As far as humans existed, social interactions have been a fundamental reason to survive and thrive. The need to socialize, interact, communicate, and build a solid community around oneself is a fundamental human craving because it taps into two basic human needs: safety and belonging. Consequently, and quite naturally, cultures across various countries and ethnicities, amongst others, are formed.
Once a culture is formed, myriads of factors affect the norms, traditions, knowledge, and social behavior of this culture. One of the main predominant factors is physical space, for spaces are at the core of social interactions. The same concept applies to workspaces.
A multitude of factors proves that there is a strong correlation between physical workspaces and organizational culture.
Sense of belonging
There is a fine line between a space and a place; that line is represented by the occupancy of humans in that physical setting who transform a space into a place by assigning meaning, value, and attachment to physical settings.
The concept of a sense of belonging is two-fold; it is a combination of both social interactions and physical characteristics in which the individual’s experience is led by associating feelings with physical elements of the space.
As a result of the pandemic, a shift from physical to virtual presence prevailed, whereby daily operations were conducted using technological platforms. According to an article on the concept of a sense of belonging and architectural studies by M. Najafi and M. K. Bin Mohd Sharrif, this led individuals to develop a “sense of placelessness”, meaning that individuals failed to identify and recognize the organization’s culture due to the lack of interactions and memories formed in space.
This being said, it is evident that workspaces contribute to establishing shared and practiced values amongst individuals, forming a sense of belonging and resulting in the establishment of the organization’s culture.
Effective and constructive communication
Communication is a key element driving effective and productive day-to-day operations. While technology has facilitated communications between co-workers by eliminating the obstacles of distance and time, it fails to give justice to the emotions put in the conversation.
Nevertheless, this might lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations between co-workers in some instances, decelerating productivity.
Physical interactions can enable individuals to understand the key messages being transmitted and the emotional aspects of a conversation through visualizing and understanding physical expressions, gestures, tone, and emotions, resulting in a healthier and more efficient conversation.
Physical presence features an increased level of availability through brief informal conversations.
Productivity and team-building
Workspaces increase productivity and drive collaborative thinking. Often known as “huddles,” in-person ideation sessions increase productivity through the art of collective thinking. These “huddles” allow individuals to gather around a whiteboard to conceptualize and design frameworks, share knowledge and thoughts, and collaboratively seek and challenge solutions,
This has proven to be effective by multiple sources, including the Harvard Business Review, and is not as easily achieved through virtual platforms. While online platforms (e.g., Zoom, Cisco Webex, Google Meet, MSFT Teams) have introduced the concept of break rooms, interactive exercises, dynamic visuals, and social collaboration tools (e.g., Slack, Miro), alleviating the sense of distance, it still underrates the importance of physical connections.
Visually representing ideas in motion engages co-workers, enables understanding, and creates a dynamic work environment that motivates individuals to participate and build effective teams.
Relationships
Social interactions enable individuals to form and establish relationships with stakeholders through engaging in formal work-related meetings and bonding over a 10-minute coffee break. “A meal to share”, as an example, is a slot during which individuals converse over what to eat and other life matters.
Those little moments develop personal relationships between co-workers. To create a healthy culture, co-workers must establish formal and informal relationships with one another to accomplish constructive communication.
At first sight
First impressions are the primary point of attraction.
Data shows that 55% of first impressions are made by what is seen visually. Workspaces reflect the organization’s culture, status, and values. Not only is it essential to grab the attention of external stakeholders (e.g., new joiners, prospective clients, potential candidates), but also to ensure that the organization’s workspace reflects the organization’s culture, dynamics, and ambiance.
Moreover, the workspace layout, design, and physical elements impact the organization’s culture.
Workspace layout forms the foundations of the organization’s culture. Whether it is an open-space, closed-space, or mixed-space layout, social interactions are directly impacted by the design of the space, dictating distinct styles of interconnections. For instance, open-spaces call for dynamic, collaborative, knowledge-sharing, and flexible interactions, while closed-spaces embrace concentrated, quiet, and restrained interactions. Studies show that workspaces that encourage collaborative thinking and working can increase productivity by 15%.
The design of the physical setting aids in setting the tone of a conversation and the ambiance of the room, especially when shifting from a formal to an informal physical setting, or vice versa. Both aspects impact the individual’s behaviors (e.g., attitude, posture, tone, responsiveness) and performance.
For instance, Google offices promote a culture of casual collision through the use of open plans and common areas that boost interactions, productivity, creativity, collaboration, and teamwork. Furthermore, they carefully analyze the corridors and ornaments, and the colors of paint to induce creativity and energy. The choice of materials in the design reflects the organization’s culture and environment (e.g., the use of glass partitioning embraces transparency while the use of thick partitioning promotes privacy and secrecy).
On the other hand, the concept of booths is in cases introduced to provide individuals with an isolated personal space in which they can better concentrate.
Moreover, the design and layout of the workspace transcribe the degree of hierarchy and flatness of an organization. As mentioned by Cosmic Centaurs, a consultancy, training, and insight company that helps organizations in creating happier and more flexible workspaces, physical spaces and management styles have to complement each other for their organizations to be efficient and productive.
Workspace layout and design build an environment that is a direct reflection of the organization’s brand and values. Therefore, it is essential to know how to balance formal and informal space to ensure that the organization’s culture is achieved.
Break rooms/game rooms build solid teams and increase productivity
One of the emerging trends in the workplace nowadays is the addition of a break room/game room which serves as a temporary escape for individuals from daily routine and stress.
According to an article by Harvard Business Review, a team’s energy and engagement outside formal meetings proved to be the most accurate predictors of productivity.
Additionally, break rooms establish a corporate-wide culture by bringing together interdepartmental individuals to participate in joint-effort games such as foosball, billiard, ping-pong, or paddle and to interact in a non-work-related setting.
Increasing participation in joint-effort games helps build effective teams through setting a common goal to be achieved and embracing friendly competition in the workplace.
Consequently, the presence of a break/game room in the workplace plays a necessary role in echoing the organization’s culture.
The following paragraph represents the author’s opinion and does not necessarily reflect Gravitas’s point of view on the topic.
In the absence of on-site presence caused by the pandemic, the notion of organizational culture has gradually faded away. Although off-site work has enabled individuals to develop a sense of flexibility and autonomy, which are essential human needs, other important aspects such as organizational culture were lost along the way. Henceforward, it is critical to be able to balance on-site and off-site presence to ensure that the organization’s culture is maintained and individual needs are met. It goes back to the organization’s requirements, priorities, and targets in housing a culture that is representative of the organization’s story and brand. Being a new joiner in times of COVID-19 myself, it has become evident to me that those physical interactions in the workplace are an essential enabler in engaging with others and creating a sense of belonging. Yet, the flexibility gained from working from home is still unmatched. Therefore, a balanced 4:1 day per week or 3:2 day per week off-site vs. on-site hybrid model would be ideal in my case.
Along with culture comes office politics, which raises the question, has the pandemic and off-site presence eliminated the notion of office politics, or has it transformed into a different shape and form?
