The Surprising Power of Workplace Design | Bukky Akinsanmi Oyedeji | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool

Key Concepts

• Physical Work Environment: Tangible structural enclosures where core firm activities occur.
• Aesthetics: Visual and sensory cues defining the aura of a workspace (color, furniture, art).
• Spatial Configuration: Layout and arrangement of rooms, influencing movement, interaction, and collaboration.
• Ambient Factors: Unseen atmospheric characteristics affecting comfort and cognitive function (temperature, lighting, air quality, noise).
• Strategic Resource Position: The intangible resources a firm has, which are affected by the physical work environment.
• Group Territoriality: The sense of ownership and control a group feels over a particular space.
• Spatial Proximity: The physical distance between individuals in a workspace.
• Spatial Density: The number of people occupying a given space.

1. Introduction: The Impact of Workspace Design

• Poor workspace design can reduce productivity by up to 20%.
• Despite its importance, workplace design is often treated as an afterthought.
• Pre-pandemic, tech firms designed "cathedrals of innovation" to encourage spontaneous encounters.
• The lockdown caused many to question the importance of physical work environments.
• Physical work environments are active forces that shape how we work, think, connect, and succeed.
• They affect task accomplishment and a firm's strategic resource position, influencing competitive advantage.

2. Three Key Dimensions of Physical Work Environments

• Aesthetics: Visual sensory cues that define the aura of the work environment.
• Spatial Configuration: The layout of spaces and how rooms are arranged.
• Ambient Factors: Conditions that impact how comfortable we feel within the spaces.

3. Aesthetics: Look, Feel, and Communication

• The speaker shares a personal anecdote about being immediately drawn to a job based solely on the aesthetics of the reception area.

• Aesthetics communicate a company's vision, aspirations, and identity.

• They can earn valuable intangible resources like legitimacy and credibility.

• Aesthetics influence the quality of co-workers a company can recruit and retain.

• A study showed that people form impressions about a firm's considerateness or control based on photographs of the workspace.

• Personalizing your workspace can foster a sense of belonging and increase engagement.

  • Actionable Steps:
    • Define your identity: What do you want your space to say about you?
    • Personalize your space: Increase your sense of belonging.
    • Use color and texture strategically: Vibrant hues for interaction, softer hues for focus.

4. Spatial Configuration: Layout and Interaction

• The speaker continues the story, describing a tour of the office where the spatial layout contradicted the company's claims of being a flat, collaborative organization.

• Partners had glass offices, seniors had spacious desks, and juniors were crammed into workstations under supervision.

• Spatial configuration describes the layout and arrangement of rooms, influencing movement, interaction, and collaboration.

• Spatial layouts can spark conversations or create barriers.

• Spatial configuration produces second-order attributes that determine how we experience spatial layouts, such as group territoriality, spatial proximity, spatial density, and privacy.

• Spatial configuration can influence perceptions of status, fairness, and equity.

• The external configuration of a building can affect the corporate identity of the organization.

  • Actionable Steps:
    • Sit near people you work with.
    • Use shared spaces strategically for informal meetings and idea generation.
    • Achieve the desired type of privacy (visual, task, or communicative).
    • Enhance group territoriality, reduce individual territoriality, and increase spatial proximity while managing spatial density.

5. Ambient Factors: Comfort and Cognitive Performance

• The speaker notes that the office in the story was one of the few where she didn't need a space heater.

• Poor ambient conditions can erode cognitive performance by as much as 50%.

• Ambient factors include temperature, lighting, air quality, and noise levels.

  • Actionable Steps:
    • Bring nature indoors (real or fake) to reduce stress.
    • Adjust lighting to match natural rhythms (warmer tones in the afternoon).
    • Prioritize and advocate for good air quality.

6. Conclusion: Making Your Space Work for You

• Getting each dimension (aesthetics, spatial configuration, and ambient factors) right is crucial for productivity.

• Workspaces are active factors shaping our experiences, performance, and satisfaction.

• For firm leaders, they are strategic tools affecting task accomplishment and strategic resource position.

• The smartest workplaces are shaped by users.

  • Quote: "The spaces we work in are not just containers they are active factors shaping our daytoday experiences our performance and our satisfaction"