Work Space Requirements Questionnaire

Work Space Requirements Questionnaire

When designing space, understanding the needs of occupants is paramount. The following questionnaire should be used when you wish to survey individuals about their work-space requirements. Most likely you will need to customize this document to meet the needs of your project.

Questions are structured to avoid soliciting opinions about satisfaction with existing work arrangements. Where opinions are requested, they pertain to ease or difficulty of performing work.

This list of questions is exhaustive, and necessarily so. Creating a comfortable, productive work environment is no small task. It requires training and preparation. Tools such as this questionnaire, which appears in BOMI Institute’s Facilities Planning and Project Management course, can help you learn to meet the needs of your customers.

1. General Data
   Name
   Title or Position
   Department or Organization
   Present Location (building, section, floor, room no., etc.)
   Date Information Submitted
   Phone Number
2. When you are in your office/work space, how is the space used? Please describe the kinds of work activities and processes that go on in your work/office space in a typical month by estimating the percentage of time you spend on each of the following in that space:Percentage (%)
   _____% Writing/dictating (letters, reports, memos, etc.)
   _____% Reading (letters, reports, memos, etc.)
   _____% Typing, word processing, calculating, computing
   _____% Filing/retrieving files
   _____% Meeting with others
   _____% Talking on the telephone
   _____% Other—describe
3. How often do you have to schedule meetings in rooms other than your office/work space because your regularly assigned space is too small, inadequately equipped, or insufficiently private?
   _____ Once a day
   _____ Once a week
   _____ Once a month
   _____ Never
   _____ My job does not require me to hold meetings.
4. If you use your office/work space for meetings, discussions, or interviews, typically how many people are present, not including you?
   _____ No meetings are held in my office/work space
   _____ One person other than me
   _____ Two persons
   _____ Three persons
   _____ Four or more persons other than me
5. If you had the space available in your own office/work space, would your work be made more effective by having people attend such meetings? If so, please indicate ideally how many people your work space should accommodate:
   _____ The same number of people I indicated for item 4.
   _____ One person other than me
   _____ Two persons
   _____ Three persons
   _____ Four or more persons other than me
6. To what extent is visual privacy necessary in your meetings?
   _____ My job does not require me to hold meetings.
   _____ None of my meetings require visual privacy.
   _____ Some of my meetings require visual privacy.
   _____ Most of my meetings require visual privacy.
   _____ All of my meetings require visual privacy.
7. To what extent is acoustical privacy necessary in your meetings?
   _____ My job does not require me to hold meetings.
   _____ None of my meetings require acoustical privacy.
   _____ Some of my meetings require acoustical privacy.
   _____ Most of my meetings require acoustical privacy.
   _____ All of my meetings require acoustical privacy.
8. Please check off on the list below any furniture items located outside your immediate office/work space that you share with others:
   _____ Desk
   _____ Work table or credenza
   _____ Conference table
   _____ Bookcase(s)
   _____ File cabinet(s)
   _____ Other (please describe)
9. How do such space and furniture sharing arrangements interfere with your productivity?
   _____ Not at all
   _____ Computer not available
   _____ Not enough file space
   _____ Not enough privacy
   _____ Not enough workspace
10. How much information that you receive or produce do you store or file for future reference (as opposed to discarding it)?
    _____ 75% or more
    _____ 50% to 74%
    _____ 25% to 49%
    _____ 0% to 24%
11. How long does the work usually remain in your work area?
    _____ A few hours
    _____ A day
    _____ A week
    _____ A month
12. How does work arrive at your desk?
    _____ In large stacks
    _____ One thing at a time
    _____ Unpredictable
13. Where do you store uncompleted work?
    _____ On work surface
    _____ In file drawers
    _____ On shelves
    _____ In mobile file unit
    _____ Other
14. Below, you will find a list of materials. Indicate the four materials you use the most (1 = most, 4 = least):
    _____ Looseleaf binders
    _____ Books
    _____ Computer printouts
    _____ Video tapes
    _____ Removable hard disks
    _____ Computer diskettes
    _____ File folders
    _____ Manuals/catalogs
    _____ Paper/forms
    _____ Flip chart paper/markers
    _____ Drawings 20 in. x 30 in. or larger
    _____ Oversize books or ledgers
15. Does any of your work require lockable storage?
    _____Yes _____No
16. How many four- and five-shelf bookcases do you regularly use in your present workspace/office, and how many do you need?
    _____ None
    _____ One
    _____ Two
    _____ Three
    _____ Four
    _____ Five or more
17. Do you use a flat desk and/or table with drawer?
    _____ Yes _____No
18. How many file drawers do you need? (Assume each drawer can store about 2Z|x linear feet of files; do not include files that could be archived elsewhere.)
    _____ None
    _____ One
    _____ Two
    _____ Three
    _____ Four
    _____ Five or more
19. Do you share files with another person and need file space which can be easily moved from one space to another?
    _____ Yes _____No
20. How many of your current file drawers contain dead files referred to infrequently and need to go to archival files?
    _____ 1 — 2 drawers
    _____ 3 — 5 drawers
    _____ 5 — 10 drawers
    _____ 11 — 15 drawers
    _____ Over 15 drawers
21. Are the files in your immediate workstation contained in lateral file drawers?
    _____ Yes _____No
22. If you use a copying machine frequently, where is it located?
    _____ I don’t use a copying machine.
    _____ In my own immediate work area
    _____ In a nearby adjacent area
    _____ Same floor, but at considerable distance from my desk
    _____ On a different floor
23. How often do you use reference material (items you borrow and must return)?
    _____ Very frequently
    _____ Frequently
    _____ Infrequently
    _____ Very infrequently
24. Where do you go for reference material?
    _____ Central library
    _____ Departmental library
    _____ Material kept in workstation
    _____ Other (specify)
25. Do you have large graphic materials on display in your workstation?
    _____ Yes _____No
26. Do you use a chalkboard or flipchart board in your immediate workstation for writing or planning?
    _____ Yes _____No
27. How many business-related telephone conversations do you participate in during an average day, while in your own office/work space?
    _____ None
    _____ 1 — 5
    _____ 6 — 10
    _____ 11 — 20
    _____ 21 — 30
    _____ More than 30
28. What portion of the above telephone conversations require privacy from your fellow staff members?
    _____ None
    _____ 1 — 25%
    _____ 26 — 50%
    _____ 51 — 75%
    _____ Over 75%
29. . How many computers do you use at your workstation? (Include your laptop if you carry it back and forth to work/home.)
    _____ One exclusively
    _____ Mainly one; occasionally, others
    _____ Two
    _____ Three or more
30. Where is the most frequently used printer located?
    _____ I don’t use a printer.
    _____ In own immediate work area
    _____ In a nearby adjacent work area
    _____ Same floor, but at considerable distance from my desk
    _____ On a different floor
31. Place a check beside each of the following distractions in your current office/work space.
    _____ Machine noise
    _____ Nearby telephone rings and phone conversations
    _____ Other conversations in surrounding area
    _____ General noise
    _____ Background music
    _____ Public announcement system
    _____ Total quietness
    _____ Printers or other office equipment
    _____ Personal radios
32. List the three people you must communicate most with personally during a typical work day:
    Name
    Department
    Location
    ___ Same floor
    ___ Adjacent space
    ___ Another floor
33. Do you work in a team with any other individual or individuals?
    _____ Yes _____ No
34. How long do your team assignments last?
    _____ A few days
    _____ A week
    _____ A month
    _____ A few months
35. List the three other work groups with whom you communicate most frequently, in person, as part of your daily work:
36. List the three individuals with whom you participate most frequently in conferences:
37. How do you like to work? Check all that apply?
    _____ Desk facing workstation entry
    _____ Desk facing window area
    _____ Facing away from workstation entry
    _____ Conventional desk configuration
    _____ Long, narrow work surface
    _____ Table desk with conference seats
    _____ Low table with seating
    _____ Stand-up desk
    _____ Work area visually separated from rest of office
38. What is the best arrangement for meetings you conduct?
    _____ I don’t conduct meetings.
    _____ Adjoining conference room
    _____ Within office comfortable seating area
    _____ At desk with chairs opposite

As a final note, all responses to such questionnaires should be reviewed and interpreted carefully, not followed verbatim. Occupants are very close to their work environments, and so it can be difficult for some to fully understand their own needs. They can sometimes understate or overstate their needs. Spot-checking written responses against actual conditions is suggested in some cases.