Franklin Becker

The total workplace

Argues that the concept of the total workplace goes beyond physical facilities to take account of the whole network of social, organisational, and design elements that constitute the context in which we spend our working lives. Uses the Steelcase Corporate Development Centre, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as an example of a total workplace, and to show the effectiveness of teamwork and the critical need for communication in advanced work culture. Discusses a number of key social process areas that represent an integral part of the workplace. Finally, considers the application of the total workplace concept to other organisations and contexts.

Effects of lensed-indirect and parabolic lighting on the satisfaction, visual health, and productivity of office workers.

A pre- and post-renovation survey evaluated the reactions of office workers to two office lighting systems: a parabolic downlighting system and a ceiling suspended, lensed-indirect uplighting system. Questionnaire data on work content, perception of ambient environmental conditions (including office lighting), work-related health symptoms, job stress, job satisfaction, and self-reported productivity, and environmental data on illumination, air temperature, and relative humidity were collected. The lensed-indirect lighting system was more favourably rated on several subjective lighting impressions scales, and for computer work workers reported fewer screen glare problems, and fewer and less frequent problems with tired eyes and eye focusing. Productivity was less hindered by the lensed-indirect lighting, and satisfaction with office lighting and ratings of lighting quality were significantly higher for this system. These reactions were not associated with any differences in levels of illumination between the lighting systems. Ratings of lighting satisfaction and lighting importance were inversely related. Overall, some two-thirds of workers indicated a preference for working under the lensed-indirect lighting system.

Office Design in a Community College Effect on Work and Communication Patterns

Few studies have assessed how characteristics of the physical setting affect specific organizationally-valued behaviors. The present study compares the effects of open-private, closed-shared, and closed-private offices on faculty work patterns and faculty-student interaction. One hundred faculty and 356 students completed questionnaires. In addition, systematic observations of faculty offices over a several day period were conducted to assess occupancy rates as a measure of adaptation to unsupportive physical surroundings. Faculty in open-private offices reported significantly more difficulty working efficiently and concentrating. Both faculty and students reported that faculty were less available in open-private as compared to closed-private offices, and both groups reported that the quality of performance feedback either given or received suffered in the open plan compared to traditional shared or single-occupancy offices. The implications of the design and use of the physical setting for individual and organizational effectiveness in college and other client-centered settings are discussed.

Hospital facilities and the role of evidence‐based design

Purpose – Drawing on recent research related to hospital facilities, this paper aims to discuss the role of evidence‐based design in facility planning and design as a key element in helping the field of facility planning and management continue to strengthen professional practice.Design/methodology/approach – The discussion draws on relevant literature and recent research.Findings – Evidence‐based design is having a major impact on planning and design of hospital facilities, and can play a similar role for other facility types.Originality/value – Calls for evidence‐based design for healthcare facilities abound. This paper discusses important issues surrounding the implementation of an evidence‐based design approach that need to be considered for this approach to be successful in all types of facilities.

Nursing Unit Design and Communication Patterns: What is “Real” Work?

While considerable attention has been paid to how the design of nursing units can help reduce nurse fatigue, improve safety, and reduce nosocomial infection rates, much less attention has been paid to how nursing unit design influences informal communication patterns, on-the-job learning, and job stress and satisfaction. Yet the literature consistently cites communication among diverse caregivers as a critical component for improving quality of care. This paper reviews relevant literature related to nursing unit design and communication patterns, and suggests an evidence-based design research agenda grounded in the concept of “organizational ecology” for increasing our understanding of how hospital design can contribute to improved quality of care.

Effects of nursing unit spatial layout on nursing team communication patterns, quality of care, and patient safety.

Studies investigating factors contributing to improved quality of care have found that effective team member communication is among the most critical and influential aspects in the delivery of quality care. Relatively little research has examined the role of the physical design of nursing units on communication patterns among care providers. Although the concept of decentralized unit design is intended to increase patient safety, reduce nurse fatigue, and control the noisy, chaotic, and crowded space associated with centralized nursing stations, until recently little attention has been paid to how such nursing unit designs affected communication patterns or other medical and organizational outcomes. Using a pre/post research design comparing more centralized or decentralized unit designs with a new multi-hub design, the aim of this study was to describe the relationship between the clinical spatial environment and its effect on communication patterns, nurse satisfaction, distance walked, organizational outcomes, patient safety, and patient satisfaction. Hospital institutional data indicated that patient satisfaction increased substantially. Few significant changes were found in communication patterns; no significant changes were found in nurse job satisfaction, patient falls, pressure ulcers, or organizational outcomes such as average length of stay or patient census.

Interaction, identity and collocation: What value is a corporate campus?

Corporate campuses have been justified on many grounds, including lower operational costs, greater flexibility, stronger corporate branding and enhanced cross‐functional communication. Despite the tens of millions of dollars spent to acquire and develop them, little research exists that has systematically tested the validity of the benefits attributed to a corporate campus. This paper reports on an initial set of case studies examining one potential benefit of a corporate campus: the nature and extent of communication across organisational units. The results suggest that the amount of cross‐unit communication on a corporate campus may be less than expected. Implications for workplace and collocation strategies are discussed.

Improving organisational performance by exploiting workplace flexibility

Companies large and small, in every industry, face a common challenge: do more, better, with less. The organisational problems to be solved, while meeting this kind of corporate mandate, are also widely shared: attract and retain high quality employees; strengthen brand identity; increase flexibility in the face of highly uncertain market conditions and new technologies; assimilate mergers and acquisitions; accommodate frequent changes in group and team size and structure. This paper describes findings from research that examined the workplace strategies of independent small startup initiatives, as well as those initiated inside large corporations. The findings suggest that it is possible to identify aspects of overall workplace planning and design that reduce costs and increase flexibility while maintaining or enhancing organisational effectiveness.

The effects of user-generated design modifications in a general hospital

The present study investigated the effects of relatively minor design modifications in one wing of a local hospital on the organizational climate of the institution and the behavior of various user groups. Results showed that the changes had positive effects for patients and staff members on mood and morale and on the perceived quality of health care, while visitors reacted negatively to the modifications. Use of the more public areas of the experimental ward increased as a result of the alterations, especially in the evenings when more visitors were present. The positive effects occasionally spread to other wards as well.

Workplace Planning, Design, and Management

As part of a general management theory, Frederick Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management (1911) marked a great turning point in our thinking about how the planning, design, and management of the workplace affects individual and organizational performance. With respect to physical design, Taylor did much more than simply suggest how factors such as office layout affect work patterns. He articulated a fundamental philosophy of office planning and design that almost 80 years later is still a powerful force influencing how offices are designed and planned in North America. Its hallmark was efficiency. Furniture and plant layouts that minimized “wasted” movement (and thus wasted time and money) were the goal.