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Ideas in place
workplaces are a combination of spatial and digital layers. While we developed the concept of workplace transparency within a spatial context, we believe there is merit to extend it to the digital layer in the future. Employees are often faced with variety of digital tools to access information about coworkers, projects or communication. To what extent employees perceive these tools as visually and task transparent – or in other words, how well they can access information about their work and coworkers – is likely to affect how well employees are able to collaborate.
Lastly, we only examined the role of workplace flexibility beyond the office. Other types of workplace flexibility may offer fruitful avenues for future research. Specifically, hot-desking or activity-based offices create flexibility within the office (Sivunen & Putnam, 2019). Also, other factors may be shaping the impact of workplace transparency on idea sharing and implementation. For example, how employees perceive proximity to their colleagues (Wilson et al., 2008) and how they cope with the distance to their colleagues (Cristea & Leonardi, 2019). Future studies could take this into account should take this into account and compare it to the objective distance.
4.5.3 Managerial implications
Office design is an issue where managers need to find a balance between different needs. Our research has shown that it is advisable to take transparency into account when designing open offices for innovative behaviors. This is because employees have more access to information about ongoing projects as well as their coworker’s roles and expertise. In the office, a small office can be enclosed by walls that provide auditory privacy, but a glass wall on at least one side provides visual transparency (Paron-Wildes & Simoneaux, 2019). This facilitates that employees can act upon the visual cues of each other's presence. Furthermore, an open area in a more relaxed place, such as the kitchen, where employees can see and hear each other, can provide opportunities for idea sharing and implementation. These could be surrounded by one of the many sound-
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