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Workplace Survey
Changes in Spatial Compositions and Seating in the Office
January 20 ,2022
COVID-19 has brought about major changes in the way we work. In this section, we will introduce new ideas regarding spatial compositions and seating arrangements in the office, in light of the expected changes brought about by changes in working styles.
Changes in Work Styles and Offices
Due to COVID-19, many were forced to work from home, and as a result, people have gained more freedom in choosing where to work from (Fig. 1).
In the future, when considering how the office should look, it is necessary to think about how people will use the office and other locations, and what function will lead them to go into the office.
From now on, when considering the functions and scale required for an office, it is necessary to keep in mind the proportion of people who will be there for work, in addition to the nominal number of employees. It will be important to think about ways to utilize the space in the office that exists now and that will be created in the future as much as possible, in ways that conform to the work style policies of the company. Given the changes in work styles, Okamura established an Office Research Center in 1980, and has accumulated considerable knowledge concerning the way in which we work and places we work from over many years.
In this chapter, we will draw on it to predict how the spatial composition of the office is likely to change, and how to think about seating arrangements in a new way, in line with such trends.
How Will the Area Composition of the Office Change?
Perhaps the biggest change in the function of the office is its growing role as a receptacle for collaborative work, rather than for individual tasks.
Okamura believes that in order for a company to grow and create new value, collaboration, sometimes referred to as “cocreation,” will be necessary. “Cocreation” refers to a process that transcends the existing structure of an organization, such as a transdepartmental or trans-sectional project within a company, or collaboration between companies.
In terms of space, this necessitates spaces that can host workshops and brainstorming sessions. It also calls for a design that allows people to linger in comfort, while working on the tasks at hand. Facilities that allow members to take breaks, such as cafes, would be a welcome addition.
Given this, we tried to predict how the area composition of the office will change in the future, incorporating such collaborative functions (Fig. 2, left).
We can pinpoint three areas that are likely to undergo major changes in the future: working areas, meeting areas, and collaborative areas. The characteristics of each area are shown on the right in Fig. 2.
A New Approach to Seating: “Workpoints”
In the future, when a hybrid work style that combines remote and inoffice work becomes widespread and on-site attendance falls, assigning one seat per person will result in inefficiencies, with an office full of vacant chairs.
To prevent this, it will be necessary to introduce a free address system and adjust the number of seats, rather than letting employees occupy specific seats.
Not limiting a desk to one function can improve efficiency as well. For example, until now, chairs in meeting rooms were designated for that function only, and remained vacant when there were no meetings. In the future, it will be important to manage them flexibly, allowing them be used for personal tasks when needed, when there are no other users present.
In order to improve the way seats are assigned, Okamura is proposing that “seats” be reconsidered as “workpoints.” Workpoints refer to seats where employees can work comfortably for certain periods of time, and can take various forms, as shown in Fig. 3. The idea of workpoints is especially useful when adopting an ABW system in which workers carry out different tasks in different places, which is becoming more popular these days.
As shown in Figure 3, workpoints can assume several forms, but managers and office planners must decide how to combine and place them in the office, in light of the work styles they wish to adopt.
Okamura classifies workpoints into three categories: “concentration,” “socializing,” and “collaboration,” so that one can check whether the distribution of workpoints fits the type of work style to be adopted in the office.
Taking the layout shown in the top part of Fig. 4 as an example, “concentration” and “socializing” happen at the workpoints in the working area. Seats reserved for individual work aid concentration, and seats reserved for teamwork help people to socialize. Collaboration happens in the workpoints in the collaboration area.
The radar chart at the bottom of Fig. 4 plots the distribution of the three work points of concentration, socializing, and collaboration, with the average deviation of the Okamura office layout database set at 50. By looking at how the triangle is shaped, it is possible to determine what kind of characteristics the office has.
Classifying Offices Based on Workpoints
The figures shown above are radar charts based on the layout of workpoints plotted according to the three classifications and the distribution of workpoints. Depending on the shape of the radar chart, the target office can be classified into an operational, team-building, or innovative type. It may also be a balanced type, which incorporates the shapes of multiple types.
Determining whether your office layout fits the future office you envision is not easy. But by visualizing the characteristics of the layout on a radar chart, it is possible to judge whether they are a good fit.
By analyzing workpoints in this manner, we can determine the type of the office. We recommend that you take the opportunity to check which type your office corresponds to.
This article was reprinted from the KNOWLEDGE WORK DESIGN REVIEW by Okamura.
Research: Mitsuru Makishima, Mai Morita（Okamura）
Edit: Nanako Ono
Illustration & Infographic: Shinji Hamana、Hana Fujii（Beach）
Production: Plus81 inc.
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