Author:  John Hathaway-Bates with Lawrence Lerner
Commissioned and written for:
The American Management Association

Introduction 

Office planning has a direct effect on the productivity of the employees who use a business environment and, if done properly, can bring benefits to all sectors of an organization. Personnel Executives will find that the management of human resources is made much easier if the environment is geared to the needs and productivity of the individuals the organization employs. Similarly, Administration Executives will find that accuracy and productivity increase in a direct relationship to the efficiency of communications, both within and between departments.

Business can thrive with change - by either growing or contracting, within departments, divisions, or the total organization - and the application of professional office planning techniques provides the tools to allow this change to occur with the minimum of interference of day-to-day activities, without sporadic budget demands to accommodate capital investment needed for expansion. Space Planning is an economic necessity, as it enables the organization to employ its resources in space totally and in a functionally efficient manner. Good office design is a combination of function, logistics, economics, and aesthetics. No administrative complex can be planned from one single point of view. Office planning is a science that employs many disciplines, brought together to serve business needs in today's technological world. Executives who are responsible for office planning or facilities management have one of the most important tasks in any organization, and much of their success or failure will depend to a great extent on their ability to keep up with the technological advances in this area. Also important is the strength of the advice and assistance that they can call upon to develop solutions to ever-changing needs.  

This course will not train managers to be office planners or interior designers. Rather, it is formulated to assist executives in efficient management of their company's space resources and to introduce them to the terminology, systems, and techniques of the office planning profession. Such information will enable executives not only to understand but also to implement the benefits of good facilities, planning, and management.

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