Foregrounding the physical environment as an agent of change in the workplace

What is it about?

Researchers in business communication often take the physical environment of the workplace for granted as they investigate how people communicate there. But many corporate leaders and entrepreneurs, along with the designers and architects who work with them, see that environment as a significant force for achieving organizational goals. This article reviews a wide range of literature, especially the publications of office and spatial design consultancies and manufacturers as well as environmental psychologists, to encourage communication researchers to examine how--or whether--the design of a physical workplace can achieve one much talked about organizational goal: collaboration.

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Why is it important?

This article foregrounds what's often in the background of our work lives: the physical environment. Yet given increasing awareness that objects create subjects, sometimes even more than the other way around, it's wise to pay attention to the agency of objects around us at work.