The COVID-19 pandemic will serve as a capstone to more than two decades of cultural change in the workplace. As we emerge to find a new normal, companies that identify and leverage the positive aspects of these changes will have massive competitive advantages. Companies that don’t will fall behind. Let’s take a look at the history of office spaces and the efforts to change them over the decades, and then forecast what is on the horizon.
For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, white-collar workspaces existed inside the four walls of a company’s building, and the design thinking that organized the space within was fundamentally about status and the maximization of real estate.
Moving forward, different philosophies now drive workspace design. Employers are more likely to seek out buildings that maximize natural elements that bring people joy, with plants, natural sunlight and views of the moving, robust cities in which we live. Likewise, interiors feature local art and décor that celebrate the communities in which businesses exist. Going even further, companies will begin to recognize that giving their staff access to outdoor workspaces and the panoply of rich work settings in urban landscapes increases both their well-being and their productivity.
One of the first efforts to change the status quo was Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Co. headquarters. It was designed with a 76-foot-tall light court to provide natural sunlight to all of the floors. Unfortunately, the Larkin Co. still organized its staff into tightly packed rows of desks to maintain a culture of “supervision and surveillance” over work that employees described as “numbing.”
Another pioneering figure was Herman Miller designer Robert Probst, who invented Action Office in 1964. The kit of modular furnishings included features such as tackboards for individualization, and for each employee one sitting and one standing desk. It also included a variety of collaboration stations, meeting tables and private phone booths. The forward-thinking design was “about movement” and not “keeping people in place.”
It was another Herman Miller designer, George Nelson, who anticipated that planners would use the system not for freedom, but to “cram in a maximum number of bodies.” By the end of the 20th century, the brilliant system designed to liberate workers would be bastardized to create those work milieus lampooned in movies like “Office Space” or cartoons like “Dilbert.”
The millennial generation began to enter the workforce in the 21st century. They brought revolutionary values that championed time and experiences above money and status. In 2020, Generation Z represented one quarter of the entire global workforce. The penultimate culture changers, Gen Z takes the values and the technological skills that millennials championed to a new level. The technologies that both generations were brought up with are strong egalitarian forces generally, so the specific expectations these generations have brought to the workplace clash with the status-based model prevalent for so long.
Frank Gehry’s MPK20 Facebook headquarters was a noble attempt to adapt workspaces to these 21st century changes. It featured rooftop gardens and urban art and sat Mark Zuckerberg alongside the other 2,800 engineers in one massive warehouse room.
In general, the open office concept earnestly aimed to fix much of what was wrong with office design. It can deliver more natural light to more people and can foster collaboration, trust and egalitarianism. But, too zealous to reduce the private offices and high-walled cubicles (symbols of so much that was wrong before), open office concepts still relegated employees to a specific work setting inside the four walls of the company’s building — or in the case of Facebook, inside the company’s campus. Missing from the open office concept was the freedom to move and find private spaces for quiet focus; or even spaces in the outdoors or the culturally rich and creatively engaging spaces of an urban landscape.
In many ways, the pandemic has served as a turning point for organizations. As we return to our office spaces, we have an opportunity for change. Here are some of the most critical things organizations are considering as they move forward in a post-pandemic world.
Embracing the virtual-communication tools honed by the tech industry and already used by Gen Z outside of work will have an enormous impact. Gone are the days when companies relegated high-tech communication equipment to one large, fancy conference room for executives. The best companies are prioritizing getting high-quality communication tech into the hands of all staff.
In the years just preceding the pandemic, workplace designers had already begun espousing the benefits of unassigned, “free address” office design. Smart companies will break free from each employee having only a single assigned space that they are confined to. Instead, they will provide a variety of work settings, including leaving the office altogether, as options throughout the day and work week. The smartest companies will also develop ways to capitalize on natural light, outdoor views and workspaces in an urban environment that invigorates the individual much like its known to invigorate communities, maximizing exposure to arts, restaurants, shops and parks.
While many have seen the benefit of remote work, we have also experienced its limits. Zoom fatigue, anyone? In-person interaction is the most effective way to form work relationships and develop a strong company culture. The best companies will also be intentional about designating group meeting spaces outside of individual work stations. These community areas won’t shy away from infusing human personality and the use of art and culture that connects employees to their local community.
Companies cannot go back to pre-21st-century design driven by status or maximizing physical real estate. They must even avoid designs like the open-office concept that still dictates the kind of workspace that all employees will have. They should embrace designs that maximize space and optional settings. They should connect employees with nature and their local culture. They should empower employees with the tools and technology they need to get the job done. This all leads to happy employees and healthy work culture, but it is also practical and profitable. In the end, it will be these companies that outshine the rest.
Sarah Hickey contributed to this article.
Zac Cerrato is an owner and principal at Evo Business Environments in Little Rock.
