There is a lot of interest in the concept of agile working, pioneered by the tech sector. Simon Grundy, commercial interior designer, answers the questions he’s most often asked on how design can support the agile approach.

So what is agile working?

Agile working is about choice – allowing people to work where a particular task can be best accomplished, and trust – knowing that people do their best work where they find they work best.

Depending on how your company is organised already, moving to a more agile approach could be a cultural shift for managers and staff from a process-driven approach to a person-centred approach.

It’s iterative, expecting change and seeking always to improve.

What are the business benefits?

The British Council for Offices (BCO) researches, develops and communicates best practice in all aspects of the office sector. Commenting on agile working they say “utilising space as flexible working areas encourages collaboration, teamwork and serendipitous exchanges of information and ideas. Furthermore, it is likely to offer a more attractive proposition to potential and current employees, making it easier for businesses to recruit and retain staff”.

Your people need to talk about what they think they would gain, such as flexibility and a more vibrant and exciting place to work, as well as their fears. If someone really needs a desk for all or part of their work, that’s okay, it’s what works best for each person.

An agile organisation gets more agile as the business grows, so office space has more longevity.

Isn’t agile just for trendy start-ups?

 Agile doesn’t suit all sectors in the same way but the lockdowns due to coronavirus have taught us that, enabled by technology, different ways of working are possible and productive.

 Several clients who have seen benefits from their agile working journey are large established organisations in the most traditional of sectors.

There is a generational aspect. As Generation Y – people born in the 1980s-90s – entered the workforce they brought with them the expectation of good design, as many more of them had the opportunity to study in new, well-designed education buildings, as well as being  familiar with new technology. Previous generations – Gen X and the baby boomers – who started work in a culture of presenteeism, are now also benefitting from the technology and better office design as their working lives are longer.

Will we need a bigger office?

Areas in an office need to be versatile to accommodate different types of work – for quiet concentration, team collaboration, one to one discussion, large and open ‘town hall’ gatherings. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need more floorspace, and without the traditional rows of desks it may mean you need less.

For example, a hub space may look like a luxury but when not used for large meetings people will go there for all sorts of reasons – smaller meetings, lunch, breakout, because the larger space suits them to work alone at a particular time if designed with access to power points and seating. It may be a kitchen with sliding doors opening up to a bigger space, or an atrium, or bleacher style stairs.

What feedback have you had on designs to support agile working?

Perception of the physical environment may change. Staff have thought the new office is lighter and that there’s better ventilation – when those things haven’t been part of the redesign. What has changed is that they are allowed to choose to work in different areas which are lighter, maybe closer to an opening window, they can access views which may have been previously only available to a particular office or meeting room.

And because part of the design is having services to support the people – such as instant hot water, comfortable shower facilities, managed coat and bag storage – they can concentrate on work knowing their support needs are looked after.

This focus on staff wellbeing also means we often use plants and natural surfaces, such as timber and moss, in the design to create interesting screening and wall surfaces.

Over the years we’ve seen some of the most sceptical people in an organisation become the most enthusiastic adopters. Although they were nervous about the change to their environment impacting their performance, what they got was so much better.

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