Increasing productivity is a crucial objective of ABW, albeit a challenging one because it is not so easy to prove orABWs benefits for the organization as a whole are different from its benefits for measure ABWs impact on productivity (see page 28). Thereindividual employees. It is an important is a general belief, however, that ABW can help to improvedistinction because individual users willpeoples performance as it allows people to choose thosewant to know Whats in it for me?.spaces that best suit their activities, which should make itWhats in it for the organization? easier to perform those activities. Moreover, productivityReduced occupancy costsshould benefit from the accompanying change inSmaller environmental footprintmanagement thinking, which focuses on peoplesPotential improvement in staff performanceIncreased flexibilityperformance rather than their presence in the office.Better interaction across teamsSupport for cultural changeImproving employee experienceWhen done right, ABW can contribute positively to peoplesWhats in it for the staff?More autonomy in choosing where to worksatisfaction and their experience of the work environment.More choice and variety in work settingsThe concepts most important quality is the freedomAdvanced technologies that allow mobile of choice it offers, which can give people a sense ofworkingMore contact with colleaguesempowerment. The extra attention to design that usuallyFewer hierarchical differencescomes with ABW is a positive factor as well. It is importantA less sedentary, healthier workstyle to keep in mind, however, that peoples satisfaction andFewer workplaces, but better onesworkplace experience will, in part, depend on what they are used to. Staff coming from a crowded open-plan office will be easier to please than those coming from spacious private offices. Supporting cultural changeActivity-based working can be used as tool to support particular cultural changes. For example, it can play a role in creating a more egalitarian culture, as both management and employees make use of the same set of spaces. It may also help to foster a collaborative culture because there are no longer clear boundaries between departments. It is important to note, however, that cultural change is notoriously difficult to achieve. Changes in the workplace will only work if they go hand in hand with changes in management style and employee behaviour. Do not expect cultural change to happen by Increasing flexibility itself. Moving into a new work environment can ABW offices have the great advantage of being extremelyhelp and stimulate cultural change, but it is rarely, if ever, enough. Organizational leaders and flexible. Employees and teams can be moved withoutother influencers have to lead by example in the having to clear out filing cabinets or having to pack andenvisioned new way of working and they have unpack moving boxes. Fluctuations in team sizes can easilyto be consistent, persistent and insistent in their be accommodated as there is no 1:1 link between headmessage.count and workstations (although there is obviously a limit to how much growth can be absorbed within a given area). The overall effect is that the rate of churn (the percentage of employees moved during a year) and the related costs are relatively low. 24