I recently had the opportunity to hear a presentation by Marc Lohela of Herman Miller, Inc. from Michigan. The following is a brief summary of the research Herman Miller has performed in the area of the home office.
Herman Miller conducted a year long research program to determine the territorial skirmishes and conflict of interest among the parties involved in a work-at-home arrangement (the worker, the other household members, the work team and the employer). To perform this research Herman Miller created a holistic research model where the role of the worker, home living patterns, group working patterns, organizational structure and work environment were analyzed.
A central finding of the research was that "much as the telecommuters appreciated the opportunity to better integrate their working and personal lives, brining the two together was a physical and emotional struggle." The struggle was trying to integrate work and family environments where they are typically performed at separate times and locations.
The researchers visited home workers and typically found makeshift offices set up in spare bedrooms, dens, bedrooms and the corners of living and dining rooms. "Almost without exception, study participants had cobbled together a conglomeration of furniture pieces, many of them reassigned from other uses and other areas of the house." Usually the home work space suffered from makeshift design and inadequate technology accommodation.
The research found that when employees start telecommuting they try to maintain a separation between work place and family place. However, the patterns and routines of home life, the very design of the house itself, works against this from the beginning. It is very difficult for people to separate work and family spaces. For example, if the office space is in the corner of the dining room, during "off hours" the employee may constantly be reminded of unfinished office work and may feel obligated to significantly extend their working hours.
The research found that several factors affected the ease with which a telecommuter could break through the barriers between work and home. These included: stage of career development; size and makeup of family; attitude toward having work in the home; and the value placed on time and personal expression. Gender also had an impact. Women seem more experienced at juggling work and family making them more open to having work in the home. Men tend to see the home as a refuge from work and have more difficulty making the adjustment.
The research concluded that "having work space and furniture designs that acknowledge rather than deny the intersection of work and home life helped not only to smooth the telecommuter's work processes but allowed the home worker to take full advantage of the personal benefits of this new way of working."
The research showed that "the less a company seeks to control the telecommuter and the more it views home work not as a perk or a cost-savings measure, but simply as a business practice that makes good sense in certain circumstances, the more successful the program. Points of tension can be ameliorated, and people can adapt more gracefully to the process of working in the home."
Organizations should also help teleworkers integrate home and work life by helping them think about the design of the home office environment. Herman Miller replaced existing home office furniture with designed furniture as part of the research. The result was numerous benefits in terms of productivity, effectiveness and legitimacy of the arrangement.
The research also concluded that providing home workers with technology and furniture is also important. "Employees who have the proper equipment to do their jobs professionally, safely, and comfortably whether they do those jobs at home or at the office is a tangible expression of equitable treatment."
The researchers also found that the furniture that works in a corporate setting typically presents a lot of problems in a residential one. "The traditional office furniture is too massive and monolithic for the small scale and architectural idiosyncrasies of the home. Other critical areas of concern to the home workers included safety, aesthetic and cross-functional requirements of furniture that may be used by more than one person for more than one purpose in a space that serves more than one function."
The bottom-line of this research is that Herman Miller has worked with their work-at-home participants and their research staff to develop a new line of furniture for the home office. This is expected to be available in a few months. Telework International will keep you informed.
CONTACT:
Marc Lohela
Herman Miller Inc.
Holland, Michigan
phone: 616-654-3905
web address: www.hermanmiller.com
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