Collaborative Spaces At Work

This book explores the complex experiences and social dynamics that emerge within and between collaborative spaces and how they impact, sometimes unexpectedly, on creativity and innovation.

Collaborative spaces are more than physical locations of work and production. They present strong identities centered on collaboration, exchange, sense of community, and co-creation, which are expected to create a physical and social atmosphere that facilitates positive social interaction, knowledge sharing, and information exchange. This book explores the complex experiences and social dynamics that emerge within and between collaborative spaces and how they impact, sometimes unexpectedly, on creativity and innovation. Collaborative Spaces at Work is timely and relevant: it will address the gap in critical understandings of the role and outcomes of collaborative spaces. Advancing the debate beyond regional development rhetoric, the book will investigate, through various empirical studies, if and how collaborative spaces do actually support innovation and the generation of new ideas, products, and processes. The book is intended as a primary reference in creativity and innovation, workspaces, knowledge and creative workers, and urban studies. Given its short chapters and strong empirical orientation, it will also appeal to policy makers interested in urban regeneration, sustaining innovation, and social and economic development, and to managers of both collaborative spaces and companies who want to foster creativity within larger organizations. It can also serve as a textbook in master’s degrees and PhD courses on innovation and creativity, public management, urban studies, management of work, and labor relations.

This book examines how digital technologies enable collaboration as a way for individuals, teams and businesses to connect, create value, and harness new opportunities. Digital technologies have brought the world closer together but also created new barriers and divides. While it is now possible to connect almost instantly and seamlessly across the globe, collaboration comes at a cost; it requires new skills and hidden ‘collaboration work’, and the need to renegotiate the fair distribution of value in multi-stakeholder network arrangements. Presenting state-of-the-art research, case studies, and leading voices in the field, the book provides academics and professionals with insights into the diverse powers of collaboration in the digital age, spanning collaboration among professionals, organisations, and consumers. It brings together contributions from scholars interested in the collaboration of teams, cooperatives, projects, and new cooperative systems, covering a range of sectors from the sharing economy, health care, large project businesses to public sector collaboration.

"If you are determined to encourage creativity and provide a collaborative environment that will bring out the best in people, you will want this book by your side at all times." —Bill Moggridge, Director of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum "Make Space is an articulate account about the importance of space; how we think about it, build it and thrive in it." —James P. Hackett, President and CEO, Steelcase An inspiring guidebook filled with ways to alter space to fuel creative work and foster collaboration. Based on the work at the Stanford University d.school and its Environments Collaborative Initiative, Make Space is a tool that shows how space can be intentionally manipulated to ignite creativity. Appropriate for designers charged with creating new spaces or anyone interested in revamping an existing space, this guide offers novel and non-obvious strategies for changing surroundings specifically to enhance the ways in which teams and individuals communicate, work, play--and innovate. Inside are: Tools--tips on how to build everything from furniture, to wall treatments, and rigging Situations--scenarios, and layouts for sparking creative activities Insights--bite-sized lessons designed to shortcut your learning curve Space Studies--candid stories with lessons on creating spaces for making, learning, imagining, and connecting Design Template--a framework for understanding, planning, and building collaborative environments Make Space is a new and dynamic resource for activating creativity, communication and innovation across institutions, corporations, teams, and schools alike. Filled with tips and instructions that can be approached from a wide variety of angles, Make Space is a ready resource for empowering anyone to take control of an environment.

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Business economics - Personnel and Organisation, University of Santo Tomas (College of Commerce and Business Administration), course: Human Resource Development Management, language: English, abstract: The Coworking space phenomenon is rapidly growing across the countries of North America, Europe, and Asia. Owing to its functional work environment, it offers coworkers a collaborative atmosphere that makes them more involved at work. The research study aims to describe the causal relationship of workplace design to perceived work performance and to employee engagement and collaborative capability as mediating variables through the use of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). A total of 350 coworkers aged 18-60 years old, from 27 different coworking spaces in Metro Manila, Philippines participated in the study. The findings of this research revealed that workplace design has no direct effect on perceived work performance; hence, perceived work performance improves when coworkers are more engaged and have better collaborative capability. Nonetheless, the rest of the hypothesized premises were affirmed in the result of this study. This paper can help the HR managers and the business centers to create a more flexible and constructive workplace setting for their employees. Further, the results can be used as a basis for the fundamental shift of the traditional workspace into a new creative workplace.

This book provides an understanding and imaging of how a stress-free workplace might be designed and implemented in the context of the ‘new normal.’ Statistics show that more and more people are experiencing an increase in work-related stress, and its impact on individual psychology and well-being as well as organizational performance can be devastating. Globally, the most recent data on work-related illnesses account for 2.4 million deaths. Against this backdrop, and taking stock of how the pandemic is affecting the workplace and employee well-being, this book proposes transformations in work spaces, from implementing effective “greening” features, to more efficient technology-supported spaces. It establishes links between workplace design and creativity, happiness and productivity, confronting related issues such as generation gaps, digital interruptions, collaborative work environments and sustainability, and their respective connections with workspace environment and well-being. The book situates this discussion within a broader discussion on work and quality of life. Furthermore, the book demonstrates how several sustainable development goals might be achieved through transformed work spaces. Through an intersection between organizational psychology, well-being and quality of life studies, sociology, human resources, and ergonomics, this book is a timely examination of work-related stress in relation to work spaces that require rethinking and transformation in the throes, and wake, of the pandemic.

Named the Best Management Book of 2021 by strategy+business Named one of "this month's top titles" in the Financial Times in September 2021 Named to the longlist for the 2021 Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) Award in the Management & Culture category A plan for conquering collaborative overload to drive performance and innovation, reduce burnout, and enhance well-being. Most organizations have created always-on work contexts that are burning people out and hurting performance rather than delivering productivity, innovation and engagement. Collaborative work consumes 85% of employees' time and is drifting earlier into the morning, later into the night, and deeper into the weekend. The dilemma is that we all need to collaborate more to create effective organizations and vibrant careers for ourselves. But conventional wisdom on teamwork and collaboration has created too much of the wrong kind of collaboration, which hurts our performance, health and overall well-being. In Beyond Collaboration Overload, Babson professor Rob Cross solves this paradox by showing how top performers who thrive at work collaborate in a more purposeful way that makes them 18-24% more efficient than their peers. Good collaborators are distinguished by the efficiency and intentionality of their collaboration—not the size of their network or the length of their workday. Through landmark research with more than 300 organizations, in-depth stories, and tools, Beyond Collaboration Overload will coach you to reclaim close to a day a week when you: Identify and challenge beliefs that lead you to collaborate too quickly Impose structure in your work to prevent unproductive collaboration Alter behaviors to create more efficient collaboration It then outlines how successful people invest this reclaimed time to: Cultivate a broad network—not a big one—for innovation and scale Energize others—a strong predictor of high performance Connect with others to reduce micro-stressors and enhance physical and mental well-being Cross' framework provides relief from the definitive problem of our age—dysfunctional collaboration at the expense of our performance, health and overall well-being.

With current socio-economic development trends and changing work landscapes, modern workplaces are progressively becoming a subject of flexibilisation and hybridisation. Contemporary office environments are commonly adapting to the needs of the flexible labour markets by offering the non-territorial and rotation-based practice of allocating desks to workers on dynamic schedules. This book explores this growing trend by offering different perspectives on the benefits and challenges of the flexible workplace phenomena. Topics discussed range from defining and comparing flexible, coworking and corpoworking spaces, policies made in local environments, and the flexible working taxonomy.