Resources
Activity based working
Activity based working describes an office concept in which people choose their work setting by the task at hand – focus room, project area, collaboration zone or desk.
In short
Activity based working describes an office concept in which the work setting is chosen by activity rather than by person or department. The office provides different zones for that: focus desks, project areas, collaboration zones, phone booths and informal spaces. Desk sharing is the precondition, not the goal.
The difference from desk sharing
Desk sharing answers who owns a desk – namely nobody permanently. Activity based working answers which kind of setting suits which task. The two are often confused because one rarely works without the other: zones for different activities presuppose that nobody claims a fixed seat.
What it means for the software
When space is differentiated by activity, one asset type is no longer enough. You need attributes to filter by – quiet zone, screen setup, phone booth, project area for six people – and the ability to set different rules per zone: a focus pod is booked by the hour, a project area for a week.
Typical pitfalls
The most common is a zone concept on paper that is not enforced in reality: if people take calls in the focus zone, it is no longer a focus zone. The second is too fine a grid – too many zone types overwhelm employees and administrators alike.
From the definition to your own offices
Terminology is where an evaluation starts, not where it ends. Thirty minutes with the product open turns the concept into your floor plan.