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Recognising the socio-technical opportunity of workplace : An analysis of early responses to COVID-19
Corporate Real Estate Journal,
10
(1),
51-62
(2020)
Abstract
COVID-19 has disrupted the ways in which we work, offering an opportunity to rethink our workplaces. Organisations have had to adapt and respond in unprecedented ways to enable continued organisational performance that have come to see many people working from home. Early responses to ‘return-to-work’ have sought to repurpose existing workspace arrangements, but they miss the unique opportunity to reconceive ‘workplace’ more comprehensively, as well as the role the property community has in enabling work. This paper aims to highlight the opportunity of viewing workplace holistically through the lens of socio-technical systems. An examination of the early responses to the pandemic identified a focus on the technical aspects of reoccupying workspaces, but taking from socio-technical systems, this should not be to the detriment of other factors. A more nuanced debate regarding who should return to work and how this will occur is presented, which highlights further a need to move beyond the physical workspace and to reflect on how we can enable ways of working.
Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; pandemic; built environment; facility/facilities management (FM); socio-technical systems; workspace; workplace
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Chris Moriarty is director of insight at the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM). Previously he was managing director at Leesman, the world’s leading assessor of workplace effectiveness, where he was responsible for the creative and strategic development of the Leesman brand in the UK and internationally. Chris has extensive professional body experience as well as a track record in delivering industry-wide thought leadership and policy campaigns on top of strategic marketing and sales experience. Prior to his first spell at BIFM as head of insight and corporate affairs, where he worked to establish the Institute as the voice of the sector, he was head of corporate affairs at the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Matthew Tucker is a reader in workplace and facilities management at Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University. He is an acclaimed author, publishing papers in internationally recognised journals, books and reports, and is currently the associate editor for Facilities (Emerald Publications). International roles include being an independent expert for the BSI Facilities Management Technical Committee (FMW/1) and past research chair for the European Facilities Management Network (EuroFM). Matthew is a Fulbright Scholar, winning the first-ever RICS-Fulbright award, developing crucial research on customer performance measurement in FM. He is a certified member of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (CIWFM), a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) and a Chartered Facilities Management Surveyor.
Ian Ellison co-founded 3edges to help people think differently about the organisational value of workplace. With 20 years’ experience spanning workplace and facilities management practice and education, Ian has developed a reputation as an engaging facilitator and provocative speaker. He is passionate about the power of workplace to enable better business outcomes. Ian is co-founder and host of the Workplace Matters podcast and was also a key contributor to the Stoddart Review. Particularly interested in change leadership and workplace challenges within organisations, Ian has been involved in a range of commissions to help facilitate organisational performance improvement. Ian has published journal articles, papers and book chapters on a range of FM and workplace topics.
James Pinder is a consultant, researcher and educator with a longstanding interest in workplaces and the impact that they have on people and organisations. He is a skilled and experienced researcher and evaluator and has delivered workplace consultancy for a range of clients. James is very experienced at designing and undertaking complex research evaluations involving both qualitative and quantitative datasets. He has published widely, in both academic and practitioner-focused publications, and is particularly adept at providing clients with new insights and communicating those insights to people in ways that are engaging and easy to understand.
Hannah Wilson is a senior lecturer in research methods at Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University. Hannah undertook her degree in applied psychology and then went on to complete her PhD investigating the impact of learning environments in 2017. There are three strands to her expertise, workplace strategy, pedagogy and work psychology, which are fundamentally related to adaptations that can be made to improve individuals’ experiences and health within the work environment. Some of her current projects include examining productive workplaces, coping strategies of project managers for dealing with difficult situations, and teaching and learning on DBA programmes. She also has an expertise in research methods teaching and experience in conducting research utilising both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Hannah would welcome connections with those with overlapping interests, from both academia and industry.
