by By Terry Carroll — Generally, the idea of collaborative workspace conjures up images of schools and universities, technology firms and advertising agencies, which all require a considerable amount of shared group space. However, to see the ultimate collaborative workspace in action, one need not look any further than the local television news station. Although the concept of collaborative workspace is taking many industries by storm, the idea is common among the media and its newsrooms, where teamwork is required every day 24/7.
Anyone who sets foot in a newsroom hears the hum of collaboration and senses the urgency of deadlines. In this environment every second counts, and being just one second behind can mean the difference between breaking a story first or showing up after the competition. In order to gain an edge, it’s important all newsroom cylinders fire concurrently. This means content producers need quick and easy access to producers and anchors, camera crews need flexibility and mobility to quickly capture shots, and content editors require information at the tip of their fingers on a moment’s notice. Prior to a newscast, it is not uncommon for several impromptu meetings to take place simultaneously—reinforcing the importance for flexible furnishings. The interiors must accommodate collaboration and individual work, and eliminate wasting precious time sometimes lost when moving to a new location to meet.
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Although newsrooms have always been collaborative environments, that is not the case for typical offices. Today, designers and office executives are developing spaces more conducive to teamwork and casual meetings. A recent Gensler survey found people spend 32 percent (more than 2.5 hours per day) collaborating with others. More collaborative workspaces require flexible furnishings, soft seating and tools to support team activities. Newsrooms set great examples of how to incorporate and balance teamwork with individual focus.
There is a key element that sets television newsrooms apart from other collaborative environments—viewers. In television, the newsroom can be a place the whole community or world sees on a regular basis, which is why it is critical for the furnishings to not only be flexible but also multi-functional and stylish. The following case study about a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, examines the station’s decision to choose a solution that provides optimal support for collaboration, while maintaining a sense of privacy for employees.
How WXIX gets it right
Over the past few years, WXIX has positioned the station as progressive and forward thinking. However, their previous newsroom furnishings did not represent the desired image nor allow for optimum levels of collaboration. Style and functionality were the two essential requirements WXIX executives sought when evaluating new furnishings. The newsroom needed an office solution that encouraged lively discussion, provided sufficient workspace, accommodated a significant amount of technology and was sleek enough to be viewed on high-definition television.
“Working in a newsroom is a unique office environment because there’s both a collaborative need and the need to work privately,” said Steven Ackermann, news director at WXIX. “You don’t have the opportunity to take everybody to a conference room to have a meeting—especially when you’re five minutes from deadline or a newscast.”
In a newsroom, where time is crucial, it is important for team members to communicate quickly and clearly. Collaboration is difficult if team members are located on opposite sides of the room or they can’t easily see or communicate with one another. According to research conducted by Judith Heerwagen, a Seattle-based environmental psychologist, 80 percent of office interactions are unplanned and occur as a result of one employee visually monitoring the availability of another employee. This research also supports the overall office trend toward more team-oriented environments.
Visualizing teamwork and collaboration
The new WXIX newsroom now uses visual screens, terraces and 120-degree clusters adjacent to the anchor desk. This arrangement also allows an anchor to quickly walk over and speak with a reporter about a breaking story, during the newscast or broadcast directly from the newsroom.
For WXIX, new visual screens in front of employees’ work surfaces allow everyone to see the people around them, filter visual cues with the people on the other side of the panel and easily determine if someone is busy or available. In addition, the new arrangement strategically places teams together, with the content providers in the middle and the producers and anchors on the ends in clusters for quick and easy consultations.
The increased visibility and filtration components allowed WXIX”to make sure we were not duplicating any efforts, because everybody can talk to each other,” said Bill Lanesey, vice president and general manager at WXIX. The increases in internal communication also ensured stories were not missed. “As everybody monitors what’s going on from the assignment desk to the Internet right on their desks, they’re able to communicate with each other on how we get out and cover that event, and get it done not just in a timely fashion, but before our competition gets there as well.”
The screens provide a sense of privacy for individual, focused work and enough open space to cue coworkers for a quick meeting.
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The ability to layer technology and move it off the primary work surface also increased collaboration and efficiency at WXIX. In order for teams to work effectively, the office furniture dealer assisting WXIX needed to find homes for all necessary equipment, especially large monitors. These monitors were moved onto the upper terraces of the desking system, which allowed team members to quickly glance up at the monitor, watch footage, make comments, then return to their individual work—all without missing a beat and crowding over someone’s personal space.
By layering the larger pieces of technology over the work surfaces, the office furniture dealer provided more work space for individuals.
“One of the key features is the ability to really multitask the furniture because that’s what the people are doing. We have to have shared workspace. Every desk is used by at least two and in some cases three people throughout the day,” said Ackermann.
The ultimate flexible solution
A central feature to collaborative work-spaces is the ability for furnishings to adapt to ever-changing technology. Technological advancements allow a highly-mobile, agile and widespread workforce to conduct business anywhere at any time, leading to multiple people using the same workstation throughout the day, week or month. As employees continue to work remotely, the need for each person to maintain their own space decreases. Facility managers, designers and office furniture manufacturers must continue anticipating future needs and work with technology partners to ensure the furnishings produced integrate seamlessly with rapidly advancing technology.
In addition to identifying a flexible solution that encourages collaboration, the final piece of the puzzle for WXIX was making sure the furnishings were suitable for live television. After functionality, the line’s style had to match the station’s brand since the news team provides live reports from its newsroom two or three times a day.
“How you look as a television station—and the news that you produce—is a big part of it. Certainly the content you generate is important, but you have to put out an aesthetically pleasing product, both with the talent and the set,” said Lanesey. “This was a very important decision for us.”
A unique design consideration was identifying the proper color for the visual screens. They needed to match the station’s corporate identity, yet also be soothing to the eye so they wouldn’t distract viewers away from the reporting. A color specialist consulted the station on which corporate color and screen design were most appropriate for on-air viewing.
The case of WXIX is only one example of how interior furnishings have an impact on the amount and quality of collaboration capable of taking place in the office. Newsrooms and other collaborative workspaces are unique environments—offering facility managers, dealers and designers an opportunity to be creative, while addressing several critical design challenges. Next time you turn on the local news, take a moment to think about the work that took place behind the scenes, and the number of people collaborating to produce the final product.
About the author
A six-year member of the Kimball® Office team, Terry Carroll currently serves as a market intelligence manager focusing on external market trends, end-user evaluations, competitive intelligence and industry technologies. He leads “voice of the customer” discussions and identifies upcoming workplace and technology trends.
Carroll spent seven years leading pricing strategy and product management for an institutional food service manufacturer and marketer prior to joining Kimball Office.