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▼ ‘ABW’ Work Style Catching On In Japanese Companies
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An imported work style called “activity-based working” (ABW), under which employees can choose the location and time that they work to best fit the situation, is catching on in Japan.
Under the ABW concept, employees can, for example, choose between concentrating on their work in a private setting, or working alongside others to exchange ideas, whichever is best to enhance overall productivity.
As the ways people work have been changing as the coronavirus crisis drags on, the benefits of ABW are drawing the attention of companies and workers alike.
■ Originated in the Netherlands
It is said that the ABW concept originated in the Netherlands some 30 years ago.
According to leading office furnishings maker Itoki Corp., based in Tokyo, the work contents under ABW fall into categories such as individual work that requires a high level of concentration, web conferences, settings to bring out ideas, and so forth, with working environments in the office arranged accordingly.
Adopting ABW practices including teleworking is seen as a way to deal with the COVID-19 situation.
Mitsui Designtech Co., a Tokyo-based company, established in July a headquarters office based on the ABW concept in a building in central Tokyo’s Ginza district.
It has a sunroom, where one can work in a relaxed atmosphere with the sunlight shining into the room, and a web booth for online conferencing. With no fixed seats designated for individual workers, employees choose their work setting depending on what work is expected from them for the day.
Shinichi Mitsuki, the head of the Creative Design Center of Mitsui Designtech who was engaged in designing the office said, “I tried to establish workplaces under different environments to enhance productivity.”
Also the office focuses on stimulating interaction among employees to generate ideas.
While there is a meeting space where employees can hold discussions while standing, desks have also been arranged in such a way as to make workers weave their way around the office, thus increasing unexpected encounters with other workers. There is also an area where workers can relax or perhaps eat a meal, and an area equipped with a coffee booth.
“I came across a contemporary of mine and learned her thoughts on the attendance and absence management system, of which I am in charge.
This is a valuable information that I cannot get while working at home,” said a staff member of the firm’s general affairs and personnel department.
■ Suitable for the times
Daiko Denshi Tsushin, Ltd., an information communication company based in Tokyo, also revamped its office in July last year, adopting ABW with no designated seats for individual workers. While thoroughly pursuing a paperless operation, the arrangement for telework amid the COVID-19 crisis has also been made smoothly, the company said.
According to Kokuyo Co., an Osaka-based leader in office furnishings, ABW is suited for companies that have many sales and marketing personnel, whose work will be done mostly outside the office. Thus, ABW enables a company to reduce its office footprint, streamline operations and cut costs.
There are even such merits as making it easier for workers busy with child-rearing or providing care for elderly relatives to balance between such tasks at home and work. On the other hand, however, more autonomy on the part of workers will be required.
The director of Workstyle Research Lab of Kokuyo said: “It [ABW] has been attracting attention since a few years ago, when discussions about work-style reforms came to the fore. As working at home amid the coronavirus crisis has, in a way, backed up ABW, it is likely to raise more public interest in it in the future.”
Yet, there are challenges related to labor management to embracing ABW as well.
“With the adoption of ABW, there will be more people who work at places invisible to others,” said Yohei Tsunemi, associate professor at the Chiba University of Commerce, a scholar on the sociology of labor who is knowledgeable about work styles.
At conventional workplaces where the seats of individual workers are fixed, people can perceive in an atmosphere generated with person-to-person contact those workers who may have difficulty in getting tangible results or those who have thrown themselves too hard into their work and end up working excessively. When it comes to ABW, it would be difficult for those around such workers to do so.
“Including those work styles in which teleworking and working at the office are combined, trials and errors will continue on both employees and employers.” Tsunemi said,
Under the ABW concept, employees can, for example, choose between concentrating on their work in a private setting, or working alongside others to exchange ideas, whichever is best to enhance overall productivity.
As the ways people work have been changing as the coronavirus crisis drags on, the benefits of ABW are drawing the attention of companies and workers alike.
■ Originated in the Netherlands
It is said that the ABW concept originated in the Netherlands some 30 years ago.
According to leading office furnishings maker Itoki Corp., based in Tokyo, the work contents under ABW fall into categories such as individual work that requires a high level of concentration, web conferences, settings to bring out ideas, and so forth, with working environments in the office arranged accordingly.
Adopting ABW practices including teleworking is seen as a way to deal with the COVID-19 situation.
Mitsui Designtech Co., a Tokyo-based company, established in July a headquarters office based on the ABW concept in a building in central Tokyo’s Ginza district.
It has a sunroom, where one can work in a relaxed atmosphere with the sunlight shining into the room, and a web booth for online conferencing. With no fixed seats designated for individual workers, employees choose their work setting depending on what work is expected from them for the day.
Shinichi Mitsuki, the head of the Creative Design Center of Mitsui Designtech who was engaged in designing the office said, “I tried to establish workplaces under different environments to enhance productivity.”
Also the office focuses on stimulating interaction among employees to generate ideas.
While there is a meeting space where employees can hold discussions while standing, desks have also been arranged in such a way as to make workers weave their way around the office, thus increasing unexpected encounters with other workers. There is also an area where workers can relax or perhaps eat a meal, and an area equipped with a coffee booth.
“I came across a contemporary of mine and learned her thoughts on the attendance and absence management system, of which I am in charge.
This is a valuable information that I cannot get while working at home,” said a staff member of the firm’s general affairs and personnel department.
■ Suitable for the times
Daiko Denshi Tsushin, Ltd., an information communication company based in Tokyo, also revamped its office in July last year, adopting ABW with no designated seats for individual workers. While thoroughly pursuing a paperless operation, the arrangement for telework amid the COVID-19 crisis has also been made smoothly, the company said.
According to Kokuyo Co., an Osaka-based leader in office furnishings, ABW is suited for companies that have many sales and marketing personnel, whose work will be done mostly outside the office. Thus, ABW enables a company to reduce its office footprint, streamline operations and cut costs.
There are even such merits as making it easier for workers busy with child-rearing or providing care for elderly relatives to balance between such tasks at home and work. On the other hand, however, more autonomy on the part of workers will be required.
The director of Workstyle Research Lab of Kokuyo said: “It [ABW] has been attracting attention since a few years ago, when discussions about work-style reforms came to the fore. As working at home amid the coronavirus crisis has, in a way, backed up ABW, it is likely to raise more public interest in it in the future.”
Yet, there are challenges related to labor management to embracing ABW as well.
“With the adoption of ABW, there will be more people who work at places invisible to others,” said Yohei Tsunemi, associate professor at the Chiba University of Commerce, a scholar on the sociology of labor who is knowledgeable about work styles.
At conventional workplaces where the seats of individual workers are fixed, people can perceive in an atmosphere generated with person-to-person contact those workers who may have difficulty in getting tangible results or those who have thrown themselves too hard into their work and end up working excessively. When it comes to ABW, it would be difficult for those around such workers to do so.
“Including those work styles in which teleworking and working at the office are combined, trials and errors will continue on both employees and employers.” Tsunemi said,
- October 4, 2021
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