By Öhrn, M., Wahlström, V., Harder, M. S., Nordin, M., Pettersson-Strömbäck, A., Bodin Danielsson, C., Olsson, D., Andersson, M., & Slunga Järvholm, L
July 18, 2021
This study was undertaken in Sweden and funded by AFA Insurance, Umeå University and Västerbotten County Council. Since activity-based flex offices (AFOs) were on the up and up, they wanted to test their perceived productivity, satisfaction, work environment and health. The study follows a public organization as they move from a traditional office to an AFO. They analyzed their data 3 times – baseline, 6 months, and 18 months after relocation. They state that AFOs are promoted due to their reduced facility costs, increased flexibility and more social interaction and higher work satisfaction. However, looking at previous studies this might not be the case across the board, some studies were inconclusive, and others showed a decrease in these perceived concepts.
The hypothesis of this study was "(1) there is no difference in perceived productivity, satisfaction, work environment and health between the two office groups over time, (2) in the AFO, employees with work tasks requiring a high degree of concentration will experience a lower productivity and (3) employees with work tasks requiring a high level of collaboration and communication will experience increased productivity in the AFO."
374 employees were part of this study, 40% relocated to a new cell office while the remaining 60% relocated to an AFO. These allocations were predetermined by the employer. Both office types covered 3 floors, with the distinction of one being mainly single-cell offices with few shared rooms and the other being an open office with workstations, sofas, group tables, varied size meeting rooms and single-cell offices.
Productivity and satisfaction were measured by 20 statements to which they had to respond on a Likert scale of 1: Very dissatisfied to 5: Very Satisfied. The psychosocial work environment was divided into 6 dimensions on a 6-point Likert scale – a high score meaning a positive effect. Physical work environment included questions pertaining to noise disturbance, comfort and work posture and lack of privacy – all on Likert scales but this time a high score meant more distractions. Health was divided into categories such as general health, Salutogenic Health Indicator Scale questions and cognitive stress, again a higher score indicating higher experiences of discomfort.
They found that the AFO decreased productivity and satisfaction of the layout due to increased noise as well as lack of comfort and good posture. Employees that engage in a lot of teamwork were found to remain highly productive while those with tasks requiring high levels of concentration were far less productive. Overall, the study determined that it is necessary to examine what kind of work – interactive or concentrative - you will be doing and if an AFO will be advantageous.
This could be an important study for a company wanting to update its office space. It would help them look at the kind of work they do and then decide on the best way to go about the new space - whether it should be a more traditional single-cell style or more of an activity-based flex office. Say it's an accounting or finance firm, it would probably be better to stick with a more traditional office, as privacy is a huge factor. On the other hand, if it's a marketing firm, where creativity and collaboration are celebrated, the flex office would be a better fit. In other words, this study would be beneficial to all sorts of workplaces.
This was the first thing I read, that didn't have all good things associated with open/flex offices. I thought it was an interesting study to conduct and provided a different perspective. However, it does go to show that there is no one-size-fits-all for office design. I will be very aware of how different elements will affect the kind of work I am doing. This will be beneficial when heading out into the working world after finishing this program.
Öhrn, M., Wahlström, V., Harder, M. S., Nordin, M., Pettersson-Strömbäck, A., Bodin Danielsson, C., Olsson, D., Andersson, M., & Slunga Järvholm, L. (2021, July 18). Productivity, satisfaction, work environment and health after relocation to an activity-based Flex Office-The Active Office Design Study. International journal of environmental research and public health. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8304243/.
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