One of the challenges I work on in developing BBC R&D North's new premesis (both the interim solution and our long term base at MediaCity:UK) is figuring out just what we as a department need to do our work. I've talked a little about the technology, but the physical environment is important too. Just what makes a space that engineers can work effectively in? I'd love to hear any suggestions you may have (use the comments), but I also thought I'd share some quotes I found when trying to quantify and communicate the environment we're trying to create.

The first and largest problem is creating an environment free enough of distraction that engineers can concentrate. We use the idea of flow - a well established psychological concept - to illustrate this. As Wikipedia puts it:

Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields. Colloquial terms for this or similar mental states include: to be on the ball, in the zone, or in the groove.

We need to balance collaboration and openness with this desire for contemplation and focus, a problem often faced by others, such as web software firm Digg:

I was particularly worried about the open area being too disruptive for productive engineering work and about the difficulty of managing the delicate balance between good communication and an excessively distracting environment. To mitigate this concern, we took inspiration from the “caves and commons” pattern and installed a cave area, for developers to retreat to. -- John Quinn, Digg

One way we're seriously considering breaking up the space is into "project neighbourhoods", an idea used by others including design firm IDEO. Tom Kelly has some interesting things to say on the matter in his book, The Art of Innovation:

We believe in the importance of neighbourhoods and community in fostering innovation. -- Tom Kelly, IDEO

Space is the team and the work. If a member wants to jump aboard another project, he or she needs to be able to quickly take off and land [in the new team’s neighbourhood]. -- Tom Kelly, IDEO

Finally for this post, I'd like to share thoughts on one of the words I seem to say an awful lot these days; flexibility. With a regularly changing workplan and a remit to develop the next generation of media technologies, whatever they may be, our requirements change. One size does not fit all, and we're keen to ensure we can adapt. I'll leave you with my favourite quote, an extract from Workplace By Design by Becker & Steel, which explains that an organisation's body language (what it does) must match what the organisation says.

An R&D center laid out in rigid ways… is like a lover whispering “I love you” in a bored voice while doing a crossword puzzle. -- Becker & Steele

Please do share your thoughts in the comments!

I’m an engineer with the BBC and sharing information about my work, but this is my personal website.

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I just wanted to share with you something which cheered up my journey home from work today. In an interview for The London Paper, comedy god Marcus Brigstocke was asked to argue that the current economic downturn was a good thing. When asked "Why is the credit crunch good for us?", he replied:

That's easy. Go out, walk around the streets and look for that iconic Foxtons Mini. Walk up and stop - preferably with a camera - and notice the Foxtons twat slumped over the steering wheel in tears. What is there not to like about that? These are people not qualified to take part in real life at all - they can barely buy crisps!

Amen to that!

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