How An Exciting Work Environment Can Affect The Dynamic of a Business

A lot of us have (particularly those in Digital & Marketing) have all dreamed of working in Google like offices with slides, beanbags, ping pong table, TV(s) and an organic café. Sadly size and budget restrictions mean that we’re more likely to find ourselves in somewhere a bit simpler. Hopefully we’re past the days of banks and cubicles by now….

Adam is currently undergoing a rebrand of the office, we’re really trying to inject a bit of personality and more importantly show off the importance of our culture. We’ve recruited a graphic design artist who’s going to cover all our white and very dull walls in a variety of imagery and artwork.

The question is, just how important is it to have an exciting and vibrant work environment and how can it impact performance?

Improving your own and your employees’ performance involves a lot more than finding comfortable chairs for them to sit in. It involves placement of spaces and desks within the building, proximity to equipment, lighting, desk space, meeting areas, privacy and more.

People spend most of their waking hours at the office, so its design has a tremendous effect on morale.

How can you create a high-performance office? The first step is addressing organisational issues of who sits where. The days of big “power desks” and hierarchical corner offices are over. More businesses are turning to flexible environments ideal for small companies where the business owner probably doubles as salesperson. We like to use ‘hot desking’ at Adam towers and it certainly makes a massive difference to how we work. Hot desking gives you a chance to work dynamically with all your colleagues and collaboratively work with them, even if they’re not in the same department as you.

The core job of the CEO/Directors is to create the space where people can do incredible work and when you think of the CEO’s job in that perspective, the office becomes a huge part of the job. And yet, it’s also the thing they’re least qualified to do, because most of the time they’ve never done it before. Luckily there are a number of design agencies you can reach out to, who will have a good roster of clients and be able to price it competitively.

I’ve been heavily impressed by a number of offices such as AO.com (below), Zuto and HR Online, all businesses which are thriving and are enjoying sustained periods of growth. You have to admit their offices play a big part in their success and yours can do too.