Network Landscapes 2016

NetworkLandscapes X

Solutionsfortheofficemigratingawayfrom hierarchical,systemsfocusedenvironments,to morecasualanddiversenetworkspaces.

Realisingafreshgenerationalcounterpointwithin thecontemporaryworkplace.

CREATINGGREATCOLLABORATIVEWORKSPACE

Perhaps within our workplace of ever slick ‘always-on, always-visible’ controlling and homogeneous technology,

w e a r e s e e k i n g a m o r e i d i o s y n c r a t i c , i n d i v i d u a l , c r a f t a n d h a n d m a d e q u a l i t y .

Theofficewillhaveto becomeasofter, morerelaxing,humaneand diverse environment.

As Malcolm Gladwell now articulates, this generational difference highlights a paradigm shift from a hieratical society, to a network society and from the individual to the connected & collaborative.

As the Millennial generation continues to grow in importance within the workplace, so the design values of the contemporary workplace must yield to new ascetic and function demands.

The differences between the Boomer and Millennial generations are profound. The new behaviors and values of the Millennial generation, both cultural and technological, continue to be played out within the workplace.

Perhaps these values are more prevalent and expressed within the embr yonic but rapidly growing coworking spaces, than within the more long established, corporate workplace.

Where their agenda is to demonstrate, through their culture and design that these new work environments are not simply – a new version of the conventional workplace.

the new Network Landscapes.

Spaces we seek out to spend time out’ to relax and socialise.

Places that offer a more comforting counterpoint, to our continuous and 100% demanding networked technology.

Spaces created by individuals, not committees.

Spaces that are not perfect and controlled, that don’t look or feel like a corporate office.

Using non office materials, scale and mix that reflect a more idiosyncratic and personal viewpoint.

helping organisations realise the need for these new, more diverse and relaxing work spaces.

Where the collaborative is more important than the personal and the casual valued above formality.

re-in ve ed An E clectic and ironic mix of new and retro

wi a twist,

to realise a fresh generational counterpoint within the contemporary workplace.

Where the ubiquitousness of made by machine systems, ‘

is balanced with made by hand’ plurality.

Put the funk into functional

Doesn’t look or feel like a corporate office {}

We need to share this on the screen

If today feels just like yesterday, something’s wrong

Spaces created by Individuals, not committees

{}

You used to have a job, but we won’t hold it against you

Collaborate is more important than the personal {}

Everyone together can solve this

Uniformity replaced by diversity and choice

We need to discuss and develop together

T itles suck, this is a

collaborative environment

An eclectic and ironic mix {}

Comforting counterpoint to our 100% technology

Becauseoftheimportanceofthisnew productbandwidthtoOrangebox,

wepresentedthecollection totheseniorteam

inthenewOrangeboxfactoryatParc Nantgarwbeforetheproductionlines wereinstalled.

Exploiting the potential and addressing the shortfalls, of the open plan workspace.

Our ‘always-on’ technology brings one of the key downsides of open plan working, into even more focus.

Being continuously on view - both physically and on-line, has to be balanced with the need to be able to also work with privacy and concentration.

Network Landscapes X

Solutions for the office migrating away from hierarchical, systems focused environments, to more casual and diverse network spaces

Realising a fresh generational counterpoint within the contemporary workplace.

Research and insight exploring the potential to create successful collaborative, open plan workspaces.

Proximity | Privacy | Permission

Insight from over a decade of workspace research by Ann-Laure Fayard and John Weeks finds that a workspace may or may not encourage interaction depending on how it balances three critical elements or “affordances” that have both physical and social dynamics - proximity, privacy and permission

Two reports published by the Harvard Business School in July | August 2011 and April 2012* articulate the pitfall’s of pursuing misguided assumptions when planning and designing collaborative, open plan workspaces

Research finds that the most effective spaces bring people together and remove barriers while also providing sufficient privacy that people don’t fear being overheard or interrupted Additionally successful environments have to clearly indicate, when it’s ok to interrupt and when not

Evidence shows that removing physical barriers and bringing people closer to one another does promote casual interactions. But there’s roughly an equal amount of evidence, which indicates that because open plan spaces reduce privacy, they don’t automatically foster informal exchanges and may actually inhibit them

The HBR reports “Getting the balance wrong can turn a well-meant effort to foster creative collaboration into a frustrating lesson in unintended consequences” The mpl cation from their research shows that “true privacy allows you to control colleagues access to you - so that you can choose whither or not to interact” and “informal nteractions won’t flourish, f people can’t avoid interacting when they wish to”

This invaluable research shows that its critical within any successful collaborative space to proper y balance proximity, privacy and permission and that “project leaders within each organisation have to c early articulate desired behaviors” , in both our physical and increasingly in our virtual spaces

Add t onal research conducted by Alex Pentlands of MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory finds that the chemistry of high-performance groups is not a mystery, but measurable and quantifiable

“High

performance

lies not in the

content of a team’s discussion

He reports it seams almost absurd that how we communicate could be so much more important to success than what we communicate” and his extensive research shows with remarkable consistency that communication plays a cr tical role in building successful teams patterns of commun cation is the most important predictors of a teams success”

Increasingly organisations have to recgonise that what managers sense as an “ineffable buzz or esprit de corps in a good team is actually observable, measurable, and learnable” Pentlands research concludes that creating successful collaborative workspaces need not be a matter of chance but can be planned and he asserts, “data can now provide a foundation on which to build better individual and team performance”

“ but in the manner in which it communicates”.

informal interactions won’t flourish, if people can’t avoid interacting when they wish to”

“

35% of the variation in a teams performance can be accounted for simply by the number of face-to-face exchanges among team members”.

“

Engaging

may seem illogical that

“

If we look at evolutionary history, we can see that language is a relatively recent development and was most likely layered upon older signals that communicate dominance, interest and emotion

Today these ancient patter ns of communications still shape how we make decisions and coordinate work among ourselves”

“We found that

“

Today we know that chance encounters and conservations on the job promote co-operation and innovation, and companies now craft their floor plans and work cultures with this in mind”

Professor Thomas Allen of MIT discovered that the frequency of workers’ interactions, decline exponentially with the distance between their offices

To improve the dissemination and sharing of ideas, we should

create spaces containing several shared resources.

The

social geography of a space

is

a crucial component of its physical layout to a more private space without having to seek a room, avoids a disruption that can end the conservation.

Allow a conservation that began in the open, to move

Informal interactions won’t flourish if people can ’t avoid interacting when they wish to

Permission reflects the interplay of physical space, fur niture and company culture

Build flexibility into your design so that you can test permutations and measure the design’s effects.

A furniture configuration generally gets its intended use only when the design exposes its purpose

Our research shows that if you throw the three P’s - proximity, privacy and permission out of balance you cause casual interaction to plummet

If you don’t build in privacy and convey adequate permission protocols, you will probably end up with a space that triggers ephemeral interactions bearing little fruit

“

We’ve found that many managers say they value informal interactions but in fact crush them by making negative comments when they witness them”

the best predictors of productivity were a teams energy and engagement outside formal meetings”.

The most valuable form of communication is face-to-face The next most valuable is by phone or video conference, but with a caveat: Those technologies become less effective as more people participate”

People need time and space if a light conservation is to evolve into something more substantial.

Two fundamental assets within any o r g a n i s a t i o n a re its people and the

and

technology they

access. Both are changing more rapidly than at any time in history.

As we increasingly value access from a variety of smaller devices, with longer batter y life, instant-on function, and intuitive touch-centric interfaces, so the predominance of the personal desk with its tethered technology will become increasingly obsolete.

Away from the Desk

Net wor k L an d s cap es are d es ign ed t o ex p loit t h e p ot en t ial of t h is n ew s cen ar io an d d eliver a n ew vitality, within a more relaxing, diverse and productive workplace.

The fixed private desk is replaced with a new diversity of work surfaces, both individual and shared.

Network Landscapes X

Solutions for the office migrating away from hierarchical, systems focused environments, to more casual and diverse network spaces.

Realising a fresh generational counterpoint within the contemporary workplace.

Realising a fresh generational counterpoint, with more casual and diverse network spaces.

3 office plans illustrate

Away from the Desk and Network Landscapes,

working with Airea Pods, within a single floor plate.

Demonstrating the diversity of innovative workplace options offered by these three core Orangebox Smartworking products. Which combine to achieve multiple and adjacent work scenarios, for both individual work and collaborative working.

W ith their diversity of multiple work surface options and always with power & data connectivity, screen to screen collaboration tools and semi open or fully enclosed screen conferencing.

1.

Small

Using

materials, scale and mix that reflect a more idiosyncratic and personal viewpoint.

Within the busy open plan and shared office, the ability to arrive, plug in and work privately is critical.

Being able to move seamlessly from concentrating quietly, to having a quick ten minute conservation with colleagues, to a three hour team meeting within the same office space delivers a new vitality to the collaborative workplace, freed from the restraints of fixed and teathered technology.

2.

Where the ubiquitousness of made by

machine

systems, is balanced with ‘made by hand’ plurality.

Our new mobile technologies means we can easily and effectively realise a workplace where ‘your screen is my screen’,

which means we can collaborate more effectively with our colleagues, either within the same space or within diverse locations.

W it h in t h e Away f rom t h e Des k wor k p lace, meetings migrate from being exclusively face to face, to become a mix of both ‘face to face’ and ‘screen to screen’ and more probably a mix of the two.

Our mobile and collaborative technology works tools also means that our collaborations can stay on-line and interactive and our café/break out spaces, rather than being a destination away from our work space, can contribute to a more varied, stimulating and engaging office environment.

3.

Small

The agenda at the heart of Away from the Desk is to achieve a rich diversity of work settings and the ability to refresh with a drink and snack,

without being required to go to a specialist space is a crucial part of this mix .

This ability to work on-line simultaneously will redefine the productive power of collaboration and help install a new vitality within organisations that pursue the economic benefits offered

Always on’ technology demands more from all of us and as our networks move towards

omnipresence and we become always visible, this constant pressure to respond, means our work environment will have to reciprocate - with more diverse and relaxing work spaces

Network Landscapes X

Solutions for the office migrating away from hierarchical, systems focused environments, to more casual and diverse network spaces.

Realising a fresh generational counterpoint within the contemporary workplace.

We no longer tell our people, where they must work. We wont even tell them any longer, how they must work. We now make agreements on the results they must achieve and we create great environments, to let this happen”.

In a saturated market where product and brand innovation will be quickly copied and assimilated into the workplace spec’. Having a continuously authentic and authoritative voice is critical, to long term prosperity and meaningful growth.

Away from the Desk & Network Landscapes are product platforms focused on conveying an innovative and relevant narrative, bor n from research and insight. To deliver product stories, which can realise substantial market traction and create clear ground for Orangebox, within our saturated markets.