Changes in office work and their effect on facilities needs

Abstract

Until recently you could tell what someone in the office did from knowing their job title. Managers sat in private offices, had secretaries to do their routine work and spent much of their time in meetings; professionals had a lot of concentrated individual work to do and didn't like the open plan; clerical staff needed less privacy because much of their work was repetitive, not requiring high levels of concentration. Facilities provision is still largely based on these categories. Designers tend to inquire who people are, and assume that they can deduce from this information what people do, and hence what their physical needs are. But changes brought about by advanced office technology are fast rendering these assumptions invalid.

Citation

Ellis, P. (1987), "Changes in office work and their effect on facilities needs", Facilities, Vol. 5 No. 8, pp. 12-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb006415