Since its opening in 1983, ITOKI's Nagoya Office Plaza has proposed the latest office environments to customers as a working showroom. In January 2021, it was renovated into an office that practices Activity Based Working (ABW). In this new 816m2 office with no assigned seats, all of the approximately 60 workers practice the ABW working style on a daily basis. Here, we will introduce their ABW efforts.
A project launched during the COVID-19 pandemic
A renewal project for the Nagoya Office Plaza began in March 2020. The concept that was set in considering new ways of working was the introduction of ABW, a comprehensive work style strategy that maximizes self-discretion and allows workers to autonomously design their own work style. For this project, ITOKI asked Veldhoen+Company, a collaborative partner and founder of ABW, to provide consulting, and under the influence of COVID-19, repeated meetings were held remotely with consultants from around the world to consider the idea.
Thinking about "what we want to be"
To ensure the successful implementation of ABW, we planned and implemented a program to involve workers at Nagoya Office Plaza in the renewal project. The first thing we did was to conduct a survey of how the office had been used and workers' working patterns up until now. As a result, we found that there was a high proportion of individual work and little interaction between employees. In addition, over 80% workers felt that there was a "low sense of team solidarity" and that they were not "motivated to work."
Based on these results, we held a workshop in which all workers participated to determine what they wanted their future to be.
＜Desired Vision＞
- Better teamwork for better results
- Give employees choice and create a vibrant environment
- Increase the self-discipline and initiative of all members
Approaches to realizing the "Desired Vision"
In order to realise the three Desired Vision identified in the workshop, we considered approaches from three areas: space, IT, and behaviour.
In designing the space, we classified workers activities into 10 categories based on the ABW concept, and arranged the optimal environment for each activity in a well-balanced manner within the office. In this office, the main street side is designed as a space for active activities involving collaboration with others, and the further back you go, the quieter the activity spaces become for solitary work.
In addition, compared to before the renovation, the total number of seats has increased by 21 to 129, and the number of private rooms has increased by 12 to 18. Meanwhile, while the floor space per person in the new office is the same as in the old office, the space itself feels spacious, and there are plenty of workspace options available for each workers to use. This is due in large part to the fact that the promotion of paperless work has reduced storage volume by more than 70%, creating more space.
Next, on the IT side, we reviewed devices and tools, making laptops and smartphones standard equipment and distributing additional tablets to employees who needed them, thereby supporting workers' independent working styles.
And then there's the behavioral aspect. Activity-based working styles require more ability to recognize one's own state and activities than traditional working styles, and the ability to plan and execute work styles autonomously. For this reason, we held multiple training sessions and study sessions in advance of the start of ABW operations, so that employees could acquire the mindset necessary for activity-based working styles, such as acquiring the skills to break down and reinterpret their own work into 10 activities and deepening their understanding of manners and etiquette when using each activity space.
Introducing ABW does not mean the project is complete
With the introduction of ABW, workers are now free to choose the time and place to work according to their activities at the time. Communication has been invigorated, and cross-departmental dialogue has become a regular occurrence, steadily bringing us closer to our "three Desired Vision." However, ABW does not end once it has been introduced. Even after the system has been put into operation, we continue to hold subcommittees about ABW and conduct satisfaction surveys and other activities to further promote ABW penetration and change awareness.
Nagoya Office Plaza is an experience-based showroom. Customers who visit can not only take a look around, but also experience ABW by actually carrying out their own work.
Please feel free to visit us as we accept tour applications via the form below. We look forward to seeing you.
- On January 29, 2024, Nagoya Office Plaza was reopened as ITOKI NAGOYA DELA.
