Description
Project Overview
In this project, you will complete a questionnaire to help inform the design of a new office space. Then, you will write an article about the relationship between culture and workspaces. As you complete this project, think about places you have worked in the past: How did the culture and design of the workspace impact your creativity and productivity?
Competency
In this project, you will master the following competency:
Draw connections between human creativity and culture
Scenario
You work for Gauze and Effect, a local humanitarian organization that provides emergency medical care to people in crisis. Two years ago, your friend Dr. Lee asked you to join Gauze and Effect as the organization’s first part-time employee.
Recently, the organization received a large donation from a private donor. It also received a new government grant. These funds will allow the organization to expand its reach nationally. To prepare the company to respond to more natural disasters throughout the country, you will need to add more people to the administrative staff. And to accommodate the larger staff, you’ll be moving to a new, larger workspace.
Dr. Lee wants a workspace that fosters creative collaboration and encourages social connections. Since your employees will be spending the majority of their daylight hours in the space, he wants them to be involved in the design process.
Directions
You are moving into a larger workspace and want to get a sense of what types of workspaces have worked well for your staff in the past. You’re interested to know what types of things they think should be incorporated into the new office space.
Dr. Lee has developed a brief questionnaire to encourage employee participation. He thinks it’s important that all employees participate in this activity, including you!
Workspace Questionnaire
Download and respond to all of the questions in the Workspace Questionnaire. You will submit this completed questionnaire as one of your deliverables for this project.
Article for The Gauzette
Angie O’Gram, the editor of The Gauzette, Gauze and Effect’s monthly e-newsletter, has approached you about writing an article. She’d like you to write about the workspace design initiative. Your article will help explain the initiative to the organization’s network of volunteers.
Angie has given you a list of topics and questions that she would like you to discuss in the article. Using the resources about workspace designs (which is also linked in the What to Submit section), answer these questions:
Compare and contrast cultural and historic definitions of work and workspace using examples:
How do different cultures define work and workspaces? What are some examples?
How have definitions of work and workspaces changed over time?
How do different groups in a culture define work and workspace?
Explain how other definitions of workplaces compare to the culture of your current or former employer. Also consider how these definitions compare to the broader societal culture. Share some examples:
How does your workspace represent the culture of your current or previous employer?
How does the culture of your current or former employer relate to the larger societal culture?
How do that employer’s values compare to the values of your society and culture?
Describe the relationship between your culture and your ideas about work and workers:
How does your societal culture fit with your self-concept as a worker? Explain your answer.
Explain how studying the humanities can help you understand artistic merit:
How has learning about the humanities changed the way you notice artistic merit? How has it impacted what you see in artifacts and your surrounding environment?
You can use the provided resources and conduct some of your own research. If you decide to conduct your own research, make sure that the resources are authoritative. Remember that you must cite your sources in the article.
What to Submit
Every project has a deliverable or deliverables, which are the files that must be submitted before your project can be assessed. For this project, you must submit the following:
Workspace Questionnaire
Download and respond to the questions in this resource, which will guide your analysis of a workspace and artifact. Then, submit it as a deliverable.
Article for The Gauzette (500–1000 words)
Write an article about the workspace design initiative for the organization’s network of volunteers. The Resources About Workspace Designs will help you write your article for The Gauzette. Be sure to cite these any source that you use in your article.
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Workspace Questionnaire
Thank you for participating in our survey. Your input is important to us! We are very excited to
start preparing the design of our new office space! Your response will impact our design choice
moving forward. We look forward to unveiling the new space in September!
—Dr. Lee
Your Current or Most Recent Workspace
Directions: Think about your current workspace or the workspace that you were in most recently. For
this project, workspace is defined as a place used or required for your work. This includes a variety of
spaces ranging from an office or library to your kitchen table or living-room couch.
Description: Describe your workspace in detail. How would you describe it to someone who has never
seen it? For instance, your description could include details about lighting, decor, sound, seating, and
accessibility: Where are the doors, windows, stairways, and bathrooms? Does the space have a kitchen?
If you prefer, you can provide a visual depiction of your space. Make sure that it has the same level of
detail that a written description would.
Insert your responses in these text boxes.
Functionality: Consider the environment. How is the space organized? For instance, are other people
near you? How does the space impact how you relate to others? How does the space affect the way you
work? How does it impact your productivity? For example, there may be numerous large windows in the
space that let natural light in and make it easier to stay alert and focused.
An Artifact in Your Workspace
Directions: Think about an artifact in your workspace. For this competency, an artifact must be a
tangible object that was created or modified by a human being. It embodies the creative expression of
ideas of the creator and the culture in which it was made. Following this definition, anything from a
wooden cooking spoon to a computer keyboard could be considered an artifact. Select an artifact in
your workspace and answer the following questions about it.
Artifact: What is your artifact? Identify and describe the artifact you chose.
Intentionality: How do you use your artifact? How do others use it? What do you think its intended use
or purpose is? What was the creator, designer, or developer trying to accomplish, and were they
successful?
© Copyright 2018 Southern New Hampshire University. All rights reserved.
Functionality: How does the artifact fit into the broader concept of the work environment? To what
extent does the artifact play a role in the overall functionality of the workspace? What impact does the
workspace artifact have on productivity?
Variance: Do similar artifacts exist? Are they equally crucial to society? Do different versions of the
artifact create particular cultural dynamics? Are the various versions valued in the same way in every
environment? Explain why or why not.
Relationship to Workplace Culture: How does the artifact reflect the workplace culture or context in
which it exists? Does the environment impact how the artifact is used? Does the use of the artifact
change depending on the type of work environment or the company?
Relationship to Society: How does the artifact reflect the broader culture? How was it used within the
historical context in which it was created? How has its usage changed over time? Make sure to
reference your sources.
Meaning to You: What does this artifact mean to you? What does it say about you and your values?
© Copyright 2018 Southern New Hampshire University. All rights reserved.
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