How different workplace settings at the office and at home support work activities, task profiles and productivity

This study looks at first large-scale experiences of workers with combining work at different physical workplace settings in the office and at home. It identifies experienced support of different work activities and perceived productivity from workers with differing task profiles. Building on the theory of affordances, stating that the characteristics of a physical environment or artefact enable or constrain certain behaviours, it is assumed that different workplace settings relate to their perceived support of different work activities and the ability to be productive. After literature review, statistical analyses are performed on a Leesman dataset (N=57,286) with surveys on employees’ workplace experience both at home and at the office; gathered between March 2020 and May 2021. After descriptive insights, significant relationships are discussed from bivariate and cluster analyses.
Findings show that employees perceive higher productivity support in all possible home workplace settings than in an office with flexible seating, and in most home settings over the dedicated office desk as well. The least supported activity at the office is telephone conversations and at home this is hosting people and having informal social interaction. Offices seem most suitable for task profiles combining collaborative work with concentrated activities, although those focused on concentration also feel quite productive there. People with highly diverse task profiles perceive the lowest productivity support from the office and are also not as optimally supported at home either in comparison to those doing concentrated work and having only ‘simpler’ types of meetings.