Understanding occupancy levels – a core metric for business success

The BCO’s Review of Post-Pandemic UK Office Utilisation was published mid-July. I authored the review with data provided by three different sources of utilisation dataⁱ and input from a host of workplace industry expertsⁱⁱ. A key objective was to advise developers, architects and engineers on how lower occupancy levels and utilisation reduces occupant density such that a building’s infrastructure, based on an assumed higher density, may be over-specified and energy inefficient.

As a workplace strategist I am more interested in how utilisation studies can be used to determine the optimum number of desks and meeting spaces etc., informing the required building size, for occupiers moving to a new office. Since the COVID pandemic, office workers have literally voted with their feet with many not returning to the office full time. Not understanding future occupancy levels can lead to wasted space which both incurs unnecessarily higher property costs and is not sustainable, due to building, heating, servicing empty space. In contrast, it may lead to underestimating the required space, as recently experienced by HSBC with their 7,700 desks shortfall, which clearly impacts the success of any business.

Isn’t biophilic design just good design?

I was at the first Biophilic Design Conference, hosted by the Journal of Biophilic Design, last week, an excellent conference and a question frequently raised by both the speakers and the delegates was “isn’t biophilic design just good design?”. I would say yes in general but, as I discussed with Chris Moriarty and Ian Ellison of Audiem, for biophilic design to stand alone there must be examples of biophilic design that is poor design and cases of good design that is not biophilic design. I believe such scenarios exist.

Alfresco Breaks Boost Productivity: Lessons from the Workplace Trends Conference

At yesterday’s Workplace Trends conference, NicolaMillard reminded us that the brain can only cope with four hours of intense work each day – see Pang for more details. It reminded me of Tony Schwartz’s Energy Project, which proposes we can work intensely for 90-minute periods, so long as we take a proper 20-minute break between them, and three such periods of intense work per day is more than most will achieve. Also, let’s not forget the Display Screen Equipment Regulations which recommends a 10-minute break every hour or so. Counterintuitively, it seems the key to productivity is to take regular breaks. 

Why is your office empty?

Various reports indicate that while office space utilisation has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic it is much lower than previously. For example, Remit Consulting’s ReTurn project, comprising of security access (swipe-card) data from 13 UK companies with 155 office buildings and circa 200,000 occupants, shows the current utilisation rate to be around 32%. Having two-thirds of office space empty is neither good for sustainability or creating a vibrant and enticing workspace. 

My recent research, with Dr Gary Raw, conducted in partnership with MillerKnoll, explores approaches to enticing the workforce back to the office (see the summary or full report). The research findings were presented to industry experts and their thoughts subsequently captured in an IN Magazine supplement. 

The Write Stuff

 

It's good to be back to workplace consulting after I spent most of the tail end of 2022 writing – papers, blogs and my third book.

I managed to submit my draft of A Practical Guide to Post-Occupancy Evaluation before taking a well-earned break. The new book is a revision of the British Council Guide to Post-Occupancy Evaluation that I wrote back in 2007. It’s an under-statement to say the world has moved on since then – we’ve had austerity measures, agile/hybrid working, advances in sensor technology and AI to name a few workplace related initiatives. What hasn’t changed is the importance of POE, it’s more relevant than ever especially with Net Zero Carbon targets. 

Workplace Capability

I have been a mountain biker for thirty years, but last year I purchased a gravel bike. The gravel bike is more all-terrain, hybrid if you like, allowing me to cover longer distances using trails avoiding busy roads. I recently rode along the Upper Lea Valley trail and paused to admire three sculptures of people significant to the area: Eric Morecambe, Capability Brown and a Sea Scout.

Design for the Range, Not the Average: The Prejudice and Inadequacies of Indoor Environment Standards

I recently presented at the Comfort at the Extremes (CATE) conference in Edinburgh. The delegates were a mix of researchers and medics in the fields of indoor air quality and thermal comfort in offices, homes, schools and hospitals. I recognised many from my days as a thermal comfort research back in the 1990s - it was good to catch up after some 25 years. It was also an opportunity for me to have another jibe at the prejudice and inadequacies of current indoor environment standards. This is what I said …

A World of Music and Workplace

In my time out from workplace consulting I prepare and present a weekly show on my local community radio station. It got me thinking about the similarities between music and the workplace.

Firstly, I like different music depending on my activity, my mood and the time of day. Music of a higher beats per minute undoubtedly suits me better when I’m on my spin bike or flagging, but I prefer slower-paced instrumentals when I am focussing or writing. Different work-settings are better suited to different activities and mood.

Beyond the Workplace Zoo

I can’t believe my last blog post was around Xmas time last year, where has the time gone? But it doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing, just through a different media. My own lockdown baby came in the form of a new book: Beyond the Workplace Zoo: Humanising the Office. It was published two weeks ago with a cosy book launch last week and its official airing at Workplace Trends yesterday.

It has been over 20 years since my last “proper” book, Improving Office Productivity. A book I co-authored with Paul Bartlett, who sadly passed away last year. Paul’s views on office economics and productivity paved the way for much of my thinking in the new book – his humour and candour are deeply missed.

Post Covid-19 Workplace: Recollection not Revolution

Boris made his rather ambiguous announcement yesterday on his Covid-19 exit strategy and there have been plenty of previous posts from the workplace industry anticipating the announcement and how redesigning the office is the solution. But I firmly believe that we already have the answers, and have had them for some time, but have repeatedly chosen to ignore them. I recommend we start by recollecting and (re)introducing tried and tested best practice in the workplace before we push a design revolution. 

Workstyle #2: I prefer to work locally, so what am I?

My previous blog explained the subtilties between the different type of modern workplace strategy. This sibling blog focuses on the modern office worker types or workstyles.

Presumably, those who work according to a specific workplace strategy are deemed a particular style of worker. For example, ‘home-worker’ is a common phrase to refer to those who regularly or occasionally work from home. ‘Remote worker’ is often used describe those who work outside of the office either at home, in other places (cafés, library) or travelling on business. Myself and others who work in garden cabins refer to ourselves as ‘shed workers’, a sub-group of ‘home-worker’. The latest workstyle, ‘co-worker’, refers to a person who has set up their office base at a co-working hub. The phrases ‘agile worker’, ‘smart worker’ or ‘activity-based worker’ are less commonly used – maybe because they are less popular choices. 

Workstyle #1: Am I an agile or flexible worker and does it matter?

I am working with a client at the moment who is moving to a new building and asked me to review their flexible working policies. Their existing policies are a direct response to the law regarding the right to request to work flexibly, first introduced in the Employment Act 2002 for those with dependents, and extended to all employees by the Flexible Working Regulations 2014. The organisation is implementing desk-sharing in their new office and already supports home-working. So, I was a little surprised that their flexible working policies made no reference to 'agile working', 'smart working' or 'activity-based working' – I was even more surprised that they were not familiar with such terms!

Merry Biophilic Christmas

Last month I sat on a panel discussing the business case for workplace wellbeing, of which one is slowly emerging. That along with Christmas and my Viking* heritage got me pondering on the true origins of biophilic design.  

Biophilia, a term coined by Edward O Wilson, is basically our innate affinity to nature. Biophilic design tends to focus on introducing plants into the workplace but, as explained in a previous blog, it is so much more and taps into our base (evolutionary psychology) needs. Biophilia includes daylight, views, fluctuating temperature, sound-scaping, natural ventilation, natural materials, social spaces, refuge etc – see Bill Browning’s excellent work for a full explanation of biophilic design principles. But bringing nature indoors has been going on for some time, especially around this time of year …

Happy Season's Meetings

This is my penultimate blog of 2018; throughout the year I have attempted to offer blogs on work as well as workplace, in particular how to improve your performance. With the Christmas holidays looming, and my clients trying to tidy up loose ends, I have noticed a rapid increase in the number of meetings I have been invited to. Meetings can be great, a productive way to move things forward, but we have also all attended those that we thought a complete and utter waste of time. So here are my thoughts on how you can master meetings.

Design Fundamentals for an Attractive City

As part of my day-job is speaking at conferences, I get to visit a lot of wonderful cities around the world. The people and culture are fundamental prerequisites of a good city, but design and planning also play an important role in creating an attractive city. In this blog I list the dozen design features that I have found are indicators of cities that I most prefer – they are also actually my place-making criteria. This blog is also an excuse to share some of my holiday photos.

Open plan v private offices déjà vu

Another round of articles was recently published (mostly by Inc.) on why private offices are better than open plan, and consequently suggest we should eschew open plan design.  Despite the open plan office being described as a management fad by one journalist, the adoption of open plan dates back to the 1950s* and the occurrence of such negative articles has been ongoing ever since then. 

However, every five years or so, such articles seem to converge and attract the attention of the mass press. It seems that academics and journalists have a particular dislike for open plan. But open plan is clearly not a “fad” and I suspect it is here to stay, so it is more useful to focus on how to resolve any demonstrated issues with open plan rather than simply say it should be banned. 

Biophilic design is so much more than plants

Those of you who have seen me present or have read my previous blogs will know I am a big advocate of Biophilic Design. But I am not impressed by the recent run of blogs and product/service websites that have reduced Biophilic Design to providing landscaping and plants in the office, proclaiming they reduce air pollutants and improve productivity. Just search for ‘Biophilic Design’ on Google images as an indicator of the emphasis on planting. Particularly frustrating are those ‘green wash’ type posts that imply a potted plant plonked on the desk is the panacea for enhancing wellbeing. My issue with these articles is two-fold:

1. There is so much more to biophilic design than plants, and
2. There are much more efficient ways of reducing air pollutants than adding potted plants.

True ABW Environments

I was fortunate to speak at the CUREM conference at the University of Zurich a couple of weeks ago – I love mixing travel with work, perhaps the topic of a future blog. One of my co-presenters, Itai Palti of UCL and Hume, made a point that struck a chord.

Itai basically said that workplace design is not just about providing the right spaces to facilitate the required work activities, but also about providing the right environmental conditions. I immediately thought of Activity Based Working (ABW) environments and realised I had not quite appreciated their design is much broader than the look of the different types of work settings in the space. And that is despite my research on psychoacoustics, highlighting how different tasks (and people) require different levels/types of sound.

Workplaces for Everyone

I recently chaired the Workplace Trends (WT) conference in Copenhagen - after 15 years of running WT, it was the first outside of the UK, so quite a milestone. One of the recurring themes was around designing for individuals, or specific groups or types of individuals. The speakers referred to personal factors such as age, personality and parental status. There was some discussion around whether we should design for the individual or the organisation. The general consensus appeared to be that we should design for a majority (perhaps the average ± 1sd) as we can’t design for everyone. But to achieve this we must offer choice, of a range of spatial and environmental settings, rather than a one-size-fits-all solution based on the assumed (or sometimes dictated) average.

Where We Work

In previous blogs, I’ve covered the what, how and who we work with, so now I want to touch on the where we work – my main area of expertise. This field is well-reported on by advocates of activity-based working (ABW), agile working or new ways of working (a term still used despite early adopters like Interpolis and Chiat/Day around 25 years ago).