Is Your Workplace Pushing You Over the Edge? | Interventions to Address Stress and Privacy

By: Veronica Yambrovich, IIDA, LEED Green Associate, WELL AP

08.19.2021

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STRESS!

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Boisterous laughter explodes through the office while you’re at your desk working towards a deadline later that afternoon that you absolutely. cannot. miss. Your desk mate across from you doesn’t understand what an “inside voice” is and you get the run-down of every phone call while you’re trying to craft your e-mails. The din of phone ringing, notifications on phones and computers, chatter and interruptions of coworkers or family members can make work… even more work!

Workplaces can be stressful and enhance anxiety among people. Lack of acoustical and visual privacy, encroachment on personal space, and a lack of choice of where to work can all affect these physical responses. Increased stress and frequent activation of coping mechanisms can lead to higher levels of cortisol, longer breaks outside the office, more time to complete tasks, and increase the amount of emotional outbursts or negative confrontations. How each person responds to stressors is highly individual; Aaron Antonovsky was a medical sociologist and he developed the concept of the Sense of Coherence (SoC). This concept illustrated that people who showed high Senses of Coherence were able to employ appropriate coping mechanisms in response to stressors. Responses can be the “fight or flight” (probably more like arguing or leaving) response, and also staying quiet, depending on the situation. (Dilani) A person’s Sense of Coherence can affect what the physical manifestation of stress can take in the outside world.

Designers and leaders can adapt workplaces to address the following criteria to help employees employ better coping mechanisms, and hopefully lessen or eliminate the need to use them altogether.

PRIVACY

In the Pre-COVID era, “benching”, open style workstations with little or no partitions were trending. Part of the trend was driven by the benefits that can come from proximity, as well as getting the most “bang for your buck” out of your office lease. A big ‘Pro’ for these types of work set-ups was the benefit of “Inadvertent knowledge transfer” (Duvall) or learning and collaborating by overhearing and seeing what others on your team are doing. A big ‘Con’ to this is the lack of visual and acoustical privacy. There are times you need to collaborate with your team, so that set-up comes in handy. Other times you may need to do focus work like updating budgets or writing proposals - not really the time you want to hear other people on your team shout ideas at each other, or see the hijinx happening across the way, right?

Enter Choice.

CHOICE

Choice is what I believe to be the largest influencer in reducing stress. Designers and leaders can ensure their spaces give people the ‘place’ when it comes to the ‘time and place’ for tasks. Ryan Mullenix, a partner with NBBJ states, “Research shows that encouraging choice reduces stress and improves job satisfaction. It can also help people make better decisions to support their personal and professional development, and build understanding as to how, when and where they feel most productive.” Provide different spaces for different activities. A space for quiet concentration. A space for collaboration. A space for community or office events. Give people the choice of what level of privacy they want for the tasks they have on hand.

Designers can also incorporate outdoor spaces into the Choice options. If COVID has had us appreciate anything, it might be the psychological benefits of the outdoors! Provide spaces for rest, contemplation and relaxation. NBBJ published a blog article about restful spaces in the workplace, “Promoting restful activities outside the workplace can be beneficial, while encouraging the importance of rest in the community. Cabanas or benches underneath a tree can offer joyful, calming places for respite. Outdoor public spaces with immersive media experiences that feature customizable nature scenes and sounds from around the world can bring the powerful benefits of nature to an urban city block. These scenes can be tailored to adjust to different times of day, seasons, holidays or visitor preferences.

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In addition, inspirational slowdown routes or scenic “hikes” that reconnect employees and visitors with the purpose and mission of an organization can re-energize and inspire. For example, restorative, landscaped paths lined with scented plants like rosemary, jasmine and honeysuckle can create moments of rest. They can also be strategically placed at arrival and exit zones and even transform the experience of walking through a parking lot from car to building, bus stop, or drop-off area.”

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Providing these choices can help individuals cope with noise and visual privacy intrusions.

Post-COVID, organizations have likely updated their Working From Home (WFH) or remote working policies. This can also be used as an option regarding Choice, allowing employees the autonomy to manage their wellness, lives and routines and decide if their tasks would be better suited to complete at home or at the office.

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NOISE

Noise is one of the leading causes for stress in an indoor environment. Alan Dilani describes what qualities of noise make it stressful, “three variables that affect an individual’s sound experience; volume, predictability and possibilities for control. Studies have shown that noise can lead to physiological, psychological and social health consequences. Noise is a regular factor in the physical environment, which can contribute to stressful experiences and irritation, which can lead to stress and cause stress related diseases”.

Again, providing the choice of spaces for appropriate activities to occur can help immensely with noise control. Designers can also use the following techniques as additional noise dampening interventions:

Incorporate sound absorbing finishes, such as carpet, acoustical luxury vinyl tiles, acoustical ceiling tiles and decorative ceiling or wall panels with acoustical properties.

Specify upholstered furniture.

Install acoustical curtains.

Space plan appropriately to avoid instances such as, focus rooms that are adjacent to break areas or break areas or lobbies next to workstations.

Incorporate white noise machines in the ceiling plan.

Architectural issues of privacy and choice are physical manifestations of figurative concepts that affect all of us, daily. Planning to create spaces that offer choice and reduce noise and visual privacy can increase retention, improve work performance, create better work cultures and improve physical health of everyone who uses the space. Keep these principles in mind, and you can let go of your stress ball and hang up your noise-cancelling headphones for good.

If you are looking to renovate or build a new space and want to apply these principles to your business, work with a professional Interior Designer! Contact Formation Interiors, LLC.

SOURCES:

Dilani, Alan. (2008). Psychosocially Supportive Design: A Salutogenic Approach to the Design of the Physical Environment. 1.

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Duvall, Cheryl. “The Benefits of Inadvertent Knowledge Transfer.” Research & Insight, Gensler, 15 Jan. 2020, www.gensler.com/blog/the-benefits-of-inadvertent-knowledge-transfer.

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Griffin, Kelly. “How Can Rest Build Creativity, Focus and Wellness at Work?: Five Strategies to Support Rest in the Office” NbbX, NBBJ, 15 July 2021, http://meanstheworld.co/work/how-can-rest-build-creativity-focus-and-wellness-at-work

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Mullenix, Ryan. “Staying Human in a Digital Workplace: Ten Research-Based Ideas to Improve Hybrid Work Settings.” NbbX, NBBJ, 17 June 2021, meanstheworld.co/work/thriving-in-an-evolving-workplace.