One Workplace has a long history of designing great workspaces for some of the world\u2019s most innovative companies. In fact, to call the One Workplace headquarters in Santa Clara an \u201coffice\u201d doesn\u2019t quite fit the fully-functioning, 37,000 square foot showroom that the company doesn\u2019t just showcase\u2014but uses. The headquarters aligns with the company\u2019s mission: To create space that inspires people and transforms organizations. For One Workplace, people, place, and technology should all work together seamlessly to reinforce culture as well as productivity.<\/p>\n
Recently One Workplace found itself struggling with some of the same issues it solves for its clients. After adding more than 25 percent to its workforce, their current environment started to feel cramped. The shine had rubbed off, and the office just didn\u2019t seem to fit like it used to.<\/p>\n
To find out how team members were using the space, and what an expansion would look like, One Workplace enlisted Steelcase Workplace Advisor Study<\/a> for a deeper insight.<\/p>\n Study is a space measurement tool from Steelcase. It deploys sensors and other evaluation tools in a one-time episodic use when an organization is looking to justify a large capital expenditure and improve the overall employee experience. One Workplace needed data to determine if they were really using space the way they thought they were. But Study doesn\u2019t just provide objective occupancy data. It also collects qualitative information, letting employees weigh in on their favorite workspaces and space traits through surveys to better understand why some spaces are used and others are not.<\/p>\n \u201cData is important. But it only matters if we can use it to help our employees and customers have a better day at work,\u201d said One Workplace Chief Operating Officer, Mark Baker. \u201cThe space is culturally valuable. The sensors alone wouldn\u2019t tell us that. But, when the data was paired with honest qualitative feedback, we gathered a more complete picture of how we can best support our team.\u201d<\/p>\n When Steelcase analyzed the Study data, the results were surprising. Despite having 260 people in the Santa Clara headquarters, the team on average was only using 36 percent of its space. And the qualitative data explained why. Even though 37,000 square feet was more than ample, the design wasn\u2019t supporting the type of work people were doing, or the One Workplace culture driving that work.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t that we didn\u2019t have enough space. We didn\u2019t have the right kinds of spaces,\u201d said Creative Director, Chris Good. \u201cPrivate space and meeting space are not the same thing. We recognize how space can help shape behavior. We want to use our company culture to drive behaviors and design space around it.\u201d<\/p>\n For example, Study reported One Workplace had 20 one or two-person sessions occurring in private settings at any given time, but only nine spaces designed for those interactions. This might be people taking phone calls, doing heads down focus work or working with another colleague to review a project.<\/p>\n One Workplace also discovered that team members were choosing conference rooms over their own\u00a0modern office tables<\/a> for individual work. There was also a strong internal movement to work remotely outside the office. Ultimately team members felt like the environment didn\u2019t do a terrific job supporting the different ways they wanted to work. And One Workplace wasn\u2019t utilizing technology to help team members reserve the spaces they were actually using.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can design solutions to create change, but only if you are also working to help people embrace that change. In the end, what we\u2019re solving for isn\u2019t about numbers, it\u2019s human experiences,\u201d said Good.<\/p>\n For One Workplace, what started as an inward look into their own environment has turned into a hands-on exercise that\u2019s helping them create a space that showcases what\u2019s possible when data and culture come together. It\u2019s also helped reinforce their core belief: that company culture shouldn\u2019t be left to define itself. Designing around behaviors and culture will ultimately lead to a better, more productive workday.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just our work environments that are changing incredibly fast,\u201d said Good. \u201cHow we work within those environments is changing just as fast. And even though we design workspaces for a living, we\u2019re susceptible to the same forces our clients are. This was an incredible opportunity for us to take a closer look at how we design around culture and behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n One Workplace will begin implementing these changes over the coming year. 360 will share their new space when it\u2019s completed.<\/p>\n For more information on space measurement solutions from Steelcase, visit Smart + Connected Workplace<\/a>.<\/p>\n How One Workplace leveraged data and insights to better support its growing team. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":367159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"topic":[47679],"class_list":["post-367157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","industry-workplace","topic-culture-talent"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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