To Cube Or Not To Cube

The workplace is changing.  Many people are working from home. Fewer people are actually traveling but are using technology to interact with others. Some CEOs are making a statement by being “one of the boys” and working from a small office or a cubicle instead of the corner suite.

Companies are confronted with decisions about how to configure new spaces and how to assign areas to make everyone happy. I recently learned of a company that had miscounted how many executive offices they needed, and thus had people who think they deserved offices, working in cubes.

Who needs – deserves – wants a private office? What are the criteria you use to make this decision? 

What about cubicles themselves? Does every employee need her or his own space or can spaces be shared?

What about moveable spaces? What about open spaces and common spaces which allow for interaction – and thus (in my opinion) more creativity?

Have you thought of “hoteling” – which is a concept that asks employees to reserve space at the office for those times when they really need to be present?

What are the pros and cons of each of these different arrangements?  Do we need all our employees to come to the actual workplace all the time?  Some of the time? None of the time? What’s the criteria?

Personally, I love working from home – but, thrive on interaction with others in face-to-face contact. I think people can be more creative when they have some alone time and some interaction time. How do you find the right balance for your people and your company needs?

Let me help you think these things through – and let me help you have some problem-solving groups with your people when decisions such as these need to be made.