The story I heard last week took place at a medical office. Management hired consultants to design the work space. The consultants interviewed managers to learn about the work goals, and gather requirements. No one asked the people who would use the space. After the ribbon-cutting, staff soon realized that the expensive, newly remodeled space was not working as planned. They shared their concerns with management, who accused them of being resistant to change. In the end, everyone was frustrated.

This is a familiar story.

Managing work space is challenging for two reasons. First, it comes with a lot of emotionally charged baggage that needs to be addressed. Traditionally, bigger, better space = higher status, which reinforces hierarchy and competition, and can undermine engagement and collaboration.

Second, on a more fundamental level, space is about workflow. Good space design promotes efficient operations, and meets security, confidentiality, accessibility, and a host of other business requirements. It also must meet user needs, which is where it gets dicey when users are not consulted in the planning.

Leaders are wise to call in space experts to help. Architects, designers, workflow specialists and industrial engineers have knowledge to be leveraged in space planning.

However, consultants are not the only experts who need to be at the space planning table. Effective planning must also include the people who will actually use the space every day. Workers are the experts in the work. They know what resources they need–in space, equipment, training, support, technology–to do a good job, but they are seldom asked.

Management culture promotes the belief that management owns the work environment, including space. Workers are merely the doers, not the thinkers. Changing this culture to promote a model of co-ownership increases the odds of getting it right the first time.

Asking employees to participate in decisions is the definition of employee engagement. For more radical ideas on how to make work more sane, see my book, Management Culture at mgmtculture.com or through Amazon.