Should we leverage best practices from corporate work environments in educational spaces?
Angie Earlywine, Senior Workplace Strategist for HOK Advance Strategies, Rich Smith, Director Science + Technology-Higher Education, and Tura Patterson, HOK Director of Project Development, made a presentation at the University of Minnesota entitled, “Crossing Over: Space Utilization Best Practices Enhance Space Planning in Higher Education Institutions” on October 15, 2010. The presentation explored similarities between the corporate sector and institutions of higher learning to promote understanding of trends in officing and workplace strategies.
Universities are focused on optimizing utilization and doing more with less, just as in corporate organizations. There are common demands for:
- Demand for agile, efficient processes
- Flexibility
- Strategic investment in technology
- Highly functional, comfortable, and welcoming places for learning
- An emphasis on collaboration and innovation
- A need to contain costs while improving performance
- New focus on sustainable design solutions and operations
- Leverage learning environment to attract & retain talent
In summary, the model for aligning space, technology, and space use strategies with university goals would also hold true in the corporate environment. View this presentation that includes results of the IFMA Distributed Work Survey and HOK case studies of Butler University College of Education Building, Maryville University School of Health Professions and the University of Southern Indiana College of Business & School of Engineering.
Interested in learning more? Contact angie.earlywine@hok.com or rich.smith@hok.com.
