Adaptability of the shared workspace concept, for office buildings in Sri Lanka: Fid-Bau Portal

Adaptability of the shared workspace concept, for office buildings in Sri Lanka

Perera, W. Y. / Perera, B. A. K. S. / Jayasena, N. S.

Space management has an important role to play in office buildings as it can create a safe, functional and efficient space that can increase productivity of the office staff. Unutilized space in office buildings could be used as shared workspaces by different people for different purposes. This study used a qualitative research approach to collect data thorough fifteen semi-structured interviews conducted with industry practitioners selected using purposive sampling. The two case studies done subsequently identified the issues that could arise in space planning and the possibility of adopting the concept of shared workspace in Sri Lanka. The data collected were analysed using NVivo 11 content analysis software to identify the characteristics of spaces that could be used as shared spaces, types of shared spaces, enablers/barriers that contribute to the success/failure of shared workspaces and the steps that can be taken to overcome the barriers. The barriers identified are legal and regulatory issues, lack of privacy, need to match co-worker expectations and attitudes as a whole, need to monitor and control the space, noise and the unavailability of an effective support structure. Recommendations to overcome each identified barrier are also presented. The findings of the research would facilitate the smooth implementation of the shared workspace concept in Sri Lanka.