All work occurs in a place, and the debate about where and what that place should be remains contentious. Workers are making more conscious choices about where to place themselves — be it in a home office or bedroom, at the local cafe or coworking space, in transit on the train or in a hotel, or in a traditional office in the city. This is for good reason: Where you do your work matters, because without you even knowing it, places are anchoring your career and shaping your sense of self.
Drawing from our theory of workplace identification, which integrates research on environmental psychology, organizational behavior, and workplace design, we offer insight into how you might consider and shape the physical landscape of the workplaces you have available to you in ways that can help you become your best self at work.
The Form and Function of our Modern Workplaces
Workplaces are comprised of several elements that impact our ability to function effectively, connect with others, and simply get work done:
- Functional: Physical attributes that facilitate our work
- Sensory: Lighting, sounds, smells, textures, colors, and views
- Social: Opportunities for interpersonal interactions
- Temporal: Markers of our past accomplishments or future aspirations
- But our workplaces are more than just a collection of contextual characteristics that fill in the backdrop of our work activities. Workplaces are important because they both reflect and unwittingly shape our professional identities — who we were, who we are, and who we aspire to be as workers. Our identities become intertwined with our workplaces as we accumulate milestones, memories, and life-shaping experiences in them.
Can you vividly remember your first workplace that housed important professional relationships or your first tough boss? Do you have “your spot” in a local coffee shop where you hide away to get things done? Do you scatter about artifacts, pictures, and decorations to make your cubicle, desk, or office “your own” in some sense?
