As we start the new year, I thought we’d start with something a bit off the beaten path, or way off. A couple months back, flying on Southwest, I came across this article in their inflight magazine about the office to which we all come to “work”. I found this article relevant with several different points:

From the article:

“Research has started to illuminate the positive power of collaboration’ prompting companies to rethink the standard conference room in favor of more informal meeting spaces and areas that provoke spontaneous conversation.”

“Technology changes about every 18 months, yet an office design typically lasts a decade; a building, about 40 years.”

For the numbers folks, here’s one: “A University of Exeter study found that employees with some control over their workspace are not only happier but 32 percent more productive.”

“It [The workplace] may be changing,but it’s still a place where people want to come to connect with each other and the organization’s culture. “

My main takeaways out of this:

As we look at redesigning the ED soon and maybe our office area in the future, we should look at how to make the office a vibrant area of collaboration and exchange keeping in mind that there’s no one size fits all solution, but flexibility is something that everyone will benefit from.

Enjoy this short read.

Pavan