Dr Gemma Irving

I am a 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.