New ways of working: Measuring the impacts on knowledge work productivity
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The document discusses the measurement of productivity impacts from new ways of working (newwow) in knowledge-based organizations. It outlines challenges in measuring productivity changes, proposes a measurement framework, and emphasizes the need for empirical research to assess these impacts effectively. The authors suggest various metrics and measurement strategies to evaluate the productivity changes associated with newwow initiatives.
New ways of working: Measuring the impacts on knowledge work productivity
- 1. NEW WAYS OF WORKING: MEASURING THE IMPACTS ON KNOWLEDGE WORK PRODUCTIVITY NICE, FRANCE, SEPTEMBER 7-9, 2011 Dr. Harri Laihonen, Dr. Aki Jääskeläinen, Prof. Antti Lönnqvist and Researcher Jenna Ruostela Performance Management Research Group Tampere University of Technology
- 2. Agenda I. Illustration of the measurement task II. Some measurement challenges III. Proposed measurement framework IV. Towards actual measures
- 4. Traditional and a new way Picture: http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/news/17-inspiring-awesomely-cool-office-interiors/ Picture: http://www.techdivine.com/tdblog/tag/bhutan/
- 5. Traditional and a new way Picture: http://www.shanghaidailyphoto.com/index.php/2008/10/ Picture: http://www.ita-savo.fi/Uutiset/8304628.html
- 6. Traditional and a new way Picture: http://theworldhates.com/working-in-an-office/ Picture: http://www.ergoware.com/blog/cool-office-furniture-workstations
- 7. Measurement task • Benefits of NewWoW initiatives are not self-evident and thus measurements are needed to verify them. There is a lack of studies focused on the actual business impacts of different working arrangements. • Research question: How to measure productivity impacts of NewWoW?
- 8. Measurement challenges • how to identify which factors are actually impacted? • how to take into account the fact that impacts may vary regarding the working role and organizational level in question? • how to distinguish the impact resulting from the change in question in comparison to other factors affecting productivity at the same time (e.g. changes in business environment)? • how to deal with the time lag between the change and the realization of impacts
- 9. Proposed measurement framework Input - employees, technology, facilities Process - organization of work Output - Qualitative and quantitative NewWoW Initiative - sociotechnical change 2 Productivity change 3 4 1 Knowledge work productivity measurement? 2 Was there a change in productivity? (before-after) 3 What changed in the way of working? (before-during the change process-after) 4 Was the change induced by the NewWow initiative? (after) 1 Knowledge work
- 10. Towards actual measures Phases in performance measurement system design Examples in NewWoW impact measurement setting I. Defining the measurement task in question (i.e., what is the purpose for measurement?) - demonstrating the role of NewWow practices as a strategic issue affecting the productivity of knowledge-based organisations - providing evidence about the impacts of a NewWow-related change initiative - following and managing the functioning of NewWow practices on a continuous basis - supporting the change process (guide employees) II. Identification of the factors to be measured - (1) Productivity change - (2) Change in input and process factors - (3) Impact of intervention to productivity change excluding other affecting factors III. Planning the actual measurement and choosing metrics to be used - (1) Survey measuring employees’ subjective evaluation on productivity change - (1) Output/input ratio - (2) Survey measuring the applicability of facilities for conducting the work - (2) Employee satisfaction survey - (2) Knowledge flow audit - (3) In-depth interviews - (3) Observations - (3) Statistical methods IV. Implementation of the measures; execution based on the choices made during the previous steps - Collecting the data, training personnel etc. - (1) Before-after comparison - (2) Before-after comparison - (3) After the change intervention V. Analysis and reporting of measurement results - Who needs the measurement information? - How is the information analysed and reported? - Linking the analysis of the results to managerial actions and decision-making
- 11. Objective metrics • Cost efficiency … through the efficiency of office space utilization • Manually: walkthrough method… • Digitally: precise space utilization data available is some advanced cases • Environmental performance • CO2 emissions (from offices and / or from commuting)
- 13. Conclusions and our future research • Empirical research needed • The proposed measurement framework provides a basis for the empirical research and helps both in planning the measurement arrangement and in designing the actual measures. • Practical experience of applying the framework in different organizational contexts (e.g., with different purposes for measurement) is needed. • Currently carrying out a empirical study regarding the measurement of NewWoW initiatives • Wider societal implications of NewWoW requires different kind of measurement approach.
- 14. Thank you