Creating ‘catalyst workplaces’ has been the objective of many a consultant in the last few years. But what is it and what do we have to do to create a truly catalytical environment. A catalyst is a scientific term that I remember learning about in my GCSE’s. It’s a term that I would never have expected to think about ever again and I definitely would have never associated it with the workplace. What is a catalyst? A catalyst is a substance that is added to a chemical reaction to speed up or improve the end result. In other words, it acts as an accelerator. The opposite to a catalyst would obviously be a decelerator and that would be something that has a detrimental effect on the chemical reaction. How is this translated into the workplace and the way we design and construct our environments?It’s not an easy task creating a working environment let alone creating one that catalyses and empowers the work your employees are doing. There are a number of essential actions and steps that we must take in order to create such an environment. It starts with what the space is looking like currently. What is happening in the space? Where are people working? What space is most popular? What are the typical roles staff are playing? What could change? In asking these questions you can get a clear picture of how space is used for that specific company. These questions are difficult however, how can we get the accurate and relevant data to support our findings? It’s as we find the mix of collecting real time data, presenting it in a comprehensive but legible way and then having the expertise to interpret and make data proved decisions. That’s when we can truly design and create a powerful agile working environment that is truly aligned with the people! (image by Studiovhf Stirling)
No two companies are the same! Every company works in a different way so naturally the answers to the questions above vary. This means that every company finishes up with their own unique environment. The mistake of the past has been to just blindly follow the design idea that some other organisation implemented and there could be countless factors that would act as blatant decelerators to the way your people work. The whole aim is to create a workplace that fits your specific and collective company culture. For example, a Sales/Consultancy based firm would probably have a lot of collaboration spaces, crash out areas, booths and small meeting rooms alongside their workstations. On the other side of the scale if you take a more design/engineering-based firm then the focus would be on the workstations with each employee at their own desk and there would be maybe a few meeting rooms and a little collaborative space. This is because of the nature of the work these people are doing. The salesman is active and only needs his laptop and smartphone to function. The engineer has is workstation and needs a powerful PC to operate. It’s when you look at the type of organisation and how they operate that you realise the importance of personalisation. Or as we call it at Amos Beech workplace consultants: creating a fingerprint environment. If you want to find out what environment your staff need then come to us and we’ll work it all out for you. So, how do we make a catalyst workplacein Glasgow?Figured out your transformational roadmap? The questions are answered, and you have a clear vision on how your Glasgow workplace can be made to be more empowering and suited to your specific culture. You need to build on it more. Hone it down to the finest details! We have got to start aligning that workplace to the people that use it every day. As one of my contacts once told me – it’s even down to small things like what brand of tea is in the canteen cupboard. Get the tea right and you have happy employees in the morning working with a smile and sipping their fave tea! It just highlights the point that as soon as friction develops with something in the workplace then the negativity can follow very quickly. Talking about friction in the office – you can probably guess what’s coming next…
How do we develop a seamless technology experience?If technology doesn’t work, are you happy? Chances are the answer to that question is NO. In fact, at this point you are usually questioning the fact you even came into work that day. The frustration is real, but it can change. It’s all about finding the perfect solutions. I am going to write briefly about some areas within workplace experience technologies like video conferencing/meeting rooms and employee apps. Both are in high demand by most organisations. However, the market is saturated with products that only partly fulfil what the organisation requires. This leads to very ‘clunky’ user experiences which has a very negative effect on the drive towards a truly catalytical space. My advice to you would be to look into the smaller and more innovative start-ups and companies and you will find these seamless and complete services that will actually work for you. Thanks to the experience of the founders of these start-ups, they have managed to develop solutions that bring complete answers to the problems faced by so many companies today! At this point you may be asking what are the best VC systems and workplace apps in the market? I’ll tell you. For the best video conferencing and meeting room solution? I wouldn’t be the first to say Starleaf are the market leaders in this! Use one tool for every single VC function and internal communication need. For a workplace app that empowers your employees in the space? I would recommend iotspot. Providing an app-based tool that allows staff to book and reserve desks and meeting rooms, find colleagues, navigate the space, manage visitors, security access and even book room service. All on one app. I would say this is probably the most empowering tool for employees a firm could ever consider. How do we get better employee engagement in our workplace?This is one of the FAQ’s in the workplace consultancy world. The answer is simple. You need to empower them, don’t bring anything into your workplace if it could have a detrimental effect on the way your employees work. Bring in tools that are simple, empowering and have obvious benefits to the user and you will find that your employees will engage more with the space and the companies vision. This empowering could be through technology that works and a working environment that is task orientated and aligned with the employee’s culture. It is probably important to mention that when designing a catalyst workplace – take into account the future when planning! What we don’t want is a decline in 2 years’ time. Make your environment as future-proof as possible. Workplace settings that will have a positive effect in any firm.A workplace setting is a type of working environment that is related to a specific type of task. The usual settings you hear about are collaborative areas, silence zones, team benches, workstations, pods, meeting rooms. All of these are relevant and can be found in most offices. If you find the correct balance of these then you can end up with an extremely powerful environment. So how do you make your environment supersonic? Bring in something which is known as Social Cohesion Zones. These areas aren’t seen as typical working areas but more like areas we have at home and in places where we socialise. A social cohesion area can have table tennis, a pool table, some biophilia and naturality or something interesting that attracts and brings people in. What happens when people come together? The talk! They aren’t mute and don’t wonder about in silence! A social cohesion zone isn’t seen at first-hand as something that brings in immediate work and productivity but more an area where a team can unite, come together and gain more human connection within the space. Want to see how a social cohesion area can be created in the fabric of your office then get in touch. Occupational and Environmental PsychologyDima Najib an environmental psychologist at Morgan Lovell kindly contributed the below and stresses the importance of considering psychology when strategizing and designing our workplaces. Environmental Psychology studies the transactions between people and places. As a Workplace Consultant with a design background, it is key to understand how individuals interact, connect and establish their identity within working environments. As design shifts from individually assigned work desks to technology driven collective ways of working, understanding individuals’ needs and building accordingly matters now more than ever. When designed strategically with data analysis and insights from psychology, our work environments can be a powerful tool. Some Research! On doing a little reading into creating a space that empowers people I came across an interesting study: ‘Leesmans Report – The next 250K’ states that 28% of workers reckon that their workplace has a negative effect on their productivity. A further 15% believe that the space has nothing to do with your productivity. The remaining 57% think that their workplace has a positive effect on their productivity and feel empowered when working. These findings were collected from over 200,000 people from around 2000 individual organisations. 28% of 200,000 is a staggering 56,000 people. That’s 56,000 people who don’t think their space empowers them. Extrapolate that percentage to the whole world’s working population! What does it equate to? The Point? If firms decided to go through a relevant and sufficient change management and transformation process, then this 28% could diminish to an insignificant number. The more catalyst workplaces we create – the smaller that percentage will get! Personal comment. In writing this I don’t claim to have said anything new. I’ve only put a few thoughts in writing and plonked it here. This really only lays the foundation of a much more complex and wider process. This isn’t diminishing the point of writing this article though – Make people your priority and you will prove my point – catalyst workplaces are a powerful driver for better productivity, efficiency and happiness within your employees.
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https://www.amosbeech.com/blog/2018/5/9/key-tips-to-arrange-and-organise-your-office-to-enhance-comfort-and-productivity |