Once you stake out your space on the beach, it’s really hard to make room for others who show up later in the day with their own set of blankets, coolers, and sand shovels. Giving up office space for a shared workspace can be just as hard.
STAKING A CLAIM
This summer, I spent a few weeks vacationing at the beach. For many of us, lying on the sand enjoying the warm breezes and the calming sounds of the ocean waves is an idyllic way to vacation. But, for those of us who travel to the more popular beach resorts, another less-ideal aspect of the beach is angling for just the right spot on the sand and making sure other beach-goers don’t intrude on our privacy. This experience got me thinking – just like a space on a beach, once we’ve staked our claim on a private office, it's not easy giving up office space, even when the proposed alternative is a fresh, new, modern collaborative layout.
IT’S OUR PERSONAL SPACE!
So, why is it so hard to give up a space that belongs to us? I think the main reason is just that – it’s a space that we feel belongs to us! Of course in an office, we don’t physically own the space but for those with an assigned space – either an individual private office or even an open workstation – it’s our space, even our identity in the office. In my very first job fresh out of school, my office was a workstation that consisted of a metal desk with a drawer that had to be forcibly wrestled open, a stained and worn fabric partition divider, and an old desk chair on wheels that was a chiropractor’s dream. The meek space signified that I was the youngest and most inexperienced member of the team just starting my career. The point was that it was my workspace and I wasted no time in laying out my personal items and making it my own.
As I progressed in my career, I ultimately made it to a private, corner office, with a bank of windows, an expansive view, a comfortable chair, visitor seating, and a small conference table and chairs. It was as far from my humble first workspace as a bucket of Thrasher’s fries on the boardwalk is from a gourmet six-course meal with wine pairings from an expert sommelier. Yet, the concept was the same – it was my space.
FEARING THE UNKNOWN
There’s other reasons why it’s hard to give up space, including fear of the unknown and a reluctance to give up what many view as a status symbol in the workplace. Many modern space transformation projects are actually space reduction projects, intended to reduce the overall footprint and corresponding rent and facility upkeep costs. These projects typically transition employees from private offices to open workstations and from working in individually assigned workspaces to sharing a range of space types based upon the need on any given day. With these extensive changes, fear of the unknown is a very real and understandable phenomenon. When you add in the shock of giving up office space or an individual office, especially one that identifies your position or status in the office, the result is a staff that can be very resistant to giving up their hard-fought space on the beach.
UNDERSTANDING THE RESISTANCE
We’ve written a lot about planning and designing beautiful and efficient new office layouts that save space, create opportunities for collaboration, and provide an environment best suited for the modern workforce. We’ve also talked about the importance of change management programs to help employees transition to the new setting. Now, I’d like to take a step back and focus on understanding this resistance, which is a not only a critical step in a successful change management program, its essential for effective managers.
Here’s two of the most common reasons employees cling to private offices and assigned workspaces, and some strategies for managers in understanding and overcoming these concerns.
I’ve worked really hard to get here
For many employees in a traditional office setting, a private office, especially one with amenities (a corner location, natural lighting from exterior windows, executive furnishings, etc.), is something that we have worked hard to earn. It’s our status symbol in the office, a sign that we have an important role in the organization.
It’s important for managers to understand what an office may represent for many employees. This is pretty straightforward, but it’s what you do next that is critical: identifying what motivates an individual. One individual may need to feel that they are a valued member of the organization or team, with important knowledge or experience that others can learn from. Another person may need to have some control over what’s happening in his or her workplace. Someone else may feel that the important work she does will be disrupted or derailed by being forced to relocate or give up space.
The response to these individual reasons will help drive a change management process and the various roles that different employees may take. For example, have an employee who values being part of a team lead the communication effort for the project. For an employee who values a sense of control, have him take a role in developing a transition plan for the move. And consider having the employee whose private, quiet space is essential be a part of recommending the mix of collaborative and concentrative spaces in the new layout.
The strategy will vary from team to team, and from person to person. What’s important is acknowledging that it could be hard for people to give up what they feel they’ve worked hard to achieve and then engage them in the things they care about the most.
It’s the space in the office that I’ve made my own
Anyone who’s worked in or even visited a traditional office has seen this – the private offices with family pictures and mementos displayed on desks, bookcases, credenzas, even the “status wall.” Cubicles with photos, awards, motivational quotes, or memos hanging from the partitions. There are a million ways that people personalize their office spaces and display the items that are important to them, whether it’s the family photo taken at the college graduations of her two oldest children earlier this year (yep, that would be me) or an office memo detailing an important process, or an achievement award. The list is really endless. The key is that our office is a place where we can display or showcase what’s important to us, individually, whether that’s a memorable family moment, a quote or picture that motivates us, or even just important information.
Fortunately, in this digital age, there’s an equally endless list of ways to retain and share personal information. There’s a plethora of chat room and company collaboration apps that allow employees to post and share information that’s important to them. In our company, we use Slack – an online communication and collaboration tool. When we set it up, one of the first channels we created was our water cooler – a place where employees can post and share personal information, photos, and videos. For example, during football season, our posts have included pictures and videos of college family weekends and local football games, while the summer months feature a mix of beach and mountain vacation photos. We’ve also had posts that are just downright humorous – funny gifs, the latest viral videos, you get the picture. The point is that this is the way that our virtual employees post and share the personal things that are important to them.
One of the best strategies that I’ve seen was in an organization that had adopted a completely open layout and no assigned spaces. The organization set up an entire wall in the employee break room for employees to use as they wished. The wall had space to hang pictures or other physical items, a whiteboard area to jot notes or comments, and a chalkboard area (complete with a supply of colored chalk) that was used as a doodle area.
Whichever way you choose to do it, the key is to provide a way for employees to personalize what they use and share information that’s important to them. (I did finally take down the family graduation picture but that’s only because that was taken in the spring and I like to rotate my pictures with the seasons.)
UNDERSTANDING THE PEOPLE GIVING UP OFFICE SPACE
If you’re looking for ways to reduce your space or modernize your office with an open layout, understanding some of the reasons why it’s hard to let go of space, especially private offices, is critical for managers. Besides helping to shape the direction of your project or a change management program, it really helps managers focus on something that is often overlooked in space projects – what motivates your employees and what’s really important to them, as individuals. This understanding and a sensitivity to individual needs, will help ensure the success of your project and ease the transition to a new way of working.
And next summer, if you’re looking for a space next to me on the beach, I’m happy to move my blanket a little to accommodate you. Just don’t ask me to share my Thrasher’s fries!
