Browsing by Subject "drivers of non-territorial workspace"

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    Examining Drivers of Non-Territorial Workspace in Corporate Applications
    (2019-11) Farniok, Anne
    The purpose of this exploratory study was to gain an understanding of the drivers of a radical shift happening within space planning of office interiors. We are at a pivotal point in the design of the office. The cubicle farms or Dilbertvilles of the past are no longer the accepted norm in workplace environments (Miller, 2014). Gone are the days of providing the standard 8’ x 8’ workstation with a behemoth personal computer where a worker was tethered to where and how they worked. Designers of today are being asked to create interior environments that respond to a variety of requests that are beneficial to the company as well as the employee. The designer is challenged with creating an experience that attracts and retains knowledge- based workers while also fulfilling the company’s needs to being cost effective and efficient (Miller, 2014). There are a multitude of drivers that play into the creation of the ultimate workspace. This thesis asks the question: What are the drivers for companies to move to a non-territorial workspace strategy (NTWS)? NTWS gained strength during the global financial crisis (2008) as a way to save money by reducing space usage (Katrina, 2013). NTWS is a strategy that focuses on current workplace trends of mobility and flexibility. Statistically, occupancy rates of traditional workspace, range from 50-80% (Office, 2018). To minimize real estate and the associated costs that are encumbered with increased space usage, NTWS or free address strategy uses unassigned workspace (i.e., no longer dedicated to a specific person), but allows employees to choose or reserve a workspace on their arrival. The NTWS uses data from occupancy surveys to show a building’s space usage. These occupancy surveys show that on any given day (in a territorial workspace), approximately 70% of your workstations or offices would be filled (Office, 2018). Non-territorial workspace strategy has many different pseudonyms: free address, hoteling, agile work, mobile work, and activity-based work. NTWS is the practice of not assigning an office employee a permanent workstation or office. The researcher used two forms of research. Initial informal exploratory subject-matter expert interviews followed by seven case studies of multinational fortune 500 companies in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota area that analyzed the drivers for companies, along with the differences and similarities in their approaches to NTWS. The NTWS strategy is in conflict with established environmental psychology constructs and the theory of motivating factors that identifies place attachment and territoriality as a key component in people’s comfort with their surroundings. The research showed that each company selected NTWS as a means to solve needs to reduce costs and as a method to work differently in response to a changing work culture. This paper will explore the concepts that are used in non-territorial workspaces and outcomes observed through the research.