famously ran his Playboy empire from a giant circular bed in a <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-playboy-in-hefners-chicago-040516-htmlstory.html">bedroom of his Chicago apartment</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181742/original/file-20170811-1148-vgk7ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181742/original/file-20170811-1148-vgk7ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181742/original/file-20170811-1148-vgk7ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181742/original/file-20170811-1148-vgk7ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181742/original/file-20170811-1148-vgk7ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181742/original/file-20170811-1148-vgk7ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181742/original/file-20170811-1148-vgk7ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A police station office in the 1970s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dave Conner/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But these were exceptions to the general rule. Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, increasingly specialised office designs – from the office towers of Chicago and New York to the post-war suburban corporate campuses – reinforced a distinction between work and home.</p>
<h2>Managing the office</h2>
<p>Various management theories also had a profound impact on the office. As Gideon Haigh put it in <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2012/august/1343883344/robyn-annear/office-hardworking-history-gideon-haigh">The Office: A Hardworking History</a>, the office was “an activity long before it was a place”.</p>
<p>Work was shaped by social and cultural expectations even before the modern office existed. Monasteries, for example, introduced timekeeping that imposed strict discipline on monks’ daily routines.</p>
<p>Later, modern theorists understood the office as a factory-like environment. Inspired by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDg9REgkCQk">Frank Gilbreth’s time-motion studies</a> of bricklayers and Fredrick Taylor’s <a href="http://public-library.uk/pdfs/8/917.pdf">Principles of Scientific Management</a>, William Henry Leffingwell’s 1917 book, <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Scientific_Office_Management.html?id=cSYKAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">Scientific Office Management</a>, depicted work as a series of tasks that could be rationalised, standardised and scientifically calculated into an efficient production regime. Even his concessions to the office environment, such as flowers, were intended to increase productivity.</p>
<h2>Technology in the office</h2>
<p>Changes in technology also influenced the office. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, Morse’s telegraph, Bell’s telephone and Edison’s dictating machine, revolutionised both concepts of work and office design. Telecommunications meant offices could be separate from factories and warehouses, separating white and blue collar workers. Ironically, while these new technologies suggested the possibility of a distributed workforce, in practice, American offices in particular became more centralised.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181741/original/file-20170811-1170-1f3y3w7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181741/original/file-20170811-1170-1f3y3w7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181741/original/file-20170811-1170-1f3y3w7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181741/original/file-20170811-1170-1f3y3w7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181741/original/file-20170811-1170-1f3y3w7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181741/original/file-20170811-1170-1f3y3w7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181741/original/file-20170811-1170-1f3y3w7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">IBM Selectric typewriter marked a change in office technology.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christine Mahler/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1964, when <a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/4042483/?reload=true">IBM introduced a magnetic-card recording device into a Selectric typewriter</a>, the future of the office, and our expectations of it, changed forever. This early word processor could store information, it was the start of computer-based work and early fears of a jobless society due to automation. </p>
<p>Now digital maturity seems to be signalling the end of the office. With online connectivity, more people could potentially work from home.</p>
<p>But some of the same organisations that promoted and enabled the idea of work “anywhere, anytime” – <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2013/02/25/back-to-the-stone-age-new-yahoo-ceo-marissa-mayer-bans-working-from-home/#d7545e916672">Yahoo</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/ibm-slashes-work-from-home-policy-2017-3?r=US&IR=T#zbqdqhiGWQeOfQfR.99">IBM</a>, for example – have cancelled work from home policies to bring employees back to bricks and mortar offices.</p>
<h2>Why return to the office?</h2>
<p>Anthropological research on <a href="http://www.communicationstudies.com/communication-theories/proxemics">how we interact with each other</a> and how physical <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/10/workspaces-that-move-people">proximity increases interactions</a> highlights the importance of being together in a physical space. The office is an important factor in <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JCRE-08-2014-0020">communicating the necessary cues of leadership</a>, not to mention enabling <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=Lr8JBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&ots=emNnDy8hH0&dq=The%20Organization%20and%20Architecture%20of%20Innovation&lr&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=The%20Organization%20and%20Architecture%20of%20Innovation&f=false">collaboration and communication</a>.</p>
<p>Although employers might be calling their employees back to the physical space of the office again, its boundaries are changing. For example, recent “<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-02/microchip-workers-hold-chip-party/8765934">chip parties</a>”, celebrate employees getting a radio-frequency identification implant that enables employers to monitor their employees. In the future, the office may be embedded under our skin.</p>
<p>While this might <a href="http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/315013/">seem strange to us</a> , it’s probably just as strange as the idea of making multiple people sit in cubicles to work would have seemed to a fifteenth-century craftsman. The office of the future may be as familiar as <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/why-working-home-future-looking-technology">home</a>, or even our <a href="http://hoffice.nu/en/">neighbour’s kitchen table</a>, but only time will tell.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82000/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Agustin Chevez has received Government and Industry funding to undertake workplace research. Agustin is affiliated with HASSELL.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>DJ Huppatz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The history of the office illustrates not only how our work has changed but also how work’s physical spaces respond to cultural, technological and social forces.Agustin Chevez, Adjunct Research Fellow, Centre For Design Innovation, Swinburne University of TechnologyDJ Huppatz, Senior Lecturer, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/794972017-07-19T20:03:08Z2017-07-19T20:03:08ZAustralian coworking spaces cater to a more diverse crowd than just young tech entrepreneurs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178545/original/file-20170718-21762-1a4eek5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most coworking spaces target small-business workers who tend to be in professional services and technical or knowledge-based work.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Josh Hallett/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The phrase “coworking spaces” may conjure up images of tech-savvy millennials working for startups in converted warehouses. Add in the obligatory ping-pong tables, bean bags and beer on tap. </p>
<p>But our <a href="http://sbi.sydney.edu.au">report on the Australian coworking industry</a> shows much more is going on in these spaces than this cliché. We found more than 300 coworking spaces are operating across Australia, up from only <a href="https://theconversation.com/quitting-the-cubicle-farm-for-coworking-19517">60 spaces</a> in 2013.</p>
<p>Rather than just catering to one type of worker, coworking spaces are used by people from different backgrounds, professions and ages. We also found the majority (53%) of Australia’s coworking spaces are in or around the CBD of our major cities. Sydney and Melbourne take the lion’s share overall, where our coworking industry first started out. </p>
<p>Most coworking spaces target small-business workers, who tend to be in professional services and creative or knowledge-based work. They are also more likely to be living in our major cities. </p>
<p>However, newer coworking spaces are emerging on city fringes (7%) and in our regional towns (15%). These spaces focus on supporting local employment opportunities and bringing businesses together for economic development. </p>
<p>The form and function of these regional spaces are often inspired by city-based models. As an example, <a href="http://www.thecreativefringe.com.au/">The Creative Fringe</a> in Penrith, on the outskirts of Sydney, seeks to drive local innovation and collaboration.</p>
<h2>Beyond the tech start-up hub</h2>
<p>There’s a trend we found where coworking spaces are popping up in locations geared towards supporting lifestyle choices of professionals who want a “sea change”. </p>
<p>The Gold and Sunshine Coasts in Queensland and the Central Coast in New South Wales have a surprisingly high number of coworking spaces. Other popular seaside locations include Byron Bay and the South Coast of NSW.</p>
<p>One example of this type of space is <a href="http://www.cowsnearthecoast.com.au/">Cows Near the Coast</a>. It’s on the main street in Bega, South Coast NSW, and actively encourages “sea-changers” to join their community. </p>
<p>We also found certain recurring types of spaces. One type focuses specifically on high-end professionals wanting to work in style and impress their corporate clients, often located on the top floors of CBD high-rises. <a href="https://www.gravitycoworking.com.au/?">Gravity</a> coworking spaces are a good example of this type.</p>
<p>In contrast to this corporate atmosphere, we found some coworking spaces are also the home of social enterprises. These spaces support typically younger people to combine business know-how with their passion for community impact, specialising in supporting their altruistic visions. </p>
<p>These spaces have none of the gloss of many other coworking spaces. You’ll find recycled furniture and inspiring quotes emblazened on the walls in these spaces. The Common Room at <a href="http://www.vibewire.org/">Vibewire</a> in Sydney epitomises this type.</p>
<p>For many smaller towns and regions, coworking spaces are where fiercely proud locals go to take action around the future of their community. <a href="https://www.bizbuddyhub.com.au/">BizBuddyHub</a> in Point Cook, Victoria, is an example of this. This coworking community was set up with a campaign advocating for a space for locals who would otherwise have to commute into Melbourne. </p>
<h2>Who owns and runs coworking spaces?</h2>
<p>Around 75% of coworking spaces in Australia are owned and run as private businesses. The majority of these (54%) are run as a separate business, for profit, under private ownership. </p>
<p>Small-business owners are also enhancing their appeal to existing and future clients by starting up these coworking spaces. In our research, we found 21% of all Australian coworking spaces are run as ancillary to an operator’s regular small-business activities. </p>
<p>Not-for-profit coworking spaces make up 8% of Australian
spaces, usually established to pursue a social causes, such as reducing youth unemployment. Some of the most well-established coworking spaces in Australia are set up as non-profit organisations.</p>
<p>A small numbers of coworking spaces are state or local government funded (6%) with an aim to support economic development in that region.</p>
<p>Recently a number of corporate-owned coworking spaces (7%) have emerged, which are primarily set up to support their own customers, such as small business customers, who use these spaces to grow their business. Good examples of these include <a href="https://www.nab.com.au/business/the-village">The Village</a> at National Australia Bank, and Australia Post’s <a href="https://businessconversation.auspost.com.au/smallbusinesshive">Small Business Hive</a> at Geelong.</p>
<p>Commercial real estate operators are also exploring coworking as a way to facilitate a sense of community in multi-tenanted office towers, such as <a href="https://www.dexusplace.com/">Dexus Place</a>.</p>
<p>Coworking spaces operated by universities (4%) are the latest addition
to the industry, supporting alternative career choices for students, and deeper engagement with industry. </p>
<h2>The future of coworking</h2>
<p>Coworking spaces are now found in at least 89 countries, spanning six continents. Best guesses indicate that by the end of this year there will be over <a href="http://www.deskmag.com/en/the-complete-2017-coworking-forecast-more-than-one-million-people-work-from-14000-coworking-spaces-s">14,000</a> spaces worldwide. </p>
<p>Coworking spaces facilitate work in ways that other workplaces can learn from.
They go beyond simple “hot-desking” and the open plan work settings which many of us have become familiar with. They are places where people are welcomed and hosted, with regular social and learning events that engage members and their guests. This creates a real sense of community and belonging. </p>
<p>This is something that larger organisations are starting to look for inspiration. Recently, WeWork, the world’s largest coworking operator, has <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-property-wework-idUSKBN17L2DM">started designing workplaces</a> on behalf of large corporations. Many Australian corporates are engaged in partnerships or sponsorship of coworking spaces, with some simply supporting their employees to work flexibly from them. </p>
<p>The diversity of coworking spaces we found in this study means that these spaces can cater to a variety of workers, allowing them to collaborate with other interesting businesses and professionals from all walks of life. </p>
<p>These coworking spaces offer examples of how work can be transformed to have a greater focus on community and belonging. The humanity we found in our coworking spaces offers us hope for the future of work which, under constant threat of disruption and automation, will no doubt continue to play an important role in our lives and in forming our work identities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79497/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Tim Mahlberg Sie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rather than just catering to one stereotype of worker, people who use coworking spaces actually come from different backgrounds, professions and ages.Dr Tim Mahlberg Sie, PhD Researcher, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.