Change process in workspace: Lessons from Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Leppävaara campusChange process in workspace: Lessons from Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Leppävaara campus

Abstract

In 2016, the Leppävaara campus of Laurea University of Applied Sciences (UAS) conducted a total transformation in the teacher’s office design. All the traditional working spaces of the teachers were converted into a multi-purpose workspace to allow the optimization of the space usage. Since this was a large change, there was resistance from some of the staff during the project. The objectives of this thesis project were to discover the reasons for the resistance, including the psychological aspect and the change management process, and then to establish a better plan for a future change project.

Activity-based workspaces are considered as an initiative solution for the office space at the moment since they serve all the purposes which a company needs. However, this concept is not for every business and not everyone has the same opinion about it. In addition, changing from a previous office to an activity-based workspace is an important project of the plan. These are two main topics which will be discussed in this thesis.

A qualitative research method was selected to conduct the research. In the qualitative methods, interviews and benchmarking were applied to clarify five research questions. First, an interview with the change project manager was conducted to understand the opinions of the management side and to receive general information about the change project. Then, the author randomly interviewed four students to collect data about the students’ opinions regarding this office concept. Next, an email was sent to the teachers working at the Leppävaara campus to ask for participation in a semi-structured interview to clarify their user experience of the new office and their point of view on the change process. Finally, the author chose Microsoft Netherlands case for benchmarking.

Through the research process, the results showed that in the user experience, most of the teachers who work mainly at school think that there should be some improvements in the new office. There are two people who are mobile workers who think that the new office is a positive solution. The students have difficulty in finding the teachers as there is no assigned place for each person. About the change process, all of the teachers think that the management should have involved them at the beginning. In general, there are twelve teachers who participated in the interview and there are more than twelve answers and opinions. However, people are getting used to the new office concept and accept it.

In conclusion, the author suggested having a workshop between management and teachers for communication and more listening to the teachers’ points of view. Based on that, the management can decide to get rid of the physical obstacles and add some extra needed factors to make their user experience more comfortable. Communication is the key to any change project and in the case of Laurea Leppävaara campus, more frequent communication should be emphasized. Through communication, the management can create a sense of urgency, and people can understand the situation from vision to strategy. Therefore, it is more efficient to get them through the tough period of the change then anchor the new approaches in the culture.