Overview
Background
I am a Senior Lecturer in the UQ Business School at the University of Queensland. My expertise is in office spaces, hybrid work, collaboration, learning and professional work. I believe that workspaces like open-plan offices, hybrid work environments and healthcare buildings can have a positive impact on the experiences of professional workers, employees, customers and patients. At the same time, physical and virtual surroundings often influence outcomes in ways that are not anticipated. My research helps designers and managers to respond to the unintended consequences of workspace design in ways that improve the lives of space users.
My current research focuses on how managers and employees experience hybrid work. After experiencing enforced homeworking during the pandemic, many office-workers now expect the flexibility to choose how and when they work. However, evidence suggests that serendipitous encounters, collaboration, and informal learning are more effective when employees are co-located. I am interested in how managers respond to the tensions between flexibility and collaboration in a hybrid world. I also hope to learn about emerging technologies and practices that improve serendipity in online environments.
I am a founding member of the Next Generation Workspace Research Network, which brings together partners from industry and academia to provide evidence-based solutions to workspace problems.
I teach a large introductory management course with enrolments of up to 1000 students per semester. I help students relate management evidence to their own experiences through the Harvard Business School Everest Team and Leadership Simulation and engagement with events like the 2020 Bushfire Crisis. My teaching has been recognised with a UQ Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning and a UQ Business School Award for enhancing the first-year student experience. I was included on the UQ Above and Beyond in 2020 Honour Roll for helping students to transition into university during the pandemic.
Availability
- Dr Gemma Irving is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts, The University of Queensland
- Bachelor (Honours), The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
-
Hybrid Work
How do managers and employees lead, learn and collaborate in hybrid environments?
-
Organisational Space and Collaboration
Why do “collaborative work environments” such as open-plan offices sometimes fail to promote collaboration?
-
Professional Work
How do professionals respond to regulatory changes? What role do organisational spaces play in professional work?
-
Teaching Evidence-Based Management
How do first-year undergraduate business students experience evidence-based management?
Research impacts
- My research has been featured on media outlets including The Conversation, ABC Radio, RadioNZ, In The Black, and Inc.
- I have worked with organisations including BHP, Suncorp, the Queensland Government and the University of Queensland to provide advice on workspace moves, working in open-plan offices and optimising workspaces.
- My expertise on collaborative buildings informed a business case for a $50m Construction Innovation Hub at the Construction Training Centre in Brisbane.
- My industry-focused workshops have helped teams to work more effectively in open-plan offices and hybrid work environments.
Praise for my workshops
“Huge thanks to Gemma Irving and Geoff Greenfield at UQ Business School for facilitating a fun and insightful team building session. We had a blast!” Tim Carroll, Executive Manager, Group Procurement, Suncorp Group.
“I received lots of positive feedback from staff…. I think your presentation really helped people to understand that they have a role to play in making the [workspace] move a good experience” Cordelia Jackson, Deputy Director of Operations, Institute for Social Science Research.
Works
Search Professor Gemma Irving’s works on UQ eSpace
2017
Conference Publication
Liminal space in the Emergency Department
Irving, Gemma and Wright, April (2017). Liminal space in the Emergency Department. Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 5-8 December 2017.
2016
Other Outputs
Collaboration in open-plan offices
Irving, Gemma (2016). Collaboration in open-plan offices. PhD Thesis, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2016.668
2016
Conference Publication
The open-plan office as a collaborative scaffold for teams
Irving, Gemma Louise (2016). The open-plan office as a collaborative scaffold for teams. Academy of Management, Anaheim, California USA, 5-9 August 2016. Briarcliff Manor, NY United States: Academy of Management.
2016
Conference Publication
Cognition in context: How open-plan offices can help or harm cognition
Irving, Gemma L., Ashkanasy, Neal M. and Ayoko, Oluremi (Remi) (2016). Cognition in context: How open-plan offices can help or harm cognition. Israel Organizational Behavior Conference, Tel Aviv Israel, 6-8 Januray 2016.
2015
Conference Publication
Serendipity as the link between physical space and collaboration: A case study of a Collaborative Science Building
Irving, Gemma L., Ayoko, Oluremi (Remi) and Ashkanasy, Neal M. (2015). Serendipity as the link between physical space and collaboration: A case study of a Collaborative Science Building. Asia-Pacific Researchers in Organisation Studies, Sydney, Australia, 9-11 December 2015.
2015
Conference Publication
Organizational change and unintended consequences: the role of place attachment
Irving, Gemma L., Kromah, Momo D., Ayoko, Oluremi (Remi) and Ashkanasy, Neal M. (2015). Organizational change and unintended consequences: the role of place attachment. Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 23-25 April 2015.
2014
Conference Publication
An exploratory study of the connection between office environments and group cognition
Irving, Gemma L. and Ayoko, Oluremi (Remi) (2014). An exploratory study of the connection between office environments and group cognition. Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, Sydney, Australia, 3-5 December 2014.
2012
Conference Publication
Territoriality and sensemaking in organisations
Irving, Gemma, Ayoko, Oluremi B. and Ashkanasy, Neal M. (2012). Territoriality and sensemaking in organisations. ANZAM 2012 Conference, Perth, Australia, 5-7 December 2012. Australia: ANZAM.
2009
Conference Publication
The politics of institutional translation work: Drawing out power relations in the emergency department
Wright, April L., Middleton, Stuart A., Irving, Gemma and Hibbert, Paul (2009). The politics of institutional translation work: Drawing out power relations in the emergency department. European Group for Organization Studies Conference, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 4-5 July 2009.
2009
Other Outputs
Competing economies, contrasting moralities : Aboriginal employment in the Australian mining industry
Irving, Gemma (2009). Competing economies, contrasting moralities : Aboriginal employment in the Australian mining industry. Honours Thesis, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2020.427
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Gemma Irving is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Exploring Indigenous institutional change through tiny homes: Can tiny homes address the housing needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Samantha Cooms
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Gemma Irving directly for media enquiries about:
- collaboration
- collaborative buildings
- hybrid work
- open plan offices
- professional work
- work environment
- work space
- workspace change
- workspace design
Need help?
For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team: