Most managers know they have a variety of options when it comes to influencing employees.
Of course, the usual options that spring to mind include various forms of rewards, punishments, personal appeals, inspirational visions and the like. More indirect options might include changing the way work is organized and scheduled. But another strategy, one that tends to be overlooked, involves using the environment in which work happens. That literally means adjusting the physical layout of a work environment to influence employees. And that could include how much control management allows employees to have over their work spaces.