Knowledge@Wharton
Things you will find upon arriving for work each morning at
GlaxoSmithKline in Philadelphia's Navy Yard: A tranquility room for
prayer, a rooftop perch with city views for impromptu meetings, work
stations that allow for typing at a keyboard while simultaneously
walking two miles an hour on the treadmill, and a fairly good chance
that at some point during the day you will bump into the CEO.
What you won't find anywhere in the 208,000-square-foot space: a desk of your own.
GSK's office design reflects a new approach to the workplace, one
that embraces an open-space philosophy and uses a concept sometimes
called "hoteling." All workers, even top management, are assigned to
"neighborhoods" -- areas of workers engaged in related tasks -- but no
one has a permanent desk. Personal belongings go in a small locker. . . .
. . . The idea is that chance encounters will spark conversations and
collaboration that would not happen when creative minds are moored to a
single assigned desk. In GSK parlance, it's called "smart-working."
It might also be called smart cost containment. The new design
allowed GSK to fit the same number of employees -- 1,300 at this
facility -- into square footage that is a quarter of the size they
previously occupied. . . . .
T
he rest of this lengthy article may be found here. It includes some of the criticisms of open space offices as well: loss of employee self-confidence, interrupted work, and excessive noise. It's a well-balanced look at the pros and cons of this office trend.
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