Office Environments - The North American Perspective

Posted by Herman Miller on 15 September 2011

Tags: workspace, office

Change is rampant in North American enterprises—technological, social, demographic, economic, and political change at both global and local levels. Business realities are more tumultuous than ever before. Today’s organizations are undergoing a fundamental transformation in the way they think about, organize, and carry out work in a global competitive economy. This movement is characterized by a change from large, hierarchical, command-and-control organizations to smaller, more fluid, team-oriented enterprises with greater participation from an empowered work force.

Providing work environments that help people and organizations realize their potential requires an understanding of these changes— of the relationships between external forces, individual and group needs, organizational structures and processes, and the physical environment—and of how these relationships affect business results.

Understanding office environments: A framework

Many people think of office environments simply as physical settings, something quite separate from the people, their work activities, and organizational structures. However, a holistic view of the office domain—considering people, production structures and processes, and place together—provides a better approach for understanding and responding effectively to dynamic problems in the workplace.

In the office environment, people, production, and place come together in continually changing patterned relationships. Ultimately, however, all three must be understood together and orchestrated as a whole in order to achieve effective organizational results, such as customer satisfaction and profitability. In today’s office environment, dealing with change is a major challenge. Because the core elements (people, production, and place) have an impact on key outcomes such as productivity, satisfaction, safety, and long-term effectiveness, a holistic understanding of the office environment can support positive changes and enhance an organization’s chance of success.

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