Principles of 'set design' promote productivity.

A perennial problem in industry has been that of sustaining human productivity over extended periods of time. W.E. Scott 1966

While fundamental change can be deeply disruptive and can compromise productivity, small change in the workplace can have a positive impact on the workforce.

The same experience day after day is destructive. 'Groundhog Day' removes from us a sense of time and urgency. It requires a management overlay of command and control because it does nothing to elicit creative problem solving and positive interaction with co-workers or customers.

Imagine the mood shift when employees turned up to work at Rialto Melbourne and found on their doorstep a sea of daffodils.

Similarly, a regularly changing configuration of tenants’ front of house will promote freshness and engagement, not just among team members but also regular clients.

Set design has had a vital and sophisticated role in theatre and film for nearly 100 years. It will be interesting to see how its principles will begin to be applied by architects to facilitate an ever-shifting workplace landscape; subtlety but importantly informing workplace mindsets and interactions.