159 — Hot desks: Do not touch

The modern office, based largely on a 'factory' model, is constantly being re-organised in a bid to optimise output. But how far have cubicles, hot desks and pods been effective? What principles should guide these design choices? On this week's GoodPractice Podcast, Ross G, Ross D and Owen are joined by author and workplace designer Neil Usher. We discuss: factors to consider when designing an effective office space the relationship between spaces and the meanings we attach to them the pros and cons of working from home. If you'd like to get in touch with us about any of the things we've said on this show, you can tweet @RossGarnerGP, @Ross__Dickie, @OwenFerguson and @WorkEssence. You can also tweet @GoodPractice or @GoodPracticeAUS. To find out more about what we do, visit goodpractice.com. Neil's book, The Elemental Workplace, is available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elemental-Workplace-fantastic-workplace-everyone/dp/1911498649 He blogs at workessence.com The study Ross G discussed, on the effect that working from home had on a Chinese travel company, was: Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J., & Ying, Z. J. (2014). Does working from home work? Evidence from a Chinese experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(1), 165-218. Owen's WILTW on the 3-click rule was from The Nielson Norman Group: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/3-click-rule/  The podcast episode Neil talked about was '157 — Why should we care about behaviour change?' with Julie Dirksen, available online at: https://www.goodpractice.com/blog/podcast-157-why-should-we-care-about-behaviour-change  For more on 'libertarian paternalism', see the book Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein, or the paper: Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2003). Libertarian paternalism. American economic review, 93(2), 175-179. The podcast episode that Ross D recommended was from Reply All: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/xjhx3l/146-summer-hotline  The film that Ross G discussed was Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood. If you want to know some background before you go in, see the Tate Murders Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_murders