Sensible Organizations: A Sensor-Based System for Organizational Design and Engineering

Abstract

We propose a sensor-based organizational design system capable of measuring social interactions in the workplace. By combining behavioral sensor data with other sources of information such as text-mined documents, surveys, and performance data we can re-engineer organizations and make better informed decisions. The proposed system combines sensor measurements, pattern recognition algorithms, simulation and optimization techniques, social network analysis, and feedback mechanisms that aim at continuously monitoring and improving individual and group performance. We describe the system’s general specifications and discuss preliminary studies that we have conducted in several organizations using an experimental sensing platform.