A new article from the Wall Street Journal titled More New York Companies Experiment With Innovative Office Space takes a look at one of the newer trends in office organization and layout that's doing away with cubicles and offices in favor of open and collaborative spaces. Just last week, Gerson Lehrman Group Inc. (GLG), for example, launched its new office design that offers an array of workspaces — from comfortable couches to high stools at a barista-staffed coffee bar to single-occupancy glass booths — and does away with permanent desks, assigning employees only a laptop, a headset and a locker.
"Something funny about having a lot of stuff is it makes you feel like you're doing something," said Alexander Saint-Amand, CEO of GLG, whose company helps other firms learn about business issues by matching them with experts. "But when you don't have all that stuff, it frees you up to actually concentrate and work."
An excerpt of the article follows:
Companies such as Microsoft, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Accenture have been experimenting with variations on unassigned seating since the 1990s and early 2000s. The Macquarie Group drew much attention in 2009 when it instituted an activity-based working concept at one of its offices, for 3,000 workers, in Sydney, Australia.
Last year, real estate services company CBRE Group Inc. brought its version of the office design to its Los Angeles operation. CBRE said it planned to have the system in 21 of its offices by year's end.
"When we actually looked at what they needed, they needed much more choice, the ability to make good decisions about getting their work done," said Lenny Beaudoin, CBRE senior managing director of workplace strategy.
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