Contract - May 2012 - (Page 142)

workplace The Metrics of Distributed Work Knoll Study Points to an Emerging Work Model 1. By Dr. Mike O’Neill, senior director of workplace research at Knoll, Inc., and Tracy Wymer, vice president of workplace strategy at Knoll, Inc. In many companies, employees are working in an increasingly social, mobile, and collaborative fashion. The conventional boilerplate office programs and spaces that most of us are familiar with were never intended to support the complexity and unpredictability of these new work patterns. This new workstyle is often referred to as “distributed work”— a combination of heads down “focus” work, formal and informal collaboration of varying duration, and social interaction that occurs in a wide variety of settings within the building, campus, or other locations. In addition to physical space, work policies, communications, and technology networks play a key role in facilitating distributed work. While many organizations currently have distributed work programs, there has been little organized information and few metrics to assist companies wanting to learn more about this emerging workspace strategy. To address this need, Knoll conducted a study that included a cross section of forty organizations across eleven industries, possessing varying levels of familiarity with distributed work programs. Through this project, recapped in this summary, we identified the design attributes of distributed work programs, how success is measured, and the financial and employee satisfaction benefits of this new workplace strategy as compared to the conventional workspace. Square footage targets for workers have dropped dramatically over time. The average square footage per person has steadily declined from about 227 square feet 10 years ago, to 135 square feet per person today (Figure 1). This steady reduction in space is happening in both conventional and distributed work models. Distributed work environments are characterized by a greater variety of workspaces. Distributed work models are driving a 2. 3. 142 contractdesign.com may 2012 http://www.contractdesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - May 2012

Contract - May 2012
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Coming Events
Exhibition: Coverings
Exhibition: Highlights from Salone Internazionale del Mobile
Product Focus: Enlivening the Flexible Office
Product Focus: A Collection to Define 21st Century Herman Miller
NeoCon® Preview
Hospitality’s Influence in Workplace Design
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Campus
Steelcase Office and Work Café
Shlemmer Algaze Associates
Red Bull Amsterdam
THQ
Grey Group Roof Deck
Knoll, East Greenville Headquarters
The Metrics of Distributed Work
Tools: Pinterested, by Design
Exhibition: Hallingdal 65
Designers Select: Office Furniture
Sources
Ad Index
Exhibition: Lasvit Liquidkristal by Ross Lovegrove

Contract - May 2012