Fika at work: the design of work spaces for the ‘standby generation’

The leadership group in the prestigious factory was held responsible for the failed lock out which lasted far longer than the group had promised. So when the company was forced to lift the lockout to calm down the screaming market place, the situation was worse than before lockout. In accordance to corporate protocols, heads had to roll. The Works Manager put in his papers, followed by the Head-Operations. The HR Manager decided to hang on, but he had to bear a sequence of retaliatory, punitive measures. In a series of demonstrative measures, his big room was truncated, making room for another junior officer. The sofas in his room were moved to the reception. The carpet was removed. The shrinking spaces were tell-tale evidences of his dip in reputation and influence in the company. It was a time before the fourth industrial revolution, when office spaces were part of the formal authority. The upper floors, the corner rooms emitted vibrations of great power; the size of the office and the quality of the wood of the furniture, the carpets or the absence of it would indicate the importance in the hierarchy and the office space design remained unchangeable and durable.

Space as an artefact of culture

The design of the work space was always a component of the corporate culture and part of the artefacts or the visual demonstration of the culture. The physical workspace is the one the employees experience in a sensory manner- see, touch, and smell. It's the installations that that overwhelm the new entrant at the entrance, or the paintings that decorate the walls, the office floor layouts, the mosaic of demographics of the people they work with (old, young, diversity, etc.). But in the last two decades alone, the modern office has experienced a disruptive transitions from being known as a “cubicle jail” to a “distracting playground” to now, as we find the productive middle ground, a place where employees can actually get work done - and enjoy the enchantment of a cafeteria, a gym, coffee vending machines, or a sprawling lounge area to laze around.

Edgar Schein (1992 .Organisational Culture and Leadership, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 2d edition.) , who referred to  office buildings as artefacts of organization culture, narrates  the curious story  of a chemical company where corridors are deserted and rooms are closed. He attributes this office environment to the company’s individualistic, introvert culture. In practice, however, a lot of similarities can be observed between corporate culture and corporate design. Law firms are also a good example. Lawyers often try to evoke an image of reliability, stability and knowledge, and therefore typically one finds them in clearly structured, conventional offices with wall to wall shelves of law books and formal furniture. In contrast, advertising firms – often equipped with a culture that emphasizes creativity and originality – tend to prefer open layouts and buildings with a strong expression. Another striking example is the difference between buildings for private and public companies.

Disruptions post Forth Industrial revolution

The way office spaces are designed went through a transformation with the onset of the fourth industrial revolution. Underlying this transformation was a basic shift in the purpose of work. The core assumption in the ‘dot-com’ culture seems to be that work should no longer be regarded as a means to make money, as a means for survival. Rather it should be the central focus in life. There is a view that the millennial employees, especially at dot-com organizations approached work as if it were a test of their ‘innermost essence and integrity’ (Canabou, 2001. “The Sun Sets on the Bohemian Workplace”. In: Fast Company, August 2001, www.fastcompany.com/learning/bookshelf/ross.). Work seems to be regarded as a mode of self-expression or self-actualisation. The instrumental view of work seems to have made way for a ‘sacred view’ of work where work is a basic drive, as sex or hunger is. (Daniel Yankelovich. New Rules: searching for self-fulfilment in a world turned upside down. NY. Random house. 1981).This constitutes a shift from predominant protestant work-ethic to the idea that work should be an extended hobby. Contemporary management gurus suggest that work is an expression of who you are: I work, so I am (Himanen, P. (2002), The Hacker Ethic: A Radical Approach to the Philosophy of Business. Random House, London.).

The non-office buildings of today

The tendency to choose for ‘non-office buildings’ is particularly evident in dot-com office interiors. In popular management literature one can come across offices equipped with kindergarten-like ‘romp spaces’, coffee bars, gyms, corporate stores, day-care centres, pool tables, and dartboards. In contrast to the seriousness of conventional space planning, with its emphasis on efficiency and flexibility, these office interiors stress irony and amusement. Four decades earlier, an executive would be sitting in an impressive mahogany and brass office, wanting to show how much they embodied the virtues of the era: industriousness, thrift, reliability. In contrast, successful high-tech managers of today may display a skateboard that is hanging from the ceiling or a mirror less camera with a long telephoto lens for wild life photography.

How does a modern office place designed? Explaining the linkage between the company’s purpose and the design of office space, Jill Reedman, country interior design manager, IKEA UK and Ireland says that one of the most vital things at IKEA is that everyone feels they are unique and important in how they contribute to the company. Part of this is ensuring they have the right, individual environments to work in. ‘Democratic design and accessibility is what we are all about, and something that is very reflective of this are our ‘Fika’ spaces. It’s a Swedish word meaning to take a break, and get some energy. This could be through food, air, or socialising with others. ‘In their Wembley office, the Fika area is at the crossroads of every flow within the office – every visitor will pass through it after they’ve been through reception. It has a coffee machine, microwave, dishwasher and sink, lots of seating elements and a screen that pulls down. There is furniture that adapts for purpose, such as long, folding trestle tables or round working tables.

Blurred boundaries between home and office

The worried father asked his young daughter why her phone was switched off and why did she not return last evening. The daughter stated that I love to be in the office. The father knows that she gets what she wants at office: fun, food, friends and interesting work. Truly the traditional image of an office employee punching out at 5pm, heading home after a hard day and putting all thoughts of work to bed until 8 am next morning does not  apply  for the majority of today’s ‘Generation Standby’ employees. In a recent research it was reported that 48% of office workers and 71% of managers saying tasks overlap at least twice a week. The sheer quantity and sophistication in mobile technology now available has served to further intensify the blurring between home and life, making it easier than ever to work on the move and to transfer content between devices. 63% of workers use a work laptop, but an almost equivalent 57% use their home laptop for work. Somewhere in the future will office and homes become integrated, run by Corporations offering community living, worries from the daily food gathering and work so exciting that it will be doable 24/7? Utopia or Dystopia?