Vaisala Work Environment Development

New hybrid work concept
by developing ways of working
and the work environment

The cooperation between Vaisala and Rune & Berg on the development of work environments dates back to 2018. However, the cooperation was taken to a whole new level when the COVID-19 pandemic revolutionised the working culture and places of working, shifting the focus temporarily to people’s homes. This transformation was particularly important for Vaisala, as its business is founded on creating new innovations and encountering people across team and location boundaries. We helped the Vaisala management to specify the most important policies for hybrid work regarding working methods, the role of the office, types of spaces and use of space. We also continuously support various supervisors and teams in leading the change and collecting feedback on the implemented solutions.

Aiming for an attractive campus

Since the 1930s, Vaisala has grown from an invention of one man into a global listed company with over 2,000 employees. Its headquarters are the Vantaanlaakso campus, with thousands of square metres of office and production space and a wide range of different experts, from sales to R&D specialists. The aim of our work was to promote a culture where people and ideas can move freely. We have specified the types of spaces and practices that support the work of the future, facilitated the development of the work culture and supported various levels of the organisation during the change.

The commonly agreed design drivers guide the cooperation:

The attractive campus has a clear role, and it offers relevant services to employees
The physical work environment corresponds to the new ways of working
From private workrooms to flexibility

Rune & Berg Design has been responsible for designing the concrete changes to the campus, and has served as a partner in specifying the spatial types and working practices of hybrid work and implementing the change. In addition, we designed a range of graphic elements that guide the use of the space, such as signs, sound zone markings and glazed wall decals, which play a crucial role in implementing the change in practice.

Strongly participatory change and continuous learning

The development of the Vaisala work environments is based on the support and vision of the operative management, as well as on the needs specified by teams. The principles of the Hybrid Work concept were established in cooperation with the management team, through personnel surveys, observation and interviews. The concept covers a vision for the future, general hybrid work principles and the types of spaces needed.

Supervisors and Vaisala’s Future of Work group, which was established during the pandemic, also participated in developing the spaces and working methods that would best support the diverse working practices of Vaisala employees in the future. We created a team assignment to support the work of the supervisors. The teams agreed on the best working practices and reflected on the types of premises they would need in the future. The team assignment helped to tackle practical challenges, such as the reason and time for coming to the office, meeting and communication practices within teams and the use of the facilities. Vaisala’s IT and communication experts also participated in the change process, helping to define the right way and forum for communicating about the change and specify the technical solutions that support hybrid work in the different premises.

The starting points for the cooperation between Vaisala and Rune & Berg Design are a culture of experimenting and a human-driven change: the Hybrid Work concept is tested in two pilot properties, and the feedback from these is used to develop the premises and practices further. Rune & Berg and Vaisala have also carried out the Sentio Insight measurement, which mapped out the current state of the premises, in other words, how well they currently support the work of the Vaisala organisation. The measurement will be repeated after the pilot projects are ready.