All About Activity-Based Offices: Pros, Cons & Research

What is an activity-based office?

An activity-based office is a type of office environment where employees do not have fixed desk locations, but can instead choose to work in different types of locations designed to solve different types of needs. It is therefore a matter of letting the task or activity that you currently have to carry out control where in the office you work.

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Do you need to work undisturbed? Yes, then there is a surface for that. Do you need to brainstorm with your colleagues? Yes, then there is another surface for it. Or maybe you need to have a digital meeting? Yes, then there is a third surface for that. You guys get the point.

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Thus, an activity-based workplace can include different types of workspaces, such as individual desks, communal desks, meeting rooms of different sizes, quiet departments, relaxation areas, and so on. The idea is that these surfaces will create a more flexible and adaptable work environment, which in turn can contribute to a higher well-being as well as increased creativity and efficiency.

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What does an activity-based office look like?

In general, it can be said that the workplace is divided into different zones aimed at solving different needs.

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These zones can be:

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• Silent wards: places where talking on the phone or with others is simply not allowed. Like in the library. It's kind of.

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• Social Surfaces: Formal or informal places where you can tune in, collaborate and converse with colleagues.

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• Meeting rooms of different sizes: Different types of meeting rooms in varying decor and design to suit different types of meetings. Everything from soundproof booths for phone calls or digital meetings to informal rooms for creative brainstorming to more formal conference rooms.

• Physical surfaces: Places where you can move while working, such as treadmills.

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It is important to emphasize that there is not really a one-size-fits-all solution. All workplaces face different challenges and have different needs. After all, the point of an activity-based office is that the site as such should support all the different types of activities going on in the office. So although the above-mentioned zones are often found in activity-based offices, there is not really a finished drawing of what it should look like, but all workplaces need to do their own needs analysis before adapting their workplace. Why also all activity-based offices or workplaces in one way or another are designed differently.

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Advantages and disadvantages of activity-based workplaces

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Advantages

• Increased flexibility and adaptability, employees can choose the zone that suits the activity they are currently performing
• Increased concentration and productivity
• Increased social community and collegial support
• Ability to use the workplace in a more sustainable way, as there are no need for as many fixed desk places

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Disadvantages

• It can be difficult to strike a good balance between flexibility and structure
• It can be difficult to make all employees feel comfortable with the new way of working
• May require investment in technology and infrastructure to enable an activity-based workplace
• It can be difficult to find a solution that works for everyone, as different people have different needs and preferences when it comes to working environment
• May lead to decreased concentration and productivity
• May lead to a feeling of inferior group belonging

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What does the research say about activity-based offices?

As always, there are two sides of the same coin and as you can see, there are both pros and cons associated with activity-based offices that are directly contradictory. So let's take a closer look at what the research says about activity-based offices.

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Activity Based Offices Increase Productivity?

One of the main advantages that is usually highlighted with activity-based workplaces is the flexibility and adaptability that the way of working offers.

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Employees can choose the zone that best suits the activity they are currently doing, which can contribute to both increased concentration and productivity. In a study of the Swedish Transport Administration's change from an open office landscape to an activity-based approach, it was found that most people become more productive if they change places four times or more in a day.

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At the same time, there are reports that concentration and productivity are decreasing in activity-based offices. In fact, in the study of the Swedish Transport Administration's change of working methods, productivity decreased in 3 out of 4 offices. A likely contributing reason for this was that most employees rarely changed jobs.

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It is also quite common for employees in activity-based offices They see their workplace as busy.. Helena Jahncke, Associate Professor of Occupational Health Sciences and project manager for the Swedish Transport Administration's study, believes that peace and quiet are a must for concentration-intensive tasks. Being disturbed or interrupted by sound and shoals quickly reduces efficiency. However, if you can work undisturbed, productivity can increase, something that Jahncke found support in the study by the Swedish Transport Administration.

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Although overall productivity declined in the majority of offices, employees working in soundproofed rooms and to some extent in quiet zones actually became more productive. Thus, it seems that it is necessary to find the right balance between zones and activities in order to increase efficiency and productivity.

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Activity Based Offices Lead to Increased Social Community?

Another advantage that is often mentioned when talking about activity-based offices is that they can contribute to a more social and cohesive workplace culture. By not having fixed locations, employees can more easily meet and interact with each other, which can contribute to increased community and collegial support in the workplace.

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Lisbeth Slunga Järvholm, Associate Professor at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine at Umeå University, led a study that examined how employees are affected by switching to an activity-based approach. In the study, she was able to see that many perceived the activity-based office as stimulating and more dynamic. Employees felt that they met more people and it was easier with spontaneous meetings for ideas and quick problem solving.

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Contradictory evidence can be found in Melina Forooraghis, researcher in archival architecture and civil engineering at Chalmers in Gothenburg, Sweden, a thesis that examines how health is affected in activity-based offices. She says that a recurring point of view from employees in activity-based offices is that many people perceive it as an obstacle to social interaction that their colleagues do not sit in designated places. Instead of feeling an increased social community, the people in the study expressed that they felt more anonymous and isolated due to the indefinite division of places.

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It can be difficult to make all employees feel comfortable in activity-based offices?

A challenge that is often highlighted with activity-based offices is that it can be difficult to make everyone feel satisfied with the new way of working. And this is of course absolutely true, because we are all different as people and partly work with different tasks.

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Lisbeth Slunga Järvholm, you remember, Associate Professor at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine at Umeå University, who was the project leader for the study that examined how employees are affected by switching to the activity-based way of working. She believes that those who thrive best in the activity-based office are managers and employees with tasks that require more communication and interaction, as the study found that the way of working allowed for easier collaboration between different units.

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On the other hand, people working with concentration-intensive tasks did not enjoy nearly as well, which reinforces the thesis of this article's other associate professor, Helena Jahnckes, that concentration-intensive tasks such as reading and writing require a quiet working environment, which is not what the activity-based office always seems to be. Lisbeth Slunga Järvholm also points out that people who had previously experienced problems with long-term stress or mental illness of various kinds also felt less comfortable with the transition to the activity-based way of working.

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So there is reason why it can be difficult to make all employees feel comfortable in the activity-based workplace.

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Activity-based offices create the opportunity to use the workplace in a more sustainable way?

An additional advantage highlighted in the debate on activity-based offices is that it is a sustainable and environmentally friendly way of working, as it can not only streamline work, but also how the office space is used, since there is no need for as many fixed desks. Fewer fixed locations means less space, which means less space that needs to be heated, illuminated and electrified, which ultimately means less resources need to be used as a workplace.

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This equation, of course, goes together on paper, but in practice it doesn't necessarily have to be true and even if it is - not all times be clever. Björn Cárdenas, occupational health and safety strategist at the trade union Vision, mentions that many of their members feel that their employers are switching to activity-based offices because of cost savings in the rental of premises rather than because they want to improve operations.

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But as Melina Forooraghi - you remember, she was a researcher in architecture and civil engineering at Chalmers in Gothenburg - points out, activity-based offices are primarily about adapting the office to the prevailing conditions and the situation of the employees. Not about making the office smaller. Thus, a well-functioning activity-based office does not automatically become more sustainable and therefore not always an obvious saving for employers, although it can of course mean that.

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Which office do you want?

With our comprehensive Workplace as a Service solution, you can easily create the office you want. Choose and choose from a variety of office services, all with only 6 months notice, so that you can easily remove, add or pause - to give you the most flexible workplace and service possible.

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Not sure what you really want and need? Then we are more than happy to help you customize your workplace according to your unique needs and wishes. Leave your contact details via our contact form and we will get back to you.

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Sources:

Haapakangas, A., Hallman, D., Mathiassen, S. & Jahncke, H. (2018). Self-rated productivity and employee well-being in activity-based offices: the role of environmental perceptions and workspace usage. Building and Environment.

Hallman, D., Mathiassen, S. & Jahncke, H. (2018). Sittingpatternen after relocation to activity-based offices: een controlled-studis van een naturalintervention. Preventive Medicine, 111, 384—390.

Melina Forooraghi (2022). Healthy Offices: Conceptualizing Healthy Activity-Based Offices.

Pettersson-Strömbäck, A., Bodin Danielsson, C., Nordin, M., Öhrn, M., Harder, M., Olsson, T., Slunga-Järvholm, L. (2018). Final report from the AKTIKON PROJECT in Örnsköldsvik Municipality: Work environment, physical activity, health and productivity in an activity-based office environment — a controlled study in Örnsköldsvik Municipality.