Productivity, Satisfaction, Work Environment and Health after Relocation to an Activity-Based Flex Office—The Active Office Design Study

Maria Öhrn, Viktoria Wahlström, Mette S. Harder, Maria Nordin, Anita Pettersson-Strömbäck, Christina Bodin Danielsson, David Olsson, Martin Andersson and Lisbeth Slunga Järvholm
Additional contact information
Maria Öhrn: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section of Sustainable Health, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Viktoria Wahlström: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section of Sustainable Health, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Mette S. Harder: Umeå School of Architecture, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Maria Nordin: Department of Psychology, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Anita Pettersson-Strömbäck: Department of Psychology, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Christina Bodin Danielsson: The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), School of Architecture and the Built Environment, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
David Olsson: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section of Sustainable Health, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Martin Andersson: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section of Sustainable Health, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Lisbeth Slunga Järvholm: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section of Sustainable Health, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-16

Abstract: Implementation of activity-based flex offices (AFOs) are becoming increasingly common. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an AFO on perceived productivity, satisfaction, work environment and health. Questionnaire data from the longitudinal, quasi-experimental Active Office Design Study was used. The study evaluates a public organization relocating staff to either an AFO or to cell offices. Measures from baseline, 6 and 18 months after relocation, were analyzed. Employees in the AFO experienced a decreased productivity and satisfaction with the office design. Lack of privacy as well as increased noise disturbance, less satisfaction with sit comfort and work posture were reported. Employees in the AFO with work tasks requiring a high degree of concentration experienced lower productivity while those with a high proportion of teamwork rated productivity to be continually high. No significant group differences were found between the two office types in general health, cognitive stress, salutogenic health indicators or pain in the neck, shoulder or back. The study highlights the importance of taking work characteristics into account in the planning and implementation process of an AFO. Flexible and interactive tasks seem more appropriate in an AFO, whereas individual tasks demanding concentration seem less fit.

Keywords: activity-based work; job performance; longitudinal study; new ways of working; occupational health; office worker (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7640/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7640/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:14:p:7640-:d:596538

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().