Look around your office. Does it look like people are there to stay? Transient? Walled in? Who comes in early? “Late”?
Many things feed in to the ability or inability to participate in change. Work Style is a big one. This is also an element that can slow work down operationally too.
- Environment
- Space
- Work from home options
- Consultants/External Resources
- Virtual/Global
Environment
First there is the overall environment. Do you have a culture of cooperation and collaboration, or something else? Do you have a high walled cubicle environment or an open be-able-to-see-across-the-room space? Are there landing spots for creative/planning work? Do you have telephone rooms (dinky rooms for one person to make calls in private)? Yes or No to any question dictates work style.
People may work for your organization because of the type of culture you have. Some like to be at the office for long periods of time. They will gravitate to the type of industry that expects that. What I am asking you to consider is the number of people who are out of there element with any environmental, reporting and in site requirements you may have (as an organization or as a leader).
Space
This one fascinates me.
I have worked in some context in 70 different organizations. Seventy environments. Seventy sets of “when you need to be there and when you do not”. Multiply that out by the number of employee spaces I saw. Big number. Like personalities and faces no two are alike.
For some the trinket, knick knack level around them exceeds my 10 year old girls room (there is something quaint and comfortable about both). With a peek you can tell where they vacation, what sports team they root for, whether they are practical or mystical.
The most fascinating to me are the spaces with a clear work area and tchotchkes galore all around. This is someone who understands the significance of their work, but also realizes they will be in that place many, many hours- they choose to bring some of their other life into that environment.
Work from home options
Some have a clearer space.
Usually those are the ones who prefer to be at the office for face to face communication. They spend much less time at their desk. (Some organizations have no defined individual spaces, or very few, Cisco would be my first example. Interesting: the assistants to the executives do and their desks become gathering spots).
Many change initiatives add work from home. That is a huge behavioral switch, especially if forced on those with the trinkets.
I am in the “be at the office for face to face communication” mix. My own perfect schedule is 6 hours or so on site 3 or 4 days a week (ideally with 2 or 3 clients). I get some strange reactions from the park at the office people when I show up at 6 am one day and 12 pm the next. Thanks to my work at home ability those days are all still 10 – 12 hours of work. Take a breath the next time you think someone’s contribution should be measured by the time they are parked on site.
Consultants/External Resources
Which leads me to consultants and external resources.
I myself have worked in windowless basements many times. High walled cubicles the same. Not my choice for a conducive work environment (even if I bring my knick knacks). On site is for face to face (in my world). At one recent client I went two weeks without a single conversation. No not because I did not reach out (they were actually heavily monitoring that- RIF and HR). No one else was talking to each other either. Ten hour days they put in though…
Back to those consultants. They, if they are true consultants and not rent an employee contractors, have there own businesses. To give you what a consultants should bring they need multiple environments, different types of organizations- comparisons to yours- in order to make strong recommendations. What you should measure them on is not hours and time on site, but the things you end up being able to do because they are there. Collaboration change? That could be a fast goose of connection from the external (no deliverables there either). Increased capability of middle managers? Again, not necessarily a lot of time (quality time though) or deliverables.
So a few things here: Give them a good spot and you might see them more. Measure on time and presence and you will see them less (and likely lose the best of them). Make an effort to have the right people available for collocated time. Gather meeting members in the same spot to facilitate discussion and team work.
Virtual/Global
Unless of course you are a mostly virtual and/or global organization.
The more your work is conducted online and over the phone the less it makes sense to be at a spot. An interesting version of this is IBM with almost everyone working from their home, but a whole bunch of small offices to use.
I have had quite a few situations where I am on the phone all day with no face to face interaction, but for some strange reason the client has an expectation of face time (even though that rarely happens- you can schedule meetings for that…).
And finally the funniest and strangest of all- people on the phone, in the same area, for the same meeting with tons of rooms available. This can get so bad that the phones echo off of each other (VOIP lines). I find myself constantly turning down the headset volume and just listening to them talk right next to me. I get this, they are hunting and pecking away while “listening” to try to get their own work done (too many meetings is part of this- a different blog post), but it is fodder for late night comedy.
Change is fed, and halted, by many things. Environment and individual space need to be considered with every initiative, especially if the change itself will upset stakeholders comfort level.
