Karin Jansen of Fokkema and Partners, who designed the building, adds that the coffee corners were deliberately located next to the open staircases. They are part of the offices central routing that starts at the entrance, then moves along all office floors, and ends up at the bar and roof terrace on the 7th floor. The routing provides maximum possibilities for chance encounters. The office provides around 8 desks for every 10 employees. A tighter ratio would be possible, but according to Sjoerd this ratio works very well. It means that there are alwaysAlthough this photo suggests otherwise, the plenty of desks to choose from. Moreover, it means thatopen meeting spots that are located right next people dont have to clear their desks every time theyworkstations are not used very often. They offer little acoustic privacy and people dont want go to a meeting. Although people do have to clear theirto disturb their colleagues. (photo: Horizon desk before they go home: If security finds any stuff onPhotoworks)your desk at the end of the day, they will remove it and you will have to collect it from them. Thats also for security purposes.According to a recent evaluation of the project, there are some aspects that can be improved. One of the main issues is a lack of dedicated places for phone calls. Sjoerd: Currently, people are having phone conversations in corners and in meeting rooms. There are not many places to go if you need to make a quick private call or if you dont want to disturb your colleagues with your call. A related observation is that the meeting rooms are not being usedThere are different kinds of meeting rooms as intended. Our six-person meeting rooms are mostlyto choose from. There are rooms with normal used for one-on-one meetings. So, it might be that we willmeeting chairs, with bar stools (as in this photo) and there are rooms for standing meetings, make some changes to the mix of settings. with no seating at all. The latter kind is Sjoerds favourite as it encourages short but efficient meetings. (photo: Horizon Photoworks)Q&AEmiel van Nielen, Manager IT Delivery Professional ServicesWhat do you like best about this new way of working?How often do you change places in the office? I have three scrum teams under my wing, and they areDaily. Our scrum teams differ in size and they may sit at to a large extent self-steering. It is a way of workingdifferent locations in the building at different moments. that is facilitated by the office concept as the teamsThis creates a sense of dynamism, but it can be difficult can choose their own project spots. Where they workto keep overview of all teams. But not all teams in the depends on their tasks, their meeting schedules,organization are that adventurous. Some of them the presence or absence of team members, thealways sit in the same place. Thats what works for them, collaboration with business counterparts, and so on.or it may be that they work with confidential data.Their mobility is helped by the fact that we have a clean-desk policy and plenty of lockers and cabinets to storeWhat is your favourite workspace within the office? our things.The meeting point zone on the first floor. It is a place where you can work in relative peace without having to What aspect could be improved?shield yourself from disturbances. Another thing I like At peak moments there can be a shortage ofabout that area is that you often get to meet colleagues workstations. In such an instance, we have to improvisefrom abroad who are visiting the office, so you get a and negotiate with other teams. It may be that a teamsense of the international scale on which we operate.member has to find a spot elsewhere in the building, which is not very practical. But this only happens once a month or so.