When Space Matters: a report on what works and what doesn't in workspace design.

7/28/2019 When Space Matters: a report on what works and what doesn't in workspace design.

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when space matters (forcollaboration, innovation &

knowledge transfer)

in the build up to KMUK 2013, I asked the

speakers to reflect on the importance of space.

This is a summary of the responses with a few of

my observations thrown in for good measure.

24 June 2013


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when space matters | June 2013 page 2 of 34

contents

observations from the chair 4a summary of findings 5

my workspace 8encourages collaboration 8does not encourage collaboration 10

memorable moments (where) 12collaboration 12innovation 13knowledge transfer 13

reflection 14where and how (you work) 16

making a case for radical change? 19positive impacts 19negative impacts 21and where the jury is still out 22

interesting conversations (where) 24its about a frame of mind and people as much as location 24

real vs. virtual workspace 26a symbiotic relationship 26importance of f2f contact 28

appendices & bibliography 30why space matters 30postcards as a stimulus for conversation 30


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probably the best coffee in the World 31

about the author 34

acknowledgements

The report has been made possible thanks to the input of:

Alim Khan

Alison Turner

Barney Smith

Chris Collison

Christine Rubner Hultmann

Ditte Kolbeck

Dr Bonnie Cheuk

Dr Susanne Etti

Gwenda Sippings

Jean-Pierre Bouchez

Louise Lorton

Margaret McNaull

Mark Field

Nick Milton

Paul J Corney

Rob Benson

Ron Young

Stephen Perry

Sue Mucenieks


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observations from the chair

Work space matters! In my early days cramming for exams Idseek a quiet spot. I craved solitude to concentrate but contact

(body language, expressions as well as sounds) to stimulate

creative juices and share experiences.

Ive recognized as Ive worked with and in different cultures that there is no

silver bullet. Individuals need different environments and surroundings to be

creative and to share. And they need time. Heres an example:

Over dinner some years back I was seated next to two authors who confessed towidely differing methods of stimulating their thought processes:

I always keep a notepad by my desk to record thoughts Id had while

asleep; I take a recorder with me when walking the dog as thats

where I get me best inspiration

Today much of what knowledge workers do is driven by the need to

collaborate: with peers, clients, management, stakeholders and competitors. A

lot of that collaboration is now conducted in virtual workspaces using social

media tools, in their infancy a decade ago when the first KMUK event was held.

So I thought it might be interesting to repeat the exercise my colleagues atSparknow and I ran with the delegates at KM Europe (the last to be held in the

UK) in 2002. We asked 6 questions about their workspace (environment and

practices) and how they thought virtual working might impact them in the

future. I am indebted to those KMUK 2013 speakers who responded this time.

So many interesting exchanges take place around

water coolers, coffee machines and even going toand from prayers (in the Middle East).

Organisations that recognise and exploit these

opportunities are pursuing a strategy of what Id

describe as Orchestrated Serendipity.

Heres an example of a room in Khartoum, Sudan,

used to run a working session entitled, when you

look at things differently, the things you look at

change

This exercise is an effective cross cultural way of

getting people to think differently about a task or

challenge: the change of venue and profession

proving a catalyst for innovative thought and

sharing.


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a summary of findings

Ive highlighted some of the answers (unattributed) that stoodout for me and compared them against the tips Id provided in

a recent blog post entitled why space matters...

What to think about when planning physical collaboration spaces:

* Importance of light, food and the demise of the managers dining room*Serve great coffee and make space memorable

*

Use unexpected spaces for exhibits

*Analyse flows (of people and knowledge) and be opportunistic*Create a knowledge (and information) hubmy workspace

Throughout the responses there are differing opinions on what is the optimal set

up to encourage collaboration. I recall dreading going into a trading area, then

as now totally open plan, feeling like I was entering a bear pit and many people

are uncomfortable with conducting conversations in full sight and sound of

others. As a virtual knowledge worker for 15 years I find I need a combination

of both personal space (and quiet) and collaborative space (and personal

contact).

In helping a client to plan an open space environment (claims area) a few years

back we paid much attention to giving people the ability to create their areas

with a sense of their own character or that of their team.

my workspace 2013

* this open environment is very conducive toknowledge sharing and collaboration particularly

as the knowledge team sits amongst the client

serving staff and are considered part of the teamas a result

my workspace 2002

* Paul and I have recently moved offices and nowhave adjoining offices with the FIRST connecting

door in the Commission About half our work is

directed, and half we have freedom. This door,

and our communication through it has changed

the dynamic and is wonderful. It creates lots of

possibilities for collaboration, even with

individual offices.

memorable moments 2013

* We sometimes use the formal meeting rooms forinformal drop in sessions for staff to come and

find out about our services...

memorable moments 2002

* s office. Its fun to get in there, it's a niceplace. There is a bouncy chair you can sit on and

jump up and down. There is candy. There are

sharp comments. People come to get playful andto know things. People bring gifts. Started by

giving out candy, and then people started to feel

a bit mean just taking, and not giving, so a kind

of ritual of `giving to take' started to establish

itself so people bring candy now


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memorable moments

This question yielded some vivid descriptions. Perhaps the most striking

takeaway: the workspace environment is critical for stimulating the way

people work and think about work.

My memorable moment was at a clients in Jeddah where Victoria Ward and I

had gone to run an awareness-raising event with senior management at the startof the programme of work to develop a knowledge management strategy. Faced

with the prospect of conducting hands on sessions in an auditorium we scoured

their buildings for a suitable open space with comfortable seating. It took a lot

of cajoling to persuade their top brass to work in a breakout room. Once the

political/etiquette hurdles were overcome the session ran smoothly and got the

programme off to a flying start. Interestingly this theme reappeared in one of

the speakers responses.

reflecting where and how

I loved the I do my creative thinking on a horse comment from 2002. It bears

out the earlier anecdote about the authors. In my case I used to retreat to my

study with a clippings file but today with so much material in digital format our

systems have become the messy office and we use search engines to try and

make sense of the mess.

a radical case for change

Its clear that in the success stories a huge amount of preparation has gone into

the relocation. When a client moved across the city, consolidating a number of

businesses under one roof in an open environment, the biggest challenge was tobuild a metaphorical bridge between the old and the new. People were able to

visualise themselves as a Tardis like room was created in the old building where

all discussions about the new offices were held. And a blogger sited in the new

building to provide regular updates and images during construction.

reflecting where and how 2013

* our open plan layout really doesn't suit me andon office days, I rarely get through the work I

hope to do due to constant interruptions and

noise. Sometimes, this can be stimulating and

the conversations are good but I now do at least

1 day at home to have some quiet space. But Inow always feel behind as can't be productive in

the office.

reflecting where and how 2002

* I use my office for 'getting things done'. When Iwant to reflect or be more creative I go to

another room or even to my house in France for

peace and tranquillity + no phone!

a radical case for change 2013

* We created guidelines for working in an openplan office right down to telephone etiquette,

noise levels, desk sizes etc. In the old

environment many conversations were held in

offices, Partners were rarely seen or heard, staff

kept to their own teams and rarely engaged with

other service lines etc. In the new environment

while there were challenges to begin with and

some adjustments for senior staff in sitting out

in the open we settled down quickly and for the

first time everyone knew each other by nameand on sight. There was a lot more

collaboration, cross service line interaction,..

a radical case for change 2002

* Yes, the sales team were all moved toteleworking from home. We had to set up

mechanisms to ensure continuing human contact


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The most striking comment though that illustrates the negative impact a change

in workspace policy can have:

In Aberdeen, the free lunches were stopped as part of a cost-cutting

drive in the early 90s. The result? Packed lunches. People stayed at

their desks. All day. Had anyone offered to the business unit leader that

for a mere 3 per day they could significantly raise the level ofcollaboration, networking, sharing and deliver a resulting increase in

motivation and productivity... He would have bitten their hand off!

interesting conversations

No surprises here. Its where people feel comfortable. Is this why there has

been resurgence in interest in creating workspaces that foster collaboration?

real vs. virtual

We are a more networked society today than 2002 and people (youngsters in

particular) are much more comfortable working cross-border and ethnicity. A

friend was describing how his son and peer study group located in 5 countries

did their homework concurrently on line using a combination of Skype,

Facebook, YouTube and Search Engines, each performing a different (unspoken)

role as part of a team. That the tutor could be Skyped in periodically is an

illustration of how far social media is transforming the way we work outside of

the corporate firewall (at least in academia). That generation (rent as they

are known by some) are less constrained by political barriers, ethnicity and

religion and you are what you write. While they are networked virtually often

their face-to-face (f2f) interpersonal skills are under developed.A theme throughout the responses that underscores the above example is that

some f2f contact is vital to build the trust all communities need to thrive; one

of the rationales perhaps behind the early network collaboration systems that

used to be known as expert networks such as BP Connect?

interesting conversations (where) 2013

* The number 8 bus from the main station to theend of the line (which is also the main building

entrance) is generally referred to as the

"collaborating center", a designation usually

bestowed on universities or other partners

interesting conversations (where) 2002

* Tend to stand on the staircase, or, like here,just stand in the same place in the corridor and

wait for people to pass me by. Standing still in a

thoroughfare.

real vs. virtual 2013

* Replicate rather than replace Just a fewminutes ago, I finished a Webex session with the

UN which had me allocating 30 participants tobreakout "rooms" which contained materials and

videos. I was able to visit each room

momentarily to check in on progress, spot

people raising their hands, share back the

outputs on a group whiteboard, "smiling",

"laughing" and get votes and prioritization from a

group representing 20 different countries,

before conducting an open discussion with

everyone. I would go as far as to say that it was

even more productive than the equivalent

physical workspace.real vs. virtual 2002

* Virtual space is good for exchanging information,even complicated stuff such as designs but you

need you need real contact for developing

relationships and for closing deals


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my workspace

Q Do you think your own workspace encourages collaboration?Tell us about a recent incident where this happened

encourages collaboration

*Yes, very much so. Once a week we have a knowledge-sharing meeting,which is sometimes rich and sometimes rather empty. Once a month wehave a brown bag session, where a colleague invites for a discussion based

on material we are supposed to have read before the session

*

Our physical workspace is open plan and as such everyone is visible from

Partner down to entry level associates. This open environment is very

conducive to knowledge sharing and collaboration particularly as the

knowledge team sits amongst the client serving staff and are considered part

of the team as a result Most recently one of the teams was working on a

regional proposal and the knowledge champion who overheard his colleagues

connected us to the proposal lead immediately so we could assist with some

of the research etc.

*Yes. We are all on a large open floor and the different departments caninteract and have conversations easily. Some conversations are non-workbut that builds relationships which can result in more effectivecollaboration

*one place that I work occasionally with collaborators is the cafeteria,which is brightly lit, has plenty of space with round and square tables,electrical outlets and a decent wifi signal. I was recently working with a

snippets from 2002

My office building has won awards but my own

office space is quite small. Work 90% of time at my

pc.

Old building, 3 offices, most networking round the

door.

We have several buildings along one road and

people tend not to mix between them. But we do

have a collaborative platform, on-line, and people

make good use of that.

My working on papers doesnt really encourage

collaboration but with everything people exists via

others and experience have taught me that paper

as well as a lot of other things only becomes better

at having had at least another pair of eyes to look

at it, so I try to build up partnerships with other

researchers where we go over each others things.

Working at Oresund Network, do encourages

collaboration due to open office space, and the

project that I'm working on is a joint project,

analyzing on focus groups etc. so we do need to

discus the research conducted. Also it is a very

small office so we all help out when it is needed.

It does NOT. The architecture is based on long

corridors with offices left and right. Little open

spaces for meeting and interaction


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colleague on preparing an important upcoming meeting in this place, when

her boss and several members of her team showed up unannounced.

Suspecting that one of his team was working "offsite onsite", I think he was

trying to extend his walkabout management style into new territory! In any

event it gave some level of formal recognition to this informal practice

*

I have an office of my own, with an open door unless I am in a meeting, andthe rest of the team (42 people) are in open plan. My office is available for

use by team members when I am out. The only problem is that because of

the need to store residual paper files, and to lock things away nightly to

comply with Information Security policies, we have a wall of cabinets

splitting the team in half. I do walk around to see people where I can, in my

own team and elsewhere, rather than relying totally on emails or phone

calls. As I walk round, I am likely to get approached about a work issue

which might otherwise not be raised. If I'm visible, people remember more

readily that it would be useful to involve my Department's expertise in their

projects

*My physical workspace (home office) encourages serendipity, but thats aconsequence of my lack of discipline, rather than a conscious drive forinnovation. My disdain for filing means that I often have multiple clients

materials out together and sometimes that leads to useful connections and

parallels. My virtual workspace is more a collection of spaces to work with

clients, so is fragmented by nature (and requires a good memory for

passwords!). Finally, my social workspace is probably the most collaborative

whether through LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or even some antiquated

Yahoo Groups its always good to connect when youre working alone.

Keeps you sane.

*Yes and no! It does encourage conversation but we still have silo working. Ithink there's an assumption that open plan equals collaborative working butthere are very few huddle type areas which would actually help much more

snippets from 2002

Yes, because it is open plan. If you have a problem

you can throw it open to everyone by calling it out

across the office

Yes, because it is open plan. If you have a problemyou can throw it open to everyone by calling it out

across the office

In our office everyone sits in cubicles with their

backs to each other. Its pure Dilbert! We have

recently set out a big table around which we can

meet and it has made a big difference. People get

together around it very easily.

Yes it does. People like to use my office because ithas great views of the countryside and nice art on

the walls. Also we can use the main office when we

need to work collaboratively to produce things. We

have a conference room with lots of whiteboard

space on the walls and we have lots of other

resources around us such as flipcharts, web access,

coffee etc. It is possible for me to feel isolated

from the team when I am sat in my office and they

are all next door but I can easily remedy this just

by walking over or by actually moving my workplace

in to the general office.


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*This requires well-defined meeting structures and good meeting facilitationif we are to create a good knowledge sharing environment. In mydepartment we are still struggling with weekly departmental meetings and

monthly Lync / video meetings which is not creating any value because of

missing facilitation

*

My own workspace is a mobile office - laptop, mobile etc. I collaborateonline, remotely, in person with client or colleague. As I am working

generally 'of no fixed abode' I win and I lose - Im more easily with people,

but teams are distributed.

* I used to work in a biochemistry research institution. The head of thedepartment sponsored morning coffee every day of the week. The institutestaff was invited each day to go to the library for 30 minute for a coffee

break. At times it was show and tell especially after a weekend but normally

this morning tea invitation enabled conversations between different groups,

provided knowledge exchange that let to collaboration. At the time it was

just something I took part in but looking back now - with a KM hat on - this

was a little investment from the department but had a massive impact on

collaboration and staff engagement.

does not encourage collaboration

*I observed that collaboration is not encouraged in academia andresearchers working in an enclosed space, are individualistic and do notshare their research, except informally and social and professional

affinities...

*

Short answer is no. My workspace is open plan and hence encourages localcollaboration i.e. with colleagues seated in the same area as I can easily see

who's available etc. However, it positively discourages broader collaboration

e.g. with team members and colleagues not in the area as it inhibits the

ability to just pick up the phone to chat to somebody as I need to find a

snippets from 2002

Its a warehouse office, very small, not much

collaboration.

Our workspace is based around very individual

offices but collaboration happens despite this -

around the coffee machine.

No, workspace doesn't encourage collaboration - we

work in 'cubicles'. I get round this by making a

special effort.

People are missing the canteen environment where

most of the collaboration used to take place.

Yes, our offices are largely open plan and people

communicate well. We also have a constant flow of

associates, course delegates and candidates flowing

through the office which stimulates conversations

and learnings. Like our CKO summits where we

bring together world leaders. It's a combination of

a meeting and a space. In a castle in Dublin, log

fires, relaxed, people who see themselves as peers

are given privacy, retreat, permission and time.

Paul and I have recently moved offices and now

have adjoining offices with the FIRST connecting

door in the Commission About half our work is

directed, and half we have freedom. This door, and

our communication through it has changed the

dynamic and is wonderful. It creates lots of

possibilities for collaboration, even with individual

offices.


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memorable moments (where)

Q Are there any parts of your building or workspace which youassociate with memorable moments of work? Tell us about a

time and place when this happened.

collaboration

*the response to a global crisis saw our local floor conference roomexpropriated for an emergency response team. Normally our meetings therewere 10-15 people... Now there were 60 people packed in, with laptops and

cables everywhere, staffed round the clock, with a media circus outside in

the parking lot nearby. As the corporate library is also nearby, normally the

atmosphere was even calmer than most regular office spaces. For the few

weeks that it lasted, the complete opposite was true, and the sense of

urgency and uncertainty was palpable anywhere in the vicinity, on people's

expressions, and from the energy, noise and bustle.. Afterwards, when the

space reverted to its normal usage, there was no trace left at all of what

had happened there: the room was left as it was found originally and the

sense of calm was restored as well.

*

Our team is quite small so we work well together as conversations generate

lots of ideas and are enjoyable. We've recently invested in magicwhiteboards so we can draw and note things down almost wherever we are

*Being holed up in a board room working from 7am to 11pm for several daysdealing with how to respond to some unexpected bad data. Telecons withour CEO at 11pm and working against the clock to agree response to release

snippets from 2002

Oh god, the spark' singing' workshop last year. It

destroyed our careers. At the time, we had a boss

who was very technology focussed, not interestedin emotional intelligence. We thought, lets show

her something new, something in km which is a real

catalyst for change. We've always been very

impressed by spark's work, so we took her to your

workshop. Disaster. She hated it. From that

moment, we could never get anything done. Had

lost all our political capital. In fact, things got so

bad we had to move....

Anyway, that was the best thing that could have

happened. Now we are in the right kind of

Directorate, doing the right kind of work and can

probably do lots of work with you. For example,

one research programme in our unit is into the

mobile worker. I can see spark working there. And

ever since then `singing' has conjured up to us the

meaning of knowledge management. The point is to

`sing'. When we were moving, I walked into Ann's

office and saw a flipchart with `sing' written across

it and we both looked at each other and

remembered the spark workshop.

NB Editors comment: At the 2001 KM Europeevent in Den Haag, in the middle of the

technology exhibition hall Sparknow ran a

workshop which started with people singing. It

had a major impact contrasting nicely with the

traditional vendor stands.


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to the global stock markets before they closed for Christmas. Having our

finance director going out for take away food for us and having our lawyer

come in from a Christmas party to review some materials in full dinner dress

- I can still remember his red bow tie.

*

The kitchen area does at least make people say hello.

*

I am a connect member with the Melbourne Hub - a co-working space inMelbourne, Australia. The set up of the space is accommodating a variety of

work styles from open and collaborative to private. A weekly mixed-lunch

encourages members to get together to learn from each other and to provide

space to promote collaboration.

innovation

*The entrance of the Aalborg University in Copenhagen is a huge hall. AFriday afternoon young people came in. Two, three, four or five at the time,carrying sleeping backs, backpacks, beers, a pram, you name it. They talked

and gestured enthusiastically, and I realized this was the game-

development-weekend including a competition on producing the best

computer game over 48 hours. The participants built their workshops in the

hall by moving tables and chairs, utilizing the walls, the staircases the pram

they brought. In short: everything. The room was not invented for such an

event, but the exited game-developers from all parts of Europe were

extremely creative. The high involvement, the engagement the good spirit

and the exited atmosphere made this a memorable moment of work - hard

to consider it as work

knowledge transfer

*Most recently the regional team I was sitting with won a very large projectand the Partner who got the call stood up and called the team togetheraround his desk to announce the win, congratulate the team involved and

snippets from 2002

s office. Its fun to get in there, it's a nice place.

There is a bouncy chair you can sit on and jump up

and down. There is candy. There are sharp

comments. People come to get playful and to know

things. People bring gifts. Started by giving out

candy, and then people started to feel a bit mean

just taking, and not giving, so a kind of ritual of

`giving to take' started to establish itself so people

bring candy now

In the office kitchen, in my office. Normal coffee,

water cooler kind of thing. Informal focal point of

the business. Strength of chance encounter

Moments of Gestalt in my office, a clicking

moment.' My office, at home, a backroom in a

basement flat. I associate all my memorable

moments with being at my desk in my office -

machines and pcs, music playing, nice lighting,

moments of Gestalt. For example when building a

new presentation there's a clicking moment, like a

recent presentation on knowledge mapping. I

needed to summarise and suddenly found out how

to. It's a kind of womblike environment. The

environment makes it possible.

I have recently renovated my office space, new

furniture etc, and this has made a big difference to

how I feel about it and my work. There is a lovely

view out the window and even Wind Chimes in the

tree outside


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rang the office sales bell so everyone in the building knew about the win -

the office atrium is an open space so staff from all the floors above and

below got up to see and hear the news first hand!

*a memorable moment for me was bumping into the Finance Director on thestairs and asking about budgets for the year ahead and 'off guard' he gave mean insight into the up coming process that enabled me to pitch and getmore. When I presented the COWI portal strategy for the Executive Board

their meeting room was furnished with only a small meeting table and 10

relaxing chairs. That means that you can't sit as you normally do at a

traditional meeting and therefore will be forced to change your own habits

*We sometimes use the formal meeting rooms for informal drop in sessionsfor staff to come and find out about our services...reflection

*

My "old" office in another part of the building facing the Olympic Stadium

office which I used when I started my new job, meeting colleagues and going

through steep learning curve. Since then, I moved office twice, and my

friends/neighbours are scattered in other part of the building. Whenever I

walk past this section of the building, it triggers the memory, and makes me

realize "time flies, things happen quickly in this company, we are at a

different stage of the program today"..

* In the corner of my office by the staircase is a shelf with various KM-relatedartefacts from clients. it's my own personal KM Museum! The mostevocative of these artefacts is a laser-etched glass award which I helped

Syngenta to introduce - the "TREE" awards for knowledge-sharing in theirnetworks... Whilst they were just one part of a broader KM and Networking

programme, they somehow sum things up for me whenever I pass them on

the stairs.

snippets from 2002

Working collaboratively with my team to produce a

complex piece of work. We were able to work very

effectively as a team to manage a complex thought

process because we could all be in the same place

and we were surrounded by useful resources

The corridors coz thats where the best

conversations happen.

My teaching experiences in the Business School. The

teaching rooms are very well designed - very

pleasing Scandinavian design with lots of windows

and the students are very close to the teacher

Actually going in to liquidation and then beingbought out. The months of tension felt across the

open plan space were exhausting.


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*The garden: writing a strategy. Somehow getting out of the room and staringat the screen freed me of the operational grind that distractssnippets from 2002

A knowledge caf run by us in Copenhagen (not our

building, but our workspace) was very successful as

much because of what we had to battle against to

make it happen as anything else.

We were supposed to be running a kind of review

session, a knowledge caf for 70. [and had chosen

to use Nimspace as a kind of work shopping tool].

120 signed up.

We had those inseparable chairs, and a security

guard who blocked us making any changes. Not only

that, he would not let us start proceedings earlier

to cope with demand. So we had lots of obstacles.

Everything was against us. But we managed to

uncouple the chairs and take them away, then we

were all spilling out onto the corridor which

attracted new people who were curious.

Then we had to find a way of moving people on, so

we used the wall displays which Nimspace had

created and moved groups on, but left facilitators

behind to continue to facilitate discussions and add

to the walls).

Because we had so many people and no tables and

chairs and had to move them around, we also

created real momentum, which generated real

energy.


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where and how (you work)

Q How does where you work reflect the way you work?

* I select where I work based on need to achieve certain things, rather thanconstraints. I do like to be outside for creativity.*The easier access you have to colleagues, the more collaboration. For eightyeas I worked as a remote manager in Oracle. My team and my professional

community were spread over Europe, Middle East and Africa. Collaboration

was based on the available technology, which we used as much as possible.

But it was rarely spontaneous. Nowadays I work as a researcher in AalborgUniversity. My research group shares a large room where everybody can see

and hear each other. This makes it easy to ask questions, to involve yourself

in on-going discussions, to go with the flow so to say. The shared physical

room invites for interaction, and it becomes easier to collaborate.

* It certainly does. In the office, I feel it is more formal. When I work athome, I feel slightly more relaxed (especially when it reduces travellingtime).

* In Myers Briggs Terms, I'm an ENFP. The 'P' at the end means that I have atendency to be spontaneous and am easily distracted, and have a tendencyto have several pieces of work "open" at a time - just like we do on our

Windows desktops. My physical desk space reflects this! My office is in the

roof or our home, with windows and a balcony to look over the mean streets

of Ascot - so I'll regularly take a screen-break and take documents outside..

Fresh air = fresh thoughts?

snippets from 2002

I like to concentrate; it gives me a feeling of

separation from domestic life.

I work better in isolation. Tend to walk around.

I am based in an open plan office which suits me

because I like to work with others - not on my own

in a private office

Well good and bad can be said about open offices,

usually it effect it positively since the mood around

the office is friendly so it is fun being at work also

you have to be effective when everyone around you

are just that. On the other hand when everything is

hectic phones are rings and people talking it can be

hard to concentrate on certain aspects of research

analysis.

My desk is messy because I'm not there much and

when I am I am usually multi-tasking and I like to

leave things where I know I can find them. Also,

leaving things out reminds me what I was up to

when I walked away from it.

My own workspace is very conventional. It is always

in a different state of order or chaos according to

the different stages of any project I am working on.


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* I work globally with a number of colleagues and my own team who are basedin different countries so that means using social collaboration tools is key toinstant responses and discussions on hot topics, decision making and problem

solving. We also use video conference and TANDBERG Movi which allows us

to "see" each other and feel more connected but this is not as spontaneous

as chatting to a colleague over a desk partition or at the coffee machine.

That being said we make use of what we have so tools like sametime/instant

messaging or just picking up the phone to call each other happens more

frequently and there is more transparency and sharing as a result because it

is important we all know what is happening in the business as it happens in

order to support exceptional client service globally.

* I am finding it increasingly important to seek a quiet, interruption-freeenvironment when doing certain tasks, particularly, for example,strategizing, or writing of substantial length. This may seem to take us back

to the days of an office with a closed door, but in fact such places are more

common than they would first appear. Where I work provides an abundanceof such offices, so the challenge is in synchronizing work patterns with

colleagues so that meeting time, concentrated alone work time, and

serendipitous encounters can all occur in healthy proportions. Having a

"coffee culture" actually helps in this regard, as most people prefer to use

one of the three main cafes on the main floor, rather than vending machines

scattered on floors throughout the building complexes.

*our open plan layout really doesn't suit me and on office days, I rarely getthrough the work I hope to do due to constant interruptions and noise.Sometimes, this can be stimulating and the conversations are good but I now

do at least 1 day at home to have some quiet space. But I now always feel

behind as can't be productive in the office.

* I'm sitting in open-plan office with small meeting room with transparentglass walls and therefore you can see who is present and who sits and workand is accessible and who is in a meeting. Via my PC I use Lync very much to

snippets from 2002

Actually I do all of my creative thinking whilst

riding a horse.

I work at a PC because that's the nature of my

work. Other people seem to be able to work in

messier environments than me.

My office, as well as having a pleasing visual

aspect, is to me an enclosed and protected space -

it is here that I am able to do my deep and creative

thinking.

I use my office for 'getting things done'. When I

want to reflect or be more creative I go to another

room or even to my house in France for peace andtranquillity + no phone!

My office is not ideal but at least its in part of the

main office. It's a bit restrictive and not a real

reflection of where I work which nomadic, email,

or in front of a flip chart. Email is best for

distance, when you know people, when bilateral is

best, for groups a flip-chart or a whiteboard

Cluttered. Before it was clutter, and overwhelmed

me, it was helpful material. But now its

overloaded. I love the curtains. They are a kind of

colourful South American print. The other day I had

them closed, I hardly ever have them closed, and I

was really struck by how much they mean to me.

Makes me feel safe in here, linked by telephone

lines to the outside world.


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send small messages and handle fast discussions and benefit a lot from the

presence function Lync has.

* In my own office I am able to concentrate on report writing and strategic orpersonnel issues. I am also able to have open conversations with mymanagement team about issues and plans. At other times, I can gauge what

is going on in the team from walking about, and having casual conversationswith staff about things they might not otherwise think to draw to my

attention. This helps me to know how we are interacting with other teams in

the company, and enables me to open conversations with other Heads of

Departments if I know we have helped them in a specific area recently.

* I work in a virtual team that has a global footprint.. We have several tools inplace to make it easier to access information, to share content and to beconnected. My collaboration is based on the available technology. The

spontaneous chat over a cup of tea or coffee is not possible in this set up. I

enjoy connecting with people in person. Technology is helping but it does

not replace the beauty and power of F2F interaction.

snippets from 2002

Its full of green plants. Its very important, its not

just an office but `my space' open and welcoming

as well as my space.

Paper, chaos, untidy, reacting to innovations. No

command and control. I think `tidy cupboard aredanger zones', a sign of a problem. In the EC, too,

there is an explicit rule (written down) about

window status - how many windows you are

allowed, depending on seniority. The other thing is

the open door I was telling you about and how well

this works to create semi-shared, semi-private

space.

Now have a `double Dilbert corner cube' but don't

know how it will work yet. Formerly on the (x)floor of a skyscraper in New York and couldn't move

for paper, books, piles of things etc. A kind of

snail's shell rather than a womb. A mess. This is

critical for knowledge work. See Malcolm Gladwell

`The Myth of the Paperless Office', as written up in

New York Review. The point of knowledge work is

that you have not structured things yet, so you

need to spread them out, look for patterns and

connections, cluster, reorganise. Most people who

work with complicated ideas spread them out. The

reason you spread things out is that you don't knowwhere you want to put them yet.


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making a case for radical change?

Q Have you ever witnessed a company change its workspaceradically? What happened?

positive impacts

*Yes, i have seen a transition from closed offices to open plan. Initially therewas great reluctance, but two things made the transition easier. a) themanagers went open-space as well, and b) the quality of the selected office

furniture was excellent. This latter point made it clear that open space was

an investment, not a cost cutting measure. Over time, everyone came to

appreciate the open plan setting.

*Yes - the creation of a knowledge hub from an enclosed and quiet library in2001Some people migrated from their normal desks, some people startedusing the space as their main working space. Everyone started using the

library and giving it a new lease of life. The estates and facilities people

were resistant, they ended up replicating in all of the offices.

* In my first knowledge role the office practice I worked for moved to an openworkspace environment and I was asked to be the change managementleader for our floor. We had a great external consultant come in to assist

with the move and the potential challenges it would create. We created

guidelines for working in an open plan office right down to telephone

etiquette, noise levels, desk sizes etc. In the old environment many

conversations were held in offices, Partners were rarely seen or heard, staff

kept to their own teams and rarely engaged with other service lines etc. In

the new environment while there were challenges to begin with and some

snippets from 2002

positive impacts

Yes, the sales team were all moved to teleworking

from home. We had to set up mechanisms to ensure

continuing human contact.

Yes, the business started in a converted house and

then moved to a big open plan office that was well

though out in advance to ensure co-location of

colleagues. Made a big improvement.

Yes, but not radical enough. We went from

corridors and offices to open spaces

When I worked for Elf. We went to a mostly open

plan arrangement. Was probably an improvement

but very gradual. I noticed the contrast when, after

a while, I went to visit our French office which still

had cellular offices, and I really noticed the

difference. Not a radical change, but a subtly

shifted culture.

Have just made a team office in the same corridor.

Its open plan. Talk more to each other.


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adjustments for senior staff in sitting out in the open we settled down

quickly and for the first time everyone knew each other by name and on

sight. There was a lot more collaboration, cross service line interaction,

Partners were more accessible and visible and staff felt engaged and part of

a bigger team. The design and layout was sensitive to the size of the

practice, they created comfortable and appealing coffee areas for teams to

have informal meetings and quiet rooms where you are able to have

confidential conversations etc if you need to away from your desk. In this

new space you saw most of the team every day and not only once a month at

a team meeting and the use of colour, plants, wall art and notice boards

helped make it a positive working space.

*At KPMG in the late 90s when there was a shortage of space the Partnersagreed to reduce the size of their offices to create more open plan space forstaff. This went down well and helped deal with problem. There were

many Partners who were not happy but it was driven by the senior Partner.

*

I remember visiting the British Airways Waterside building and being blownaway by the impact of the space the stream, cobbled streets, olive groves

and Boeing 747 wheels. I was surprised by the design subtleties which

encouraged people to connect right down to the way the cobbles were

arranged to be less bobbly in some areas to being people together

(particularly those wearing stilettos!). GCHQs donut was also impressive

and I know it had a significant impact on openness, awareness and

serendipity there but the Daily Mail would have balked at a publicly funded

olive grove!

*

My company has moved from two buildings where groups/offices were

spread over several floors and different buildings to one floor. Especially an

area called "green space" for lunch, functions, events has provided a great

space to meet other colleagues / teams that in the past you would have not

met unless you worked on a project together.


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negative impacts

*BP had its fair share of smart environments, but more memorable was thenegative impact of changing a workspace policy. In Aberdeen, the freelunches were stopped as part of a cost-cutting drive in the early 90s. The

result? Packed lunches. People stayed at their desks. All day. Had anyone

offered to the business unit leader that for a mere 3 per day they couldsignificantly raise the level of collaboration, networking, sharing and deliver

a resulting increase in motivation and productivity... He would have bitten

their hand off!

*A few years ago my company moved from a very colorful building with a lotof space, paintings on the walls and potted plants everywhere to a buildingwith only one color white. White on the walls, in the roof, on the floor, the

tables only different color was the chairs which were black, and a small

group of lamps which were green. No paintings, no potted plants. Nobody

was allowed to have a picture of the family or other personal things at the

table. I felt like being hospitalized with serious illness. Even 30-40employees shared a room, I felt isolated. I felt my brains stopped exploring.

I felt so uncomfortable, I preferred working from home, even I am a very

extroverted person. I realized I need joy for being creative, efficient and

productive.

*Oh my god. Yes, to save costs. My company collapse people working in 2floors into 1. As a result, director who used to have an office now have toshare office with another colleague. The staff working in the open plan have

to squash together (4 instead of 2 in a row) and sit closer with less space

between them and less privacy. People don't really like it, and some put on

headset to make calls or to reduce distraction. Internal meeting rooms

become tiny, like toilet cubicles, and we laugh about them.

snippets from 2002

negative impacts

Legal and Compliance went to open plan for

lawyers. It did not work. They said it was not a

quiet enough thinking space. It was a lost

opportunity for collaboration.

.

.


22/34


*.I observe a change envisaged in my university, and it has been a verystrong resistance from researchers who did not wish to question the subtlerelationships within the 'compartmentalized workspace

*One international organization in Geneva that I worked for, changed itsoffice space for its communications department from closed offices to openspace. This occurred after a fire had severely damaged that floor of the

building, so it was likely an opportunistic decision. The nature of the work,

and the preferences of staff, did not seem to figure in to the equation. As a

result, both productivity and morale declined, and resentment grew against

the privileged few who were allowed to keep private offices. Eventually a

cluster pod arrangement was made that went some way towards addressing

the concerns.

and where the jury is still out

*

Our organisation is new, following reforms - brings together people from a

range of legacy organisations as well as lots of people new. The policy is hotdesking which for most of us is a change. Some good points - can sit

somewhere different every day, avoids too many empty desks - some bad

points - have to check in which is an additional task every morning and a

pain when you forget and find your desk has been rebooked.

* I was involved in the planning of a radical move from offices to a brand newopen plan building and to hot desking and team areas in local governmentThere was initially a distrust of the idea, and a Change Management team

was put together to prepare staff for moves. My involvement was primarily

to do with reduction of paper records storage, and people responded well to

invitations to get rid of paper, and to store essential records offsite.

Competitions spring up, and posters described the destruction of papers "

the weight of an elephant" etc to put some fun into an important exercise.

The Change Management Team had a timetable of communications heading

up to the move itself, and this included a programme of hard hat visits to

snippets from 2002

and where the jury is still out

Yes, and its amazing how many reasons people will

come up with as to why the new approach can't

work - all of which disguise the fact that basically

they have learnt to associate space with status and

get very upset when it seems that they are losing

something

The company I worked for some time ago hired new

premises and moved our division there. The

building was far from the centre of the town and

commuting was quite complicated, but people

shared big rooms (the building used to be factory).

The co-operation was quite good but I do think that

the reason was not space and new equipmentt but

the qualities of the vice president. When he left

the company the situation got worse.

Us noisy engineers used to be in a basement being

mostly rowdy and fun. They moved us to a software

area (Dilbert cubicles and silence). Swings and

roundabouts really - harder to collaborate but

easier to focus.


23/34


the new building before it was occupied. Collaboration areas were built into

the space, alongside team desk areas, and meetings rooms were kept to a

minimum for meetings with members of the public, or personnel issues.

Once the move had taken place (just after i left for another role) , I

understand that the number of employees was less than anticipated, so

there was less hot desking than people anticipated, but the informal

meeting areas were popular.

*My organisation has started to move much more toward open plan thanindividual or shared offices. Where the construction of the building allowsinterior walls have been removed and some big open plan areas created.

New buildings are all created as open plan.


24/34


interesting conversations (where)

Q Where do you have your most interesting workconversations?

its about a frame of mind and people as much as location

*Wherever Interesting people are!* I have my most interesting conversations in coffee shops, in bars and on thephone. The phone conversations can be the most radical -as these can

happen at the drop of a hat and stimulated by an idea but they are the

most random and often the most productive - particularly if it is sunny, and

Im sitting in the Garden with a diet Coke.

*These happen in many different places in the office, on sametime/instantmessage, in meetings, on the bus on the way home, via our other socialcollaboration tools.

*The most interesting conversations are undoubtedly those that take placebetween academic community professionals with affinities. Tacit exchangesare particularly rich. But I personally use and transfer these exchanges by

formalizing them for consultants in my office (IHRD). These two spaces are

interactively combined.

*

Both add-hoc coffee machine conversations with people from different

departments which update me on what others are doing but the most

informative conversations are 1 to 1s with my senior team in meeting rooms.

*The number 8 bus from the main station to the end of the line (which is alsothe main building entrance) is generally referred to as the "collaborating

snippets from 2002

The kitchen is good.

Coffee Shop

Around the edges of formal meetings. You grab

someone. You have the important conversations

Through the open door.

In the cafeteria.

Tend to stand on the staircase, or, like here, just

stand in the same place in the corridor and wait for

people to pass me by. Standing still in a

thoroughfare.

Kitchen and flip chart.

Coffee machine


25/34


center", a designation usually bestowed on universities or other partners.

People are able to easily converse about work life as well as life outside of

the office - coming from home, they usually discuss the latter, coming from

work, the former. Perhaps it is the freedom from workplace norms that

leads to interesting work conversations, or simply sitting side by side on a

bus on a journey

*

usually after meetings on way back to desk as something in the meeting

has triggered a conversation. We've also tried "mingle and munch" to

encourage people to talk to one another as they weren't! We've tried this

over lunch and a "coffee morning" style.

* I can meet in the office, at the coffee machine, in the meeting rooms andvia the phone, externally. for me it is not about where I can have meetingsbut I found it more important to want to share knowledge.

* In my office or in my boss's office. That's where we discuss strategic issuesand planning and initiate new ideas which I enjoy.*No one place - could be anywhere but generally I would say that they areface to face conversations rather than phone, VOIP , v/c etc.*Anywhere, at the corridor, on the phone with an overseas colleague, athome with friends over dinner who sparkle work ideas, at a conference

reception (certainly not during a conference presentation!).

*Via MS Lync (instant messenger).* In client offices, usually as part of client internal conferences.

*

I have had very interesting conversations at work that happened very

spontaneous as someone noticed that I was visiting their office and we had a

F2F over coffee, it could be with a colleague that I connect with the first

time via instant messaging and we continue to have a call, at a conference

, on a bush walk with a walking group.. .it can be everywhere.


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real vs. virtual workspace

Q In your experience, can you ever replace real workspacewith virtual workspace? How?

a symbiotic relationship

*Replicate rather than replace Just a few minutes ago, I finished a Webexsession with the UN which had me allocating 30 participants to breakout"rooms" which contained materials and videos. I was able to visit each room

momentarily to check in on progress, spot people raising their hands, share

back the outputs on a group whiteboard, "smiling", "laughing" and get votes

and prioritization from a group representing 20 different countries, beforeconducting an open discussion with everyone. I would go as far as to say

that it was even more productive than the equivalent physical workspace.

*Sometimes you have to. You would never do so by choice, but if you need avirtual team, you need a virtual workspace. How is a huge question - I builtan entire knowledge asset on How to Run Virtual teams, and you could not

condense it down to the back of a postcard. Some of the key things you need

to consider are Team Formation, Team Alignment, Leadership, Work

practices, and Cultural sensitivity.

*

Im writing this sat on a boat in the Laguna in Venice A few tips to

remember: just because an online meeting is not in physical presence does

not mean that normal meeting disciplines do not apply! Remember

objectives, agendas, chairing, breaks etc; add in multi channel (e.g. chat),

make sure everyone is in the same environment (do not mix the two). I

manage 90% virtual.

snippets from 2002

future workspace

Yes well just a simple thing as being able to log on

at home and boom you are at work or at least have

access to all that is needed to work. In the future

even more so with web cams etcI could imagine

some kind of development in a virtual office

concept so when I log on at home everything is the

exact same as the office and it is the same for all

working here.

Also a long the lines of Knowledge management and

intranets, which making working at home the same

as working at the office, also with new technology

the possibility of logging on anywhere in the world

becomes a reality for more people and once it is

incorporated, it will seem natural that we are morevirtual than physical present which again used

correctly releases time for leisure etc. which is

becoming more and more valuable.

My workspace is partly virtual as I am involved in

distant student programme and we communicate

with students by the Internet. My communication

with the department goes partly through Internet

too. I can work with virtual workspace but I miss

the face to face communication from time to time.

The balance between virtual and face to face is

very important by my opinion.

Yes, and given the global nature of the SKA

network it is essential. It works pretty well but we

do also run global conferences, rotating around all

of our key country bases


27/34


28/34


workspaces are collaboratively created and inhabited can also be influenced,

often to great effect, generating a sense of ownership, purpose,

commitment, and enthusiasm for the work at hand.

importance of f2f contact

*

No - the richness of conversations, face to face with people, cannot be

replicated by virtual workspaces. The different paths a physical

conversation quickly takes can be very rewarding and the connection you get

interacting with people builds trust and mutual understanding.

*No I think you need a combination - for me, virtual is hard if there is noexisting relationship but very happy to work virtually when I have metpeople face to face - we are hoping to use Office 365 to enable collaborative

working e.g. coauthoring would be more effective here than via email which

we currently overuse.

*

It requires a lot of training to handle dos and donts when video

conferencing. You can of course be forced to have meetings via video

conferencing, but I would prefer in an initial phase of a new relationship to

meet face to face. Video Conferencing requires special good preparation

from the meeting moderator and other participants at the meeting.

* I do liaise with our designated home working colleagues on video and voiceconferences, and we share information, documents etc through intranetworkspaces. However I believe it is preferable to meet people face to face

to make these methods work best. In a global law firm, virtual team working

was often the only way to make any progress, and it was sometimes difficult

to get opinions at those meetings from members of countries where theculture was less assertive when senior managers were involved in a call. Our

library service in my current organisation is 90% online and research

enquiries come in by email or telephone, and this works for the customers

and the service provider.

snippets from 2002

Yes, in some ways. We ran a research special

interest group for the DTI in teleworking. Audio-

conferencing is a fabulous tool if well matched to

the purpose, and well managed. I remember a

closed conference on KICKS, an BT audio-

conferencing system.

There were four of us there and the meetings

worked really well. Partly because of familiarity

with each other, also for familiarity with the

system. We learned some things which are now

enshrined in good practice guidance, and I can tell

you much more about. For example, you need two

chairs for a conference call; a chair to get through

the agenda and a moderator to makes sure

participation is effective. Call it a technical chair

and a participation chair.

You need a 5-minute warm-up, so we used to start

our calls at 5.55. We experimented with longer, but

5 minutes is enough for people to call in, go

through the informalities as you would with a

normal meeting etiquette. And don't have them too

long either. Overall meetings end up shorter,

sharper, better.

You need both. Virtual space needs to be very

welcoming and open, so that it is joinable, not

private, not excluding.

Yes. You need to understand its limitations and

opportunities. If you are writing for the web, you

need to understand language, catchy titles, format,

form and content, when to use poetic license to get

a point across


29/34


*To a large extent I think yes, as long as there is planned F2F meeting/gettogether to feel the personal touch and build personal relationship, to get toknow the person. How? An employee can work anywhere by providing them

with communication technologies at employees finger tips: videoconference,

telepresence, phone call, skype/facetime, online chat, social platform. Of

course, need to agree on work objectives/targets with the employee and

then empower them with the tools to access people/content and to

communicate anytime anywhere.

*No in my experience you can't. I have access to a range of collaborationtools to facilitate virtual working and you can deliver using them but nothingbeats getting folks together face to face to build relationships and to

accelerate delivery. I would always advocate some face:face work for a

team or group that need to work together over the longer term.

*On an occasional basis, but only with social tools and collaborativeworkspaces. The social element needs to come first.*

This is the way I have worked for the last 8 years. It is exciting meeting

people from around the globe. However the opportunity to meet F2F at least

once is extremely valuable. It provides just that extra level of trust that is a

strong foundation. Interacting in a virtual team is very different from

working with your staff/ team members face to face. In a virtual team you

miss out on the spontaneous conversation, It is also provides several

challenges to ensure you are well connected, to ensure you give ample time

to hear teams needs and what is important to the individual as you don't see

them in person on a daily basis.

snippets from 2002

Its no coincidence that Ann and I are linguists and

think a lot about language. Also important to have

playfulness. I wrote something headed up

`knowledge workers of the world unite' recently

and followed it with a smiley face so people knew I

was being playful. That kind of thing.

No, only partially. It's a serial monologue (email).

You can't avoid the real workplace. You need to be

able to `objectify' things, to visualise, to be able to

touch things. That is the way new ideas come up.

Partly. It does improve comms. Chat, for example,

is well used by compliance (less so by lawyers).

Avistar*, desktop conferencing, is particularly good.

It stops the `pissing match' of hierarchies about

who has to go to whose office.

Yes, no problem at all. Often better creativity as a

result of more virtual collaboration.


30/34


appendices & bibliography

Though a piece of research conducted and funded byknowledge et al (www.knowledgeetal.com) it felt right to

publish this as a Sparknow document in recognition of the

original design thinking around postcards and space that have

been a consistent part of Sparknows Knowledge Management

work since its formation in 1997.

why space matters

I was recently asked by a new business focused website to write a thought pieceon this. The Wall St Journal, Marrisa Mayar of Yahoo and a conversation with

Professor Clive Holtham of Cass Business School were the genesis for why space

mattershttp://www.findtheedge.co.uk/innovation/managing-creativity/why-

space-matters-for-collaboration-innovation-and-knowledge-transfer in which I

discuss the concept ofOrchestrated Serendipity.

postcards as a stimulus for conversation

Slow Knowledge: uses of the postcard in re-forming organisational time, place

and meaning: 'In search of time' conference, Palermo, May 2003 Stephanie

Colton, Angela Dove, Victoria Ward*, Clive Holtham,

NB Victoria Ward will be examining how postcards can be used in futures

forecasting in a paper to be published jointly with Andrew Curry of the

Futures Company in August 2013.

Method

Since the theme of this years event is around

collaboration, the use of social media and virtual

working Leah and I thought it would be good to

recognise the anniversary of KMUK by looking back a

decade and decided to resurrect a postcard exerciseabout workspace run at KM Europes last visit to the

UK in 2002 and compare and contrast the outcomes.

Here is a the front page and a first page response


31/34


probably the best coffee in the World

Originally the Information Technology department was located in traditional

offices with corridors and individual offices and had very little in the way of

communal meeting spaces either formal or informal. It became apparent to the

department that this was not conducive to collaborative working or the

exchange of knowledge and information. The senior management and expertisewas hidden away in their cells and there was no way of bringing together large

project teams which was becoming a real necessity.

An opportunity arose for the department to move to a new space which they

accepted and it was decided that an open office concept would be embraced.

The refurbishment was duly completed and the division moved in to what was a

completely open plan space.

This was partly successful in that it did allow large project teams to work

together and collaborate. However, it quickly became clear that there were

major problems with the lay out and not just because the senior management,

in particular, found it a major culture shock. There was a lack of meeting rooms

and private spaces which meant that there was a noise problem and specifically

tele-conferencing became almost impossible. It also meant that there was

nowhere to go to have smaller enclosed meetings which resulted in one manager

having to carry out an appraisal with a colleague in his car in the basement car

park ! Air conditioning and heating also turned out to be a problem in such a

large open space since those on the outside of the space were getting a

different climate to those in the middle. All these problems were exacerbated

by overcrowding when a separate group of employees were temporarily

relocated to this space. However, as a result, .and the IT operating company

lobbied for and were given permission to seek new premises again, albeit that

any refurbishment costs would come directly from their own budget.

This is taken from an interview conducted by a

member of the Sparknow team with a prominent IT

professional.

The idea of using a postcard as an object for

stimulating conversations and inspiration should beattributed to Victoria Ward,


32/34


Search commenced in April 2000 and in July, a building in central Den Haag was

identified of which they wanted three floors. The whole building then also

became of interest to the .. Group at which point the Group Facilitation

management wanted to have some input. and his relocation team persuaded

facilities that their need was immediate and that they had some specific needs

that they wanted to incorporate into their refurbishment programme, which

was, after all, coming out of their budget.

The relocation team worked in close partnership with the groups external

architects to work on a brief for the ideal lay out and design that would

encourage collaborative working throughout the operating company despite the

not inconsiderable difficulty of being spread on 3 floors.

Work commenced in December and was completed in June 2001 and the finished

space includes

*A large informal lounge space on the middle floor. To ensure that peoplewere attracted to this space, from there respective lower and upper floors,Bram and his team invested in the best coffee machine in the world

around which there are various comfortable and informal seating

arrangements. This was an immediate success and is used constantly for a

variety of meetings both informal and more formal, as well as for the

occasional big event or celebration. It is an environment that clearly

encourages debate, conversation and collaboration amongst the whole

operating company by providing an open, informal space as a focal

destination point.

*

The remainder of the space on this floor is taken up with different sized

meeting rooms (including tele-conferencing facilities ) which are bookable inadvance.

*The lower and upper floors are given over largely to open plan offices,

albeit with clever glass partitions with integral white boards to maintain a

feeling of openness whilst reducing noise and climate control problems.


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There are also designated hot desking areas on these floors for visiting

workers from which they can access their own computers via portables.

Initially, the use of space and investment in luxuries was criticized by some

outside the operating company, as being wasteful. However experience has

shown that the reverse is the case with real and valuable knowledge sharing and

collaboration being fostered by the space.

It was a considerable investment risk for the operating company but now they

have more staff concentrated into a smaller area (square meters) than their

original arrangements.

One unforeseen drawback was that their coffee is so good that when the other

floors were completed and other group companies moved in, people from these

other divisions would feel free to use their space and drink their coffee, so a

swipe access card system was introduced for the lounge. Again this caused some

consternation but Bram pointed out that the cost came out of IT operating

budget and that if outsiders wanted to use it they could, but at a unit cost per

person.

They have now invested in a juke box for the lounge area to be used at certain

times.


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about the author

I help people and businesses to realise their potential: as anAdvisor; business manager; coach; facilitator; and project

director.I have a broad global experience working at all levels across a range of

industries: energy, finance, development, government, information, knowledge

management, retail and software.

To contact me:

[email protected]

Skype: corneyp I twitter: pauljcorney

Office + 44 (0) 1323 728287

Mobile +44 (0) 777 6085857

www.knowledgeetal.com

My early background was financial yet eclectic: I

spent 25 years in the City as Senior Manager at

Saudi International Bank and as a Vice President at

Zurich Reinsurance.

Since 1998 Ive run a portfolio of activities: Strategy

& Business Advisor to the CEO of a software and

consultancy group Sopheon PLC; Information &

Knowledge Advisor to the CEO of a leading

reinsurance broker BMS Group; and Managing

Partner Sparknow LLP.

An early pioneer of intranets in the mid 90s and one

of the first knowledge managers in the City of

London Ive led many challenging assignments,

often cross culture, and frequently cross continent.

I was a visiting lecturer on knowledge and

information management at London Metropolitan

University and have published numerous articles the

most recent of which is featured in Making

Knowledge Management Work for Your Organizationpublished by Ark Group in 2012. I speak at and

chair international events. In 2013 I am again

chairing KMUK, running a masterclass on knowledge

capture and retention and helping the health

industry in Sudan to share knowledge.

Diplomacy intrigues me. I am a member of the Royal

Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House)

and the Institute of Directors. Ive been the

Chairman of Pyecombe Golf Club and the Manager

ofHassocks Football Club both of which taught me

the need for effective engagement.

Since stepping back from the role of Managing

Partner in the fall of 2012 Ive combined business

(leading km practice at Sparknow) with pleasure

(helping to get a charitable initiative off the ground

in Sussex and advising and mentoring a local

business through the early stages of its

development).

When Space Matters: a report on what works and what doesn't in workspace design.

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Transcript of When Space Matters: a report on what works and what doesn't in workspace design.