Activity-Based Working
Activity-Based Working (ABW) replaces fixed assigned desks with a range of purpose-designed zones. Focused quiet rooms, collaborative booths, standing benches, phone pods, and social commons. Employees choose where they sit based on the task at hand rather than a nameplate on a desk.
In Indian corporate campuses, particularly GCCs in Pune's Hinjewadi and Kharadi, ABW has reduced desk ratios from 1:1 to as low as 0.7:1 while simultaneously improving employee satisfaction scores. The model works best when paired with a booking app, clear neighbourhood assignments, and locker provision so employees can move freely without carrying a laptop bag across three floors.
Related terms
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Activity-Based Working: Why Static Desks Are Obsolete
How Activity-Based Working fits into an office project
Activity-Based Working matters when a workplace moves from a broad design idea to a coordinated brief. The team should define what the term means for this project, where it appears in the drawings or specifications, and who approves it. That prevents a familiar word from hiding a gap in scope, procurement, installation, or handover.
Questions to settle early
- What outcome should Activity-Based Working support for the people using the workplace?
- Which drawings, schedules, samples, or calculations will confirm the requirement?
- What needs to be coordinated with architecture, interiors, MEP, technology, or building management?
What to record in the project brief
Record the selected approach, responsible owner, approval point, relevant exclusions, and the evidence required at installation or handover. If the requirement affects cost, lead time, maintenance, safety, comfort, or future flexibility, state that connection plainly. The definition is a starting point. The project brief turns it into a checkable decision.
A practical checklist for Activity-Based Working
When Activity-Based Working appears in a workplace brief, avoid treating it as a standalone line item. Connect the requirement to the people, spaces, services, and operating routines it is meant to support. A short definition is useful for orientation. A good brief also explains the project context, the expected performance, and the evidence needed before approval.
Before design sign-off
Confirm the existing site condition and any landlord or building-management rules that affect the decision. Mark the requirement on the relevant plans and schedules. Check interfaces with adjacent trades, access for installation, maintenance access, replacement cycles, and the effect on the programme. If alternatives are possible, compare them on whole-life suitability rather than headline purchase price alone.
At procurement and handover
Keep the approved specification, supplier information, samples or calculations, and agreed exclusions together with the project record. At handover, verify that the installed result matches the approved design and that the client receives the information needed to operate and maintain it. This makes Activity-Based Working a useful control in delivery, not just a glossary phrase.
For a project-specific discussion, start with the Vektor Spaces services, review the delivery process, and bring the relevant questions to a project enquiry.
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