People, businesses and buildings need each other, and one lacks substance without the other. Together, they can form a complex functional mechanism that is capable of bringing something valuable to all of society. Like with any relationship, the “co-existence” of people and buildings can only work as long as each side gives it all they’ve got.
The better a company’s working conditions are, the better the productivity and health for the people who are cooped up inside a given space will be. More talented job candidates will then become interested in the company and individual performance will improve, which will certainly translate into good economic results. Even today, we can see that the buildings that create an environment for success are attracting other prestigious and ambitious companies, meaning more revenue for the developer and the growth of more businesses across the whole city. This effect can be multiplied for an entire urban area, such as in the case of New Nivy.
In order for such a symbiosis to be created, the WaaS strategy brings a new perspective on productivity to the workplace and combines it with data and a human approach.
A space suitable for different types of productivity
When setting up an office space, companies should not only ask themselves what percentage of the office should be open space and how each individual department should be arranged. This is because productivity takes many forms, and each of these forms should be able to find its own application.
Concentration
Low work productivity means significant financial loss. It is therefore understandable that many studies and surveys are devoted to disturbances and stressful factors in the workplace. In general, the results of these studies agree that most people are not happy unless they have a workspace that is both visually and acoustically separated, allowing them to work alone and undisturbed. Almost every respondent that participated in the full range of surveys reported various disturbances as a reason for a decline in their productivity.
A person who is unable to fully devote themselves to their work will not achieve satisfactory results and will instead grow frustrated and become stressed. If this persists for a long period of time, it could result in a deterioration of the employee’s health or even lead to their departure. On a larger scale, this can make it difficult for businesses to attract and retain high-quality personnel who are well aware of their outstanding performance demands.
Collaboration
Having the option to “cut oneself off” from colleagues can help with individual concentration – but without teamwork and coordination in larger organisational units, a company cannot function. The solution to this issue begins with choosing the appropriate layout. Our basic principle is to locate individual components in a way so that employees are able to collaborate as easily as possible, yet they can also adapt the type of space to their workload and eliminate the impact of disturbances. This is a task that requires perfect knowledge and the collection of data about how the company and its management work, as well as knowledge from other fields such as sociology and ergonomics. For individuals to be able to collaborate effectively, it is also necessary to create suitable meeting spaces with sufficient capacity, but in places where these groups will not disturb non-participants.
Relaxation
Just as top athletes can’t get by without an adequate recovery period, even office workers aren’t able to constantly deliver their peak performance unless they have the option to “zone out” for a few moments during the day. Without this, their brains simply will not allow for proper concentration. Leisure zones where they can have a nice undisturbed chat, prepare their own lunch or simply get away from everything for a couple of moments are a highly valued “commodity” for most skilled workers. It’s also a sign that the company cares about its employees and is trying to keep them happy, which has been confirmed by the survey data.