Create the Ideal Work Environment

Seeing as many of us spend more time with our “work” families during the week than we do with our families at home, it seem like a great idea to spend “work” time in an environment we love. The question is; how do we create the ideal work environment? We’ve see companies approach this in three different ways:

1. Some companies don’t care about this at all. They’ve set a company culture when they started, and that is the same culture still- everyone should fit in. I have news for this type of company- your days are numbered, and Gen-Y will crush you

2. Some companies let managers create work environment, which means that many times, the work environment they create is ideal for them, but not for the team, so you still have team members that are unhappy at work because the environment they work in is not ideal for them

3. Some companies, especially start-ups, leave it up to the employees to create the ideal work environment, and they are encouraged to do this as a team. This helps to not only just create the ideal work environment, but also with building and fostering team cohesion, as they are all working on a common goal

Of the three types of approaches above, it is clear that the better option is number “3”. If you want people to work well together, the best way to go about it is to give them the space and support they need to create the ideal working environment that would suit every team member. When people are at ease at work and they like the environment and the people they work with, you get more than just a happy work force;

1. People that are happy at work are more invested in what’s going on with their “work” family, and they are naturally more empathetic towards one another. This fosters unity and can help with staff retention in the long run

2. When an employee feels like part of a good team, he/she feels more comfortable and confident to contribute more than just “hours”, which is where a company could see more innovation happening

3. On boarding new staff becomes easier and more effective, as instead of just following an induction process out of a manual, the rest of the team will take care of making the new staff member feel at home, as he/she will immediately be encouraged to help create the ideal work environment

It doesn’t have to be difficult or daunting to create the ideal work environment is you leverage of normal human behaviour- we’re social animals and we want to interact, and we like working together with likeminded people, so given the opportunity to work together to create the ideal work environment, many, if not most, teams will come up with a great place to work and spend time with their “work” families.

Just watch out for “No Pants Tuesdays”!