An Evaluation of the Perceived Influence of the Office Environment on Productivity in Local Government Offices

"The changing nature of work and new business management philosophies has led to vast array of possible ""new ways of working."" This generic term encompasses both work patterns undertaken within the office, and also the possibility of location free work outside the office. Ways of working in the office and flexible working outside the office are interconnected with the office design being the connecting hub. With this revolution in the way we work it is imperative that the alignment with work processes and office design are made if optimum productivity is achieved. This research used a questionnaire to survey 996 office occupiers across 27 Local Government offices. The questionnaire used a 27-item scale, to measure office occupiersí perceptions of how productivity was affected by their office environment. The tool has since been used for an Australian bank a major central Government department and it is proposed for other international projects. The initial results, indicate that it is the variables relating to the dynamics of the office which are perceived as having most influence on productivity in the office environment. The implications being, that to capture the ""office dynamics"", and achieve optimum productivity, a more ""people centred"" approach is required during office design or refurbishment. The tool is now being extended to apply to other contexts such as a Federal Court building in North America, and its scope broadened to evaluate macro factors such as location as well as building design layout and space management issues. The authors believe that the research represents a significant breakthrough in the quest for tangible evidence of ways in which the procurement, design and management of real estate can impact upon productivity. The paper illustrates the background context, the development and refinement of the methodology and the results of several case studies where the instrument has been applied."