Work Environment
The work environment is one of the key elements towards extraordinary productivity – getting the right atmosphere to inspire and enable colleagues is crucial. CCM have just moved into a new office and my personal preference, apparently a family tradition, is to have a dynamic space with lots of visual tools and triggers. The office suits my situation, many others can be more fruitful at home.
Over the last eighteen months I have been involved with different organisations going through the WFH transition: it is a great stress test of Resource support as well as measuring Human and Social capital. Training, Experience, Knowledge and Communication come to the fore, Trust and Engagement are critical.
There were two particularly divergent experiences, one company who went seamlessly in WFH with strong consistent support, both hard and soft, and another who struggled – stuttering equipment support, slow role out on situational training and lack of trust from the top. If you don’t trust your team, ask yourself why and how this situation came about?
Through the positive experience it is apparent that given the correct equipment, training, support, and autonomy WFH individuals and teams can be very productive. Regular online meetings and other forums to share ideas alongside, if possible, periodic physical catch-ups can augment the experience, providing stimulus and diversity. Given the right conditions team members can express themselves, producing and innovating to a level sometimes not attainable when they are in the office. Acknowledging that everyone is different and being agile around this principle will smooth the terrain and further enhance results. Provision should be made for team members who need the office for personal, logistical, or social reasons.
Being flexible on working patterns pays dividends and can remove any clocking off mentality. Covering peak traffic periods is essential, maintaining a professional unchanged experience for clients and customers, internal and external, paramount, outside of this giving space and believing in our colleagues will pay long-term dividends, providing untapped innovation and creativity.
Like in all relationships, trust is the foundation.
