Interaction Areas

Published February 2000

Areas in a building that are largely used by employees for talking and meeting with each other. Cafeterias and dining halls are an example. Seating configuration in dining facilities influences whether the area will enhance or inhibit conversation and relaxation. The most inefficient seating configuration is for six; preferred seating arrangements are for two and four. Approximately 60 percent of the technical information in an organization is exchanged informally: workers talk over coffee, in chance meetings by the photocopy machine or in the corridors. One way to enhance interaction is to create common nonterritorial workspace, or "group space," that is shared by a group or unit. In some facilities, companies have reduced the size of individual offices to a single work surface with storage cabinets and have contributed the remainder of the traditional office space allotment to the group area. Corridors provide an excellent opportunity for employees to interact. Because shorter corridors encourage more group contact, managers prefer to limit corridor lengths to 100 to 125 feet in work areas and 40 feet in sub-work areas. Activity nodes strategically placed along the corridors increase interaction. Intersections, vending areas with seating, office supply storage and lavatories are the most effective activity nodes. The physical distance between workers bears a direct correlation to the probability of communication among those workers. There is a 25 percent probability that researchers situated within 5 meters will talk to each other daily. There is a 10 percent probability that workers located between 10 and 45 meters will talk.