Activity Based Working (ABW) is a perspective that aims to reflect the realities of the modern workforce; nurture the attributes of workers in respective businesses; and make facilities best suited to their processes and goals. In practical terms, it’s how we supply your people the office fit-out and environment that helps them work at their best and most sustainable capacity.
How does the way your organisation work contribute to you meeting your goals? How does it affect staff retention and levels of motivation and commitment to the team?
Thanks to global trade and digital technology reaching the workplace, Where and When we work have been made increasingly flexible aspects of our careers and working lives. The types of tasks done in a normal workplace has also changed: advances in computer software have meant that that many menial tasks have been cut back or eliminated from the typical modern office.
This means that organisations need to create workplaces that nurture the workforce of the ‘knowledge-economy’ – people and teams with higher-order skills and attributes. Being confined to a static desk or cubicle for the entire working day is not suited to workforces that need to perform a variety of tasks, in changing teams with varying requirements in access to technology and space. An office fit-out suited to ABW needs to have the right spaces, equipment and technology that will help workers innovate, collaborate and feel connected to the goals of the team they’re a part of.
Whether some workers need to be at the office is also a consideration many businesses are faced with – there are many tasks which can be done off-site and outside traditional office hours. Personal circumstances of workers as well as contemporary challenges of Covid-19 has seen people take work home, and as a result we have seen that many people can be productive working from home. This means that ABW in the modern office allows for flexibility in both the time and physical place that work is happening.
Culture is critical in successful ABW. Personnel in executive and management roles need to be participating in this type of culture and not be seen solely as powerful people that dispense discipline and performance management from a distance. Without leaders visibly displaying the attributes they want out of their people and allowing people to arrange their working habits to best suit their tasks, workers are not encouraged to use their abilities and their value in the organisation is confined to administering their superiors’ ideas.
Our Role
Taking these insights in to account, the best possible fit-out Office Vision can provide our clients is one that incorporates the:
Vision;
Values; and
Strategy
…of each respective organisation we work with. In other words – what we know about the goals, human attributes of the team and the type of work you do have the best possible facility at the completion of the fit-out.
Simply put, good ABW will look different in each office. That’s why, as part of your Workplace Strategy[1], we work with you to gather as much information on the type of work you do and the culture of your workforce. The results are Workplace Transformations[2] that use ABW informed by the best-quality information and expert consultation. This gives your business a key advantage in meeting its goals and nurturing the skills, attributes and wellbeing of the people who work there.
[1] Check out our blog in the ‘Insights’ tab to learn about Workplace Strategy
[2] Check out our blog in the ‘Insights’ tab to learn about Workplace Transformations
Key Learnings
- The world has changed; and so has the way we work
- Activity Based Working aims to create workplaces that reflect the requirements and lifestyles of the modern workforce
- Activity Based Working needs good leaders: participate in the culture you’re promoting to yield the best results and keep staff
- Every business is different, so good ABW will look different in each workplace
Want to know more?
Curious about what we do or work we’ve done? Visit the ‘Our Work’ page of our website – there you’ll find some ‘case studies’ – examples of work we’ve completed in the past for prior and continuing clients.
Still have more questions about our service or want to chat with one of our team? You can visit our FAQ page; leave us a message in the ‘Contact’ page, or call us at the office on 1300 886 658
