An activity based office : experiences of a change from open office landscapes to activity based workplace

摘要

Introduction: Activity based workplace is an office concept where analysis of an organization´s activities is the foundation from which the office area is dimensioned. In most cases this means that coworkers give up their private workplace in order to enable flexibility with ability to choose work environment depending on need. The last couple of years many companies started up activitybased workplaces. There are not so many studies yet focusing on this kind of work environment. In this study 43 coworkers at Scania CV AB moved from open office landscapes to an activitybased office. Purpose:The purpose of this study was to investigate coworkers´ experiences of a change from open office landscapes to an activity based workplace regarding perceived health, productivity and work ability. The purpose was also to investigate the concept activity based workplace from an interdisciplinary view called MTO, which means human factors, technology and organization. Method: The study is divided in two different methods, a quantitative part with surveyquestions and a qualitative part with interviews. In the survey respondents answered questions regarding perceived health, productivity, physical work environment and work ability before move, three months after move and six months after move. The Salutogenic Health Indicator Scale (SHIS) was used to measure perceived health. Questions about perceived productivity were taken from an office study of Brennan A, Chugh JS & Kline T (2002, 279-299). Questions regarding perceived physical work environment was made only for this study. ”Single item” from Work Ability Index was used to measure perceived work ability. The survey also contained two open questions. The interviews were semi-structured with a focus on human factors, technology/IT, environment and organization. Results: Perceived health and productivity improved on group level three months after move from open plan offices to the activity based workplace compared to baseline. The improvement did not last after six months. Perceived work ability did not change on group level. Results from interviews show that the activitybased workplace can be analyzed and evaluated from an MTO-perspective. Conclusions: This study shows that a change of work environment from open office landscapes into an activitybased office can influence perceived productivity and health positively in a shorter perspective. In order to achieve succesfull results in a longer perspective an interdisciplinary approach is recommended, with focus on human work processes, environment, IT and organization. This study needs to be repeated in larger office changes including more individuals and longer follow up period.