159 — Hot desks: Do not touch

Aug 20, 2019

The modern office, based largely on a 'factory' model, is constantly being re-organised in a bid to optimise output. But how far have cubicles, hot desks and pods been effective? What principles should guide these design choices?

On this week's GoodPractice Podcast, Ross G, Ross D and Owen are joined by author and workplace designer Neil Usher.

We discuss:

• factors to consider when designing an effective office space
• the relationship between spaces and the meanings we attach to them
• the pros and cons of working from home.

If you'd like to get in touch with us about any of the things we've said on this show, you can tweet @RossGarnerGP, @Ross__Dickie, @OwenFerguson and @WorkEssence.

You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAUS.

To find out more about what we do, visit goodpractice.com.

Neil's book, The Elemental Workplace, is available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elemental-Workplace-fantastic-workplace-everyone/dp/1911498649

He blogs at workessence.com

The study Ross G discussed, on the effect that working from home had on a Chinese travel company, was:

Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J., & Ying, Z. J. (2014). Does working from home work? Evidence from a Chinese experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(1), 165-218.

Owen's WILTW on the 3-click rule was from The Nielson Norman Group: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/3-click-rule/ 

The podcast episode Neil talked about was '157 — Why should we care about behaviour change?' with Julie Dirksen, available online at: https://www.goodpractice.com/blog/podcast-157-why-should-we-care-about-behaviour-change 

For more on 'libertarian paternalism', see the book Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein, or the paper:

Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2003). Libertarian paternalism. American economic review, 93(2), 175-179.

The podcast episode that Ross D recommended was from Reply All: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/xjhx3l/146-summer-hotline 

The film that Ross G discussed was Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood. If you want to know some background before you go in, see the Tate Murders Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_murders