METHODS FOR ANALYZING THE IMPACTS OF

WORKPLACE CHANGES ON KNOWLEDGE WORK

11th international conference on intellectual capital, knowledge management & organisational

learning – ICICKM 2014 6-7 November, Sydney Australia

MAIJU VUOLLE, MIIKKA PALVALIN & ANTTI LÖNNQVIST

15.12.2014NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 2

• Introduction to ‘new ways of working’

• Research approach of the study

• Three measurement methods and examples of results

• Measurement prosess during workplace change

The aim of the paper is to present and empirically demonstrate the application of three complementary ways to analyse the impacts of new work environments and more flexible and mobile work practices.

Keywords: Knowledge work, performance, productivity, well-being, work environment, work practices, measurement

AGENDA

REDESIGNING KNOWLEDGE WORK

PRACTICES AND ENVIRONMENT

From open-plan offices

to flexibe multi-use

offices, hubs, coffee

shops

From 9-to-5 to flexible

and mobile working

From e-mails to instant

messages, collaborative,

mobile and social tools

From command and

control to trust-based

managerial practices

15.12.2014NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 4

• Four case companies, facility management sector

• interested in improving their operations and for developing new

services for their customers, needed practical tools and methods for

identifying and measuring the impacts of new work environments and

work practices

RESEARCH APPROACH

Research approach Methods

Interview study Thematic interviews within two case companies (N=18) to

identify and categorize factors to be improved and measured

Constructive

research

Development and pilot tests of a SmartWoW tool within all

four case companies (N= 111)

Case study analysis Balanced multidimensional measurement in one case

company

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I INTERVIEW FRAMEWORK

Knowledge work performance

PERFORMANCE DRIVERS RESULTS AND OUTCOMES

CONTEXTUAL FACTORS

Physical, virtual and social-organizational work environments

PERSONAL WAYS OF WORKING

Proactive, flexible and mobile working, utilization of ICT,

prioritizating, planning, concentrating, relaxing

WELL-BEING Work engagement, satisfaction, stress,

appreciation, work-life fit, conflicts, atmosphere

PRODUCTIVITYWork efficiency and

effectiveness, results, goals, skills, quality,

customer satisfaction, team performance

(Palvalin et al., 2015)

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Organization 1

(N=28)

Organization 2

(N=26)

Organization 3

(N=35)

Negative

(%)

Positive

(%)

Negative

(%)

Positive

(%)

Negative

(%)

Positive

(%)

Performance drivers

Physical environment (5) 40 52 24 64 21 71

Virtual environment (6) 29 56 19 66 5 85

Social environment (9) 33 50 23 60 9 75

Work practices (10) 23 66 31 54 24 60

Work outcomes

Work well-being (8) 25 55 12 72 8 82

Productivity (7) 9 78 8 76 2 88

II SMARTWOW TOOL

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Performance measures

2008

(the old office)

2009/2010

(new; right after the change)

2011

(new office; a year after)

RESOURCES

Space usage efficiency 26 sqm/person 13 sqm/person 10 sqm/person

COST SAVINGS

Occupancy costs 7 025 €/person 3 570 €/person 2 880 €/person

SUSTAINABILITY

Environmental impact 2650 kgCO2/person 1850 kgCO2/person 1470 kgCO2/person

EMPLOYEES

Personnel survey

- 58 % out of all responses

say the new facility is ‘better’

or ‘remarkably better’ than

the old office

88 % out of all responses

perceive their productivity

positively (SmartWoW, year

2013)

III MULTIDIMENSIONAL MEASUREMENT

(see also Ruostela et al., 2014)

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AN OVERVIEW OF WORKPLACE

CHANGE AND IMPACTS

CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS

PERFORMANCE IMPACTS

Physical, virtual and

social work

environment

Ways of working

Change in work

environment and

work practices

Employees’ Well-being

and Productivity

Resources

Cost savings

Positive image

Sustainability

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MEASUREMENT PROSESS DURING

WORKPLACE CHANGE

• METHODS: 1) Interview framework and 2) SmartWoW tool for identifying productivity potential – i.e. factors to be improved and measured

• Ex-antemeasurement

Contextualanalysis

• Design and implementmeasures e.g., based on the knowledge work performance framework and set targets.

Change in workenvironment and ways of working

• METHODS: 3) Balanced multidimensional measurement, including SmartWoWindicators

• Ex-postmeasurement

Evaluateperformance

impacts

15.12.2014NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 10

Maiju Vuolle, D.Sc. Tech.

maiju.vuolle@tut.fi @MaijuVuolle

Novi research center @Noviresearch

Performance Management Research Group www.tut.fi/pmteam

THANK YOU

15.12.2014NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 11

• Vuolle, M., Palvalin, M., Lönnqvist, A. (2014) Methods for analyzing the impacts of workplace

change on knowledge work, ICICKM, 6-7 November, Sydney, Australia.

• Palvalin, M., Vuolle, M., Lönnqvist, A., Jääskeläinen, A., Laihonen, H. (2015) SmartWoW –

Constructing a tool for knowledge work performance analysis, Accepted for publication in the

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management.

• Ruostela, J., Lönnqvist, A., Palvalin, M., Vuolle, M., Patjas, M. & Raij, A-L. (2014) ‘New Ways of

Working’ as a tool for improving the performance of a knowledge-intensive company,

Knowledge Management Research & Practice, doi: 10.1057/kmrp.2013.57.

• Pictures from Dropbox HQ – Bruce Damonte http://www.boorbridges.com/project/dropbox-hq/

REFERENCES