Academy of Management – Montreal, August 2010
Jacqueline C. Vischer PhDProfesseure émérite
Faculté de l’aménagementUniversité de Montréal
1. Size and/or cost issues2. New tools and technology3. Organisational restructuring4. Change organisational culture5. Take advantage of the New Workspace
Opportunity
From: Vischer, J.C. 2007 Space Meets Status: Designing Workplace Performance Routledge
Fear of the unknown
Fear of innovation Fear of losing the
familiar Fear of losing
ground Fear of conflict
Psychological comfort
Functional Comfort
Physical Comfort
HABITABILITY THRESHOLD
FUNCTIONAL COMFORT
Health and Safety Building codes and
standards Basic utility – Habitability threshold
Workspace supports work
Indoor air quality and thermal comfort
Lighting and daylighting
Spatial layouts and privacy
Human and building noise control
PHYSICAL COMFORT
Own (occupy)
Defend
Mark (identify)
Possess (control access)
Sense of belonging
Personalization
•Space privacy
•Work confidentiality
•Job status
•Sense of history / longevity
•Personal control
•physical controls
•empowerment / ownership
1. Fear of loss2. Mistrust of superiors3. Leaders or champions?4. Change is too radical5. No explicit process6. Costs too much7. Need for new learning
1. Manage user involvement2. Take advantage of the New
Workspace Opportunity3. Reduce fear, increase functional
comfort4. Increase workspace effectiveness
through environmental empowerment
1. Transformation as imperative2. Play out the process3. Embrace conflict4. Avoid the default5. Not a zero sum game6. Empowerment is key7. Change is positive
Stakeholders need to recognize and work with workspace design as a tool for change by being responsive to the opportunity offered by the new workspace imperative.
Not all stakeholders will want workspace change, or tolerate the same degree of innovation; the process must take its course
Note that stakeholders are senior managers, middle managers, employees, facilities staff, design consultants
Conflicts are inevitable, they arise out of fear. Steps need to be taken to manage constructively the energy released by conflict, to the advantage of the change process.
The default position in space-related decision-making is what already exists and what everybody already knows (the tried and true) – except that it is a reversion to ‘no-change’ and not a step forward.
For everything taken away from occupants when their workspace is changed, something must be given back; any loss of that which is familiar is immediate, whereas gains sometimes need time to be felt.
It is important to empower users so that they invest in workspace decisions. The strategic approach to users’ involvement is explicitly designed to fit the project and organisational context.
New workspace implies a new social order, new business processes, even new behaviour and cultural norms. These must be addressed explicitly during the change management process.
COMFORT
WELL-MANAGED WORKSPACE CHANGE
STRESS
From: Vischer, J.C. 2007 Space Meets Status: Designing Workplace Performance Routledge
Please contact us:Jacqueline C. [email protected]
Our website:www.gret.umontreal.ca
Please contact us:Jacqueline C. [email protected]
Our website:www.gret.umontreal.ca