Data Dilemma: Comfort, Control, or Creepy?

On our minds

Almost everything we do each day generates data. These days, there are more ways than ever to capture and log that data. All companies collect employee data; many track where employees are and what they're doing. When we worked from home during COVID and many employees demanded the ability to work remotely once the world reopened, the use of remote-monitoring programs ramped up, as did the collection of building occupancy and use data.

Technologies initially used to help companies maintain COVID precautions, like keeping employees 6 feet apart, or capping building occupancy at 50% (ha ha), could have been repurposed to enhance the user experience. Back in 2022, we made the optimistic (and hopeful) prediction that it would be. Instead, amidst political and economic uncertainty and a heightened focus on efficiency, much of this tech is being used in a more sinister way—to keep Big Brother-style tabs on employees.

We hear about the extremes—the constantly filmed Walmart and Amazon warehouse employees who are scared to take water and toilet breaks, or the employees who agree to be microchipped for their employer's convenience. Many more companies are using "bossware" to record wifi signals, film remote employees, or track which employees are in the building. A broader version of the latter, such as tracking occupancy rates via CO2 monitors, could be used to make office buildings more comfortable and serviceable. It could help facilities managers understand which areas are attractive to employees and which features are most desirable.

In the hands of employees themselves, this (self-quant) data could help understand one's "time personality" and circadian rhythm—when they are most productive, do they most often seek "focus work" spaces or prefer spaces that allow for serendipitous exchanges with coworkers. While some people can't stand to be interrupted, others feel inspired after an unexpected conversation. Employees with access to their own data can use it to self-manage. This tracking goes awry when data access is limited to leadership; such an imbalance leads to behaviors like micromanagement.

Self-quantification enabled for user-experience gives employees the opportunity to use work info in the way that we use personal fitness info, to track and tweak individual markers and goals. On the other hand, data collected solely for the purpose of enforcing rules or policies disables self-management and autonomy and creates a singular, mechanized solution. This type of solution may work on an assembly line, but—to the chagrin of academics and CEOs everywhere—knowledge-work can't be mechanized in the same way. There's no standard operating procedure, because there's no standard brain.

Too many business and facility managers are focused on using sensor-based data to mandate spatial occupancy, rather than on understanding why a space is under-occupied. Is the space too bright or loud? How do employees feel in that particular space—engaged and energetic, stressed and overwhelmed, sleepy? Are the proportions of the space off? Knowing which demographics of workers are using a particular space can also be telling. Maybe women aren't using a space because it's too cold or because everything about the space—the desk and chair size, the screen levels—is designed to accommodate men, who are on average five inches taller than women. Maybe the space is too "busy" for some workers and not busy enough for others. Utilization may be a viable metric for space that is working. However, being present in an office is a much less accurate way to judge whether a person is working.

We want a work culture where employees feel safe enough to ask when they don't know how to do something or don't understand a project's expectations or goals. We want spaces where employees can take the risks that drive innovation. Research shows that innovation and creativity require psychological safety. Surveillance culture makes employees feel defensive and insecure rather than curious and open. Some employees figure out how to "trick" the systems that monitor. Some find other ways to enact their resentment, such as stealing office supplies, taking excessive breaks, or purposefully working slowly. Employees may simply quit, rather than submit to excessive monitoring.

Data is rarely neutral; how it is used and who owns it can be helpful or harmful. Self-quant can motivate people to form healthier habits and encourage them by tracking progress. More broadly, office and work experience data can be used to provide employees with the resources they need and spaces they enjoy. More than a conversation about technology and the act of monitoring employees, this is a conversation about why we should monitor employees or spaces and what we should do with the info we learn.

Recently, PLASTARC collaborated with Logitech, makers of tech hardware and software, to mobilize data on occupation, commuter-patterns, and self-reported spatial and behavioral drivers. The company sought actionable strategies to improve employee experience. This type of integration—pairing opinion surveys with utilization data—helps organizations provide resources for employees to do their best work, whether that work is collaborative or solo, remote or in-office.

Too much surveillance is creepy, but data collection doesn't need to be. Promoting person-empowered data recognizes the variation in our human operating systems. There is no "one size fits all," in part because different companies and industries attract different types of workers, but also, because there are huge variations even within the same company. Recognizing patterns at a particular company and providing employees with data that helps them understand their personal best-practices is the key to productivity and worker-longevity. Treating employees like caged animals may temporarily boost productivity (at the expense of employee health), but in the long run, it will lead to high turnover and sabotage productivity.

From the archives

October always lends itself to fun newsletter topics. Last year, we slayed the "Sunday scaries" and discussed common horror film tropes that may show up at the office. In 2023, we talked about how we all "costume" on a daily basis, to make ourselves appear neurotypical, professional, and "okay." Over the last few Octobers, we were also thinking about lifelong learning, multigenerational workplaces, and using AI to revolutionize facilities management. We collaborated with our colleagues at GSA to tackle workplace sustainability—lessening climate impact—and wrote about the importance of our networks, especially our weak ties.

If you're passionate about privacy, this extensive playlist may resonate. It was first played for an anniversary party of a working group that studies law, science, and tech, affiliated with Vrije Universiteit Brussel.