Facilities and Office Design FAQ




1. What's the connection between telecommuting and office design?

There is some very exciting work going on today to rethink the design of offices, even for people who remain in the office full-time. For them, and for telecommuters and other mobile workers, we are recognizing that everyone does not need his or her own private, assigned desk or office all the time. Concepts such as "non-territorial" and "free-address" offices, or "hoteling", are becoming quite popular. The benefits are clear: better space utilization, lower costs, and offices that are designed more for team work than for individual desk work. Changes like these have to be made carefully, and must be based on careful analysis of tasks, workflow, technology, and organizational culture.

The predominant form of telecommuting today is still the work-at-home kind, though there's growing interest in satellite offices and other kinds of facility-based telecommuting. These centers are often located near where people live, they work well for telecommuters who can't or choose not to work at home, and they can be an economical way to make certain resources (such as high-speed printers or videoconferencing) available that can't be placed in one telecommuter's home. Most of the use of these centers has occurred in Europe, but there have been some encouraging trials recently in the U.S. as well.

There is an ever-growing lexicon of remote work, so it's hard to define terms precisely. "Telecommuting" typically refers to salaried employees who normally would work in an office but who now instead spend one to three days a week at home or elsewhere off-site. "Virtual office" typically refers to employees who traditionally have spent little time in the office, and who are increasingly being equipped with portable technology that lets them work from almost anywhere. One of the best examples of the latter are field sales representatives.

Very few, if any, provide the design service; most homeowners just don't want an outsider coming in to make design suggestions, even though this might be a very useful service. More and more employers are starting to provide furniture, or at least provide a cash payment to cover part of the cost. This is a fairly recent trend because until now, the major office furniture vendors didn't have product that was designed to look good in the home and also have the ergonomic features and sturdiness of regular office furniture.

Bear in mind that many telecommuters may not want the company to provide the furniture. There might not be enough space in the home, or the furniture might clash with carefully-chosen home decor.

Good question. If they're only away 1-2 days a week and they retain their own personal office or cubicle, there is no savings on office space. But when they're away more days each week, and/or they are using some kind of shared facilities, that's where the savings begin.

If telecommuting is set up properly, the telecommuters really don't need the same kind of dedicated space in the office as when they worked there full-time. They should be doing their more intensive desk work while telecommuting, and use their time in the office to attend meetings, visit co-workers and clients, etc. So, when they come into the office they need a temporary place to "land" for the day, not a permanent place to "live."

6. If telecommuting keeps growing, and everyone starts using laptops, cellular phones, and all the other mobile technology, aren't offices going to disappear entirely?

If they do, it will surprise and shock almost everyone. The office as we know it might disappear - that is, if we define it as a place that everyone must come to for doing their office work. I think we're still going to have some kind of offices for a long, long time - the difference is that the design and layout will change. Also, we will increasingly see offices as just one of many possible places to work - not the only, or primary, location.

Remember, too, that while telecommuting is absolutely wonderful for the right person in the right job, it can be absolutely horrible for the wrong person, or even for the right person in the wrong job. Any attempts to make telecommuting mandatory - and to close down offices entirely - are likely to backfire.

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