Activity Based Working is the future of work

What is activity based working? 

Activity-based working is a new way of working which breaks down the office silos synonymous with the ‘traditional’ workspace. It aims to create an environment where employees can be much more independent and flexible, enabling teams to  deliver their best work. It is fast becoming a popular alternative to the ‘traditional’ workspace, and the workspace of choice for employers and employees.

This style of work goes far beyond the flex-working model of ‘hot desking’ and flexible hours. Activity based working places a great emphasis on aligning the work activities of a company with the office layout and design. No employee has an assigned desk to do all their work, teams don’t sit together, and it’s unlikely an employee will work from the same space for an entire day. Instead, an activity based workspace is designed to be fluid and diverse. Work areas are physically, aesthetically and technically designed to create the optimal environment for different activities - from focus tasks and formal meetings, to collaborative brainstorms and informal gatherings.

With such a variety of workspaces, in an activity based working office, the onus is on the employee to work in the space that is most suited to the task at hand. 

Are there benefits or is this just a bit of fun? 

Although this approach is relatively new, it’s already proven to offer many benefits, with employees in this environment demonstrating increased efficiency, motivation, and satisfaction compared to those in traditional office layouts. A study by Leesman found that employees are 20% more satisfied with their work when away from the desk, compared to non activity based working employees. 

It makes sense though, right? Office workers spend the best part of their day in the office, usually between 8am and 6pm. Employers should recognise that in order to enable employees to produce their best work and have increased overall job engagement and satisfaction they can’t be expected to work all day in a monotonous environment. Indeed, according to Steelcase 88% of highly engaged employees say they have the option to choose where in the office they work based on the specific task(s) they need to do.

Aside from the interchangeable physical and environmental benefits, activity based working also encourages collaboration and ideas-sharing between employees. Leesman also found that employees are 14% more satisfied with informal social interactions than their counterparts. 

Implementing a business transformation

Activity based working isn’t a workstyle that can be implemented overnight. It requires business leaders and employees alike to understand and buy into its benefits, and adopt a new mindset. It should be approached as a business transformation, with substantial investment, both financially and in terms of time. 

Communicating the intention behind this reimagined workplace should be the number one priority. Activity based working environments can fail if employees are not on board and the company will struggle to see benefits materialise. 

The switch shouldn’t be seen as an insurmountable negative though. Leaders should begin by doing their research, assessing all the activities that are completed on a regular basis and therefore what the environment should include. As companies scale and change, so will employees’ activities and needs, regular feedback from the team will help to make sure the workspace evolves in a way that meets these needs.  

Co-working spaces and activity based working

So, understandably it can be an overwhelming prospect for a business - young or experienced - to transition into an activity based workplace. And, with the investment required, no one wants to get it wrong. 

Flexible workspace providers offer a natural solution for many companies looking to embrace this new way of working. Most tout the latest technology, are flexible in nature, low-cost, low-commitment and delivered by experts in workspace design and aesthetics. Indeed, we have seen many companies go from scaleup to a successfully established business whilst using this approach. 

However, the design and layout doesn’t always strike the right balance straight away and sometimes for a scaling company the rate of activity change is quicker than expected. Flexibility to customise and tweak elements is vital. A workspace  which can be easily adapted is ideal for businesses who want to trial this approach. 

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Top Tips

1. Understand the intention. Knowing what your organisational intention is for your activity based workspace will help when it comes to deciding and prioritising some of the layout elements of the space. E.g. collaboration, efficiency, innovation, retention, costs. Before you start, set out your objectives and rank them.
   

2. Canvas team opinions and ideas. It’s vital that you understand their ideas, challenges, needs and behaviours before you make any decisions. If you can, speak to each individual employee 1-2-1. If this isn’t feasible, then ensure you have in place a mechanism for each employee to share feedback, and give them face time in groups. 
   

3. Work with experts. If you are working with experts and a flexible workspace provider, bring them into the process from the beginning and give them oversight of the feedback from your employees. They’ll be able to help you navigate what the feedback means and how it can be used to build your space.
   

4. Consider technology. This shouldn’t be an afterthought but embedded in the process of design from the start. Understand what technology is required for the space, why it’s important, and what design impact it will have.
   

5. Run a pilot. This isn’t always feasible, but an early pilot space will allow your employees to try different environments and will help you discover what works for your company’s space. Then you can make changes before you commit to the full transformation.
   

6. Evaluate. Decide at the beginning how you’re going to capture feedback and evaluate the pros and cons of your workspace, as your company scales and changes.
   

7. Iterate. Don’t expect a perfect result, instantly. In line with your evaluation process, ensure that the space can be changed and updated easily over time in line with your business’s evolution as it scales.
   

8. Enable two-way communication. It is imperative that employees feel that they have the ability to ask questions to the people leading the change. This is different to just keeping employees informed and asking for any questions and will help the transition move smoothly. 

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