”Mer synlig som ledare för alla” - En kvalitativ studie om hur ledarskapet påverkas i en aktivitetsbaserad kontorsmiljö
Abstract
The aim of the current study was to examine how an organisation implemented a move from traditional cell offices to an Activity Based Working (ABW) office, and how leadership was affected by this change. Our intention was to examine the different types of support that leaders received from their organisation during the change. Previous studies in this area of research have tended to focus on how ABW offices can affect employeeship and employees’ well-being. To date only one study found by the present investigation has examined how an ABW office might influence organisational leadership whereas another has examined the role of leadership in creating participative change processes in the implementation of ABW offices. These studies employed quantitative methodologies consistent with an overwhelming majority of work in this area of enquiry.
The present study employed qualitative methods via semi-structured interviews with seven interview participants; two of these were HR advisors and the remaining five interview participants performed leadership roles. All interview participants were employed at the same organisation that had opted to change from cell offices to ABW offices in 2015 and 2016. All interviews were recorded and transcribed where after inductive/deductive analysis was conducted to identify codes and themes related to change and leadership. The study's results show that there were differences in how leadership was exercised in ABW offices compared to cell offices. The methods of working for the leaders changed where employee localization activities were conducted everyday in the mornings – an activity that was not conducted previously within the organisation’s cell offices. Being a leader in an ABW office was also found to influence the role of the leader with an increased emphasis on role modelling behaviour and the performance of exemplary use of ABW office work spaces. Additionally, our results show that participation in the change process is important to employee motivation and job satisfaction. Informants reported that support from management was experienced as good and amongst leaders there was an awareness that they had been supporting employees through the change process. Our study’s main conclusion is that leadership becomes more visible when working in ABW office environments. Leading as a role model also becomes move visible in an ABW office as the leader shares the same work spaces as employees and the leader-follower distance becomes smaller. Furthermore, it is highlighted that support is important in the implementation phase for a change to an ABW office in order for the move to be perceived as successful.
Degree
Student essay
View/ Open
Date
2019-09-03Author
Zayer, Paulina
Rolandsson, Tania
Keywords
Aktivitetsbaserade kontor
ABW
cellkontor
ledarskap och förändringsarbete
Language
swe