Boost Innovation with Choice and Control
How flexible workspaces shape culture and increase productivity
It might be worth tearing down a few office walls in order to boost innovation within your team. Why? Because 88% of office professionals have their best ideas when working in flexible spaces. This tremendous catalyst for creativity has the potential to turn a simple workspace into a vehicle for empowerment. A compelling workspace fosters compelling results. Creating a workplace environment that promotes choice and control enables employees and organizations alike to produce a greater impact in the long run.
Choice and control are two key elements of environmental flexibility. While they are two distinct ideas, they work hand in hand.
‘Choices’ are available workspace options
Up to 62% of employees surveyed in a Work Environment Study sponsored by Capital One desired workspace options with natural light and 43% found reconfigurable furniture to be important for adjusting their workflow. Taking down walls to build shared space is not effective if there is only one large and homogenous open working environment. In order to offer choice and control, various types of spaces and atmospheres should be created. This allows individuals to choose environments that best suit their needs and preferences. Private desks are still useful — but it’s valuable to give teams the option to work in other areas in addition to their personal, private workspace. When all employees have equal access to shared space, these flexible environments become an asset to the organization and enrich the culture. We believe that investing in shared space is good stewardship of resources.
In a culture high in both choice and control, staff have multiple options and feel free to take advantage of those options. If an individual needs a calm, quiet, private space to focus, they can find it. If a team needs to meet in an open area where there is light and life, they can find it. If a staff member works best in areas where chance interactions are the norm, they can find it as well. Choice and control tap into new advantages that bolster the organization by enhancing worker well-being and productivity, ultimately maximizing impact.
‘Control’ is the freedom to choose your workspace
Work environments that offer control allow staff to move from their designated desk to another area. Employees may work at their desk if they would like to do so, but are in no way required to stay in one particular area. Each team member has the power to move around to different locations throughout the day that match the variety of work they need to accomplish.
Just like a potter needs different stations for throwing, firing the clay, and glazing, teams need different “stations” suited for their variety of projects, tasks, and meetings throughout the day. The best ideas may be shared with the team in a collaborative space, while a quiet phone booth would be best for making a private call. The ability to match different aspects of a job with their conducive work environments is incredibly valuable. Teams accomplish their best work when they have control over their environment.
The competitive advantage of flexible work environments
Externally, companies high in employee freedom are at least 10 times more likely to achieve high financial performance than companies with low workplace flexibility. In fact, a study by the International Workplace Group found that organizational competitiveness improves by 85%, organizations grow 89% faster, and retention and attraction of top talent skyrockets when flexible work strategies are implemented.
Internally, staff benefit from the ability to share ideas and resources across departments by taking advantage of diverse environments. Setting the stage for easy and convenient communication between sectors of an organization allows each department to achieve more and be more productive than any one department could be on its own. Flexible spaces empower people to build a stronger network, control when and where they work, and feel that they have greater autonomy and investment in their work.
Staff members who work in cultures that are high in choice and control consistently report higher levels of workplace happiness. Harvard Business Review analyzed workers in tech, who reported higher happiness levels at work than other departments, and found a correlation between workplace satisfaction and choice and control. People working in tech fields tend to have more mobility, more options, more freedom, and more involvement, which leads to greater satisfaction.
Part of the reason choice and control enhance workplace happiness is because people take greater satisfaction in work that they feel personally invested in. Giving team members the ability to interact with their environment fosters autonomy, which is correlated with an uptick in motivation and performance. As an article from BusinessWorld explains,
“It is this sense of freedom and choice that can empower you, giving you a greater sense of ownership and responsibility towards your work. And when you feel like you have more control over how you work, you are more likely to spend your days motivated, inspired and stress-free.”
Employees take ownership of their work when they are given more autonomy. Organizations that adopted a choice and control culture saw an 82% increase in productivity. Another study surveyed employee perceptions, and 77% of respondents actually felt a difference in their productivity when working in flexible environments.
One powerful advantage that springs out of choice and control is an increased awareness of how each person’s work contributes to the whole. Creating social good on an internal, micro-level empowers employees to create impact on an external, macro-level. As written in an article by BusinessWorld, a workspace that gives choice and control places your organization “at the heart of a movement that values the concepts of collaboration, community, mutual learning and sustainability.”
Looking forward into the changing landscape of working environments, it is apparent that physical spaces have tangible, meaningful effects on the quality of work that is possible in your organization. Making a few simple adjustments could increase innovation by empowering and inspiring team members to have their best ideas.
Link2Lift is here to help create an environment where choice and control are recognized as powerful tools for innovation, productivity, collaboration. We believe that robust interior cultures are a key to amplifying your external impact.
