All posts tagged office

The Corporate Reception Area

Circular Reception Desk

When you enter a shop for the first time your senses are seeking out data points with which to form an impression that usually influences your buying behaviour whilst in the store, and afterwards with respect to potential repeat visits. Each store tries to create their own individuality that differentiates themselves from their competition through a variety of different coloured décor, sounds, smells, staff dress code, personality style and other mannerisms.

So what can we learn from this in the corporate world? The answer is heaps, particularly with respect to the business reception area.

Business reception areas are the portal through which all new clients enter and they are in essence the “shop front” to the corporate organization. So why not make this “experience of entrance” one that will place your business on a pedestal that will be the envy of your opposition?

Some thoughts for achieving this that are that “little bit different”:

1. Facial Recognition
For clients that have visited your business previously, why not use facial recognition to send their details electronically as they are walking to the receptionist who can provide them with a personal salutation of welcome when they sign in?

2. No more dull waiting time
Should your clients arrive early for a meeting, why should they sit around aimlessly reading the traditional range of dated and boring magazines and newspapers?
A much better and innovative alternative is to provide a range of other more interesting options such as; a dedicated barista to provide that optimum coffee brew, free WiFi so they can check E-mails, a well stocked library with comfortable reading chairs, a golf practice putting area with your company logo on the green, or an array of dynamic computer games, etc. I’m sure that these options would be much better appreciated!

3. Video Messaging Booth
Should you client not have sufficient time for the meeting with your organization through no fault of their own, or should your employees be double booked with too many meetings, the reception area would be equipped with an array of video messaging booths. Here the client could sit down in private and make their presentation or provide feedback to a video camera which would record their message. This could then be E-mailed to the appropriate person in your business for viewing at a later date.

4. The Outdoor Reception Area
Why not have a built in outdoor glass enclosed reception area instead of one with the more traditional corporate appearance? This could comprise a variety of outdoor garden elements that are in sync with the climatic seasons with a well defined footpath meandering to the reception desk. For instance, there could be a grassy mound with occasional animal (eg cow, kangaroo, horse) strolling past the clients, an intermittent and random rain shower requiring the use of strategically placed umbrellas or an ice-cream stand located amongst a sand dune or rock-pool?

I’m sure that these creative and rather unique additions to the corporate reception area would have a lasting and positive influence on any client that may visit your business.

Why not consider some of these ideas when designing your next office building?

I’m sure that it would indeed make people “think that little bit differently”!

 

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by Steven Cramer on September 5, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on September 5, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/09/05/the-corporate-reception-area/

The Office Tuning-Fork

Tuning fork

Many of us I’m sure have sat through a corporate meeting and have identified when someone is playing “politics”. This person’s behaviour is so obvious that it tends to stick out like a sore thumb to the detriment of that individual. The impact of this activity can also alienate them from the rest of the team and significantly lowers the output of the meeting.

To resolve and eliminate this sort of negative behaviour, this is where the application of a yet to be invented “politics” calibrated tuning-fork can be applied. Consider the following application in the corporate office.

Each meeting room will have a tuning-fork mounted in the centre of the table. The tuning-forks will all have the same business pitch aligned to the corporate values and will resonate in harmony throughout the entire office. When there is no “politics” being exhibited by those sitting around the table, all tuning forks will be in tune with each other and a constant tone will be achieved.

However, should the tuning-fork encounter someone playing the political agenda, the harmonic resonance will be broken and the culprit will be immediately identified by those in the room, and throughout the entire office.

Those repeatedly identified by the tuning fork as habitual office politics offenders will have a special entry made in their personnel file.

With time, those people who play politics will modify their behaviour as the power of the tuning-fork will ultimately prevail!

 

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by Steven Cramer on August 31, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on August 31, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/08/31/the-office-tuning-fork/

The Room of Thought

Thinking RFID

In the corporate office it is sometimes quite difficult to find a quiet place to think and let your mind explore new and creative ideas owing to the continual work activity permeating throughout the building.

The solution……

What about having a dedicated “Room of Thought” strategically placed in a central position within the building that can be easily accessed by all employees?

This room would comprise the following “thought enhancers”:

1. An array of luxurious sofas
To make the employee comfortable to stimulate some different thoughts.

2. A dark face mask
To eliminate any outside influences that may distract the thinker. Each mask would also be equipped with a facial moisturiser to ensure no thinking side-effects.

3. Ear Muffs
Not your standard everyday ear muffs, but ones that can be used to block out all annoying sounds, or can be fitted with a user selection of thought provoking tones to assist with the creativity journey.

4. Gourmet Food Chute
An individual chute positioned above each sofa that provides a selection of tasty snacks and beverages to maintain the thinker during their moments of inspiration.

5. Foot Feather
To ensure no employees doze off during their time of thinking, a machine would be placed at the end of each sofa that contains a large feather that would randomly touch the feet of the employee to maintain optimum maintenance of thought.

6. Voice Activated Memo
Rather than having to be interrupted to stop and write your ideas of innovation in a book, each sofa would come equipped with its own voice activated memo writer that would accurately record ideas of creativity. The user would just need to whisper these thoughts and the recorder would develop a precise transcript.

I’m sure that many businesses would see the benefit of this “Room of Thought” and with time the concept will be a standard design in many leading office layouts!

 

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by Steven Cramer on August 29, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on August 29, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/08/29/the-room-of-thought/

The Role of the Wandering “Wofter”

Watching you

Have you ever watched a fly buzzing around a house moving from room to room as it partakes in the delights it encounters along its journey? Just imagine if you could have the ability to transform into a fly for a brief moment whilst at work and really be that fictitious fly on the wall!

Let’s just think about this concept a little bit further from a business perspective.

The humble fly has the opportunity to listen to a variety of different conversations and work practices in a completely non-influencing way and can also utilise the very best scenarios from each participant interaction. The fly is the ideal stealth observer and is able to buzz in or out and focus on specific corporate details without hindrance.

Now if you had many flies buzzing throughout your office you would gather a wealth of learnings which could be shared when all the flies swarmed together!

Unfortunately you can’t actually be a fly, but why can’t there be a role in business for a group of independent observers (for want of a better name I will call “wofters”) that strategically woft throughout the office neutrally listening to each business meeting and then come together to share their observations and insights to benefit the total organisation?

These official “wofters” could be identified by a special nondescript coloured uniform and have a position of privilege in the corporate structure! I’m sure that with time, many people would want to aspire to this role owing to the opportunity to quietly woft in all business activities?

So next time you see a fly buzzing with what appears to be an aimless trajectory throughout your office, may I suggest that you think differently and consider the benefits of the “wofter” in your corporate organisation.

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by Steven Cramer on August 17, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on August 17, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/08/17/the-role-of-the-wandering-wofter/

Change Management – Coloured Breath Analysis

Sea Surface Temperature

It is common practice these days for an organisation to use various internal surveys or other methods of feedback to get an indication of the mood of their employees, particularly during a time of Change Management. These organisational pulse checks can be rather hit and miss as they are dependent upon the number of people who participate, and on the quality of the information that has been provided.

But….there could be a better way to accurately and instantaneously gain an understanding of employee sentiment via an innovative, yet to be invented process, called “coloured breath analysis”.

Consider the following……

If we could tag and classify a person’s emotional state in the office by measuring the “colour” of the air exhaled as they speak, this could be quite interesting. A “red” colour would signify that they were angry or agitated, “green” would indicate calmness, and “yellow” that they were neutral or somewhere in between the states of “red” and “green”.

Now, just imagine if these exhaled colour breath measurements could be plotted on an office location map, just like the synoptic weather map which indicates high and low barometric pressures? If so, this would provide an immediate, real-time measure of employee feeling that could be updated and reviewed on a continual basis.

Early warning signs of potential employee “cyclones”, or other impending “storms” that were brewing in the office would be readily identified so the appropriate corrective action could implemented in order to harmonise the corporate climate. It would also identify those more preferred “climatic” locations in the office which are more highly stable and have a calming influence on the surrounding areas.

Just a thought……but think of the possibilities if it existed!

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by Steven Cramer on July 26, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on July 26, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/07/26/change-management-coloured-breath-analysis/

Focus on the “N”

gear shift

Most of us when we are at work are too busy racing from one activity to the next one with minimal time to think and plan the next steps. If our workflow processes were likened to a car, we would be continually moving from 1st gear, to 2nd, then to 3rd and countless higher gears, back down again, sometimes into reverse, and then do it all once more! I’m sure that this sounds all too familiar!

But how much time do we spend in the “neutral gear (N)”?

In a car, we all pass through neutral on the way to the other gears, however, if it is not done correctly, we tend to “crunch” the gears and make that all too painful sound!

This got me thinking….

At work, what if we spent more time in the “neutral gear” tactfully planning and considering our next steps before we blindly or habitually commence the next activity? If so, we might find that there are more optimum “gear choices” available to use that better utilize our limited time and achieve a more productive and efficient result?

So, next time you are driving in your car, focus more on the “N” and similarly try and think about exploring the “N” in the office. The result could be much more harmonious and may lead to less of the “crunch” in your work routine?

 

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by Steven Cramer on July 22, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on July 22, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/07/22/focus-on-the-n/

The “Doer People”

How the office will look like - North Angle

On the first day with any new organisation you are provided with an obligatory induction tour of the office building that highlights all the important items such as; the location of fire exits, bathrooms, canteen, photocopier and where to park your car.

This is good……but, I’m of the view that these tours omit one of the most important and practical aspects of the building that you need to quickly know to do your new job efficiently and productively……that of the “doer people”.

So who and what are “doer people”? These are people in the organisation that have been identified unofficially by their peers as the person you should ask when you need to quickly get something done “outside” the official corporate policy. For example:

“The IT Doer Person”
Should you encounter a problem with your computer, the official work procedure is to call your Help Desk. However, if you don’t have hours of spare time to sit on hold listening to some uninspiring feeble music, or a repeating corporate message before you are eventually told to turn your computer off and then restart it, you would alternatively approach your “The IT Doer Person. This person thrives on fixing computer related problems, are typically named Boris and will fix the problem through some unfathomable means that you will never have a hope in understanding, but who cares as it takes them only a few minutes and you will then be back to work!

“The Photocopier Fixer Doer Person”
You have all experienced the dreaded “beep” noise on the photocopier when you are in a hurry to print an important document. You could quickly solve the problem if you had a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering, but you don’t and those who do have this qualification normally run in the opposite direction on hearing the “beep” so not to be disturbed. The solution is to quickly seek advice from your friendly “Photocopier Fixer Doer Person” who thrives on solving these electronic print problems with the same degree of enthusiasm as that famous Belgian detective Poirot solves many an English murder!

“The Coffee Connoisseur Doer Person”
You could partake of the instant coffee in the office canteen if your taste buds are nonexistent, or, you could seek out “The Coffee Connoisseur Doer Person”. This person typically has a thick black book containing many coffee stained pages listing all the best coffee shops in a short walking distance from the office. These people have a privileged position in the office and are at times of caffeine lack more respected than the CEO.

I’m sure that you can list numerous other strategic “doer persons” that could complement the above three “doers”.

These people are a rare and uniquely talented individual and one that should be a compulsory inclusion in any induction tour!

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by Steven Cramer on July 18, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on July 18, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/07/18/the-doer-people/

The Innovation Placebo

Pill tablet

I’m sure that you are all familiar with the word “placebo” and how it is applied in the medical world to make a patient think they are having some type of “treatment” when they actually are not? Without getting too caught up in the psychology of the whole medical process…..this got me thinking!

What if we could utilise the placebo effect to improve a business’s creativity? The process could be termed the “Innovation Placebo”.

To do this, one possibility could be to develop a range of “Innovation Placebo” signs strategically located throughout the business workspace. Some potential ideas:

The Building Entrance Sign
“This building has been architecturally designed by an award winning international company to enhance the creativity thought processes of the occupants”.

The Décor Sign
“The unique colour scheme and office furnishings have been carefully selected to provide an inner peace and reduce worker stress”

The Air Sign
“Through a sophisticated and patented air flow process in the building, oxygen concentration levels have been strategically maximized above all employee workstations to ensure optimum thinking potential”.

The Desk Sign
“All employee desks have achieved the 5 star ergonometric rating for maximum comfort which is the standard required by astronauts travelling in outer space”.

Etc, etc…

If only…..however, just imagine what could be achieved should it be successful?

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by Steven Cramer on July 14, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on July 14, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/07/14/the-innovation-placebo/

Sold, For Sale, or Open for Inspection?

For Sale

When you have outgrown your current home, you then start the process of looking for a new house. As part of this process, you typically have a list outlining the criteria that your new home must have (eg location, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, garage, etc). To complement this list, there are also the “nice to haves”, which could vary from a spa and sauna to a star gazing observatory in the loft, plus more!

As you progress through the searching process, for those houses that you are interested in pursuing further, there are three real estate signs located outside the front of these homes that typically catch your eye, “Sold”, “For Sale” and “Open for Inspection”.

“Sold” – forget this one, too late……but how much did it sell for?
“For Sale” – this looks interesting, I wonder what it’s like inside?
“Open For Inspection” – yep, let’s go in and have a look around and check it out.

This house searching process got me thinking……how do we promote ourselves in our place of employment and externally in the market from an innovation and creativity perspective?

Do people also view us with us with these “real estate” signs?

“Sold” – no new ideas, no interest in thinking differently, go away and stop bothering me!
“For Sale” – you have a range of valued creative ideas that you would like to share and promote within your workplace and the broader market.
“Open For Inspection” – you have some innovative thoughts that you would welcome feedback from your work colleagues which can then be modified as appropriate.

So…..what sign are you displaying?

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by Steven Cramer on July 11, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on July 11, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/07/11/sold-for-sale-or-open-for-inspection/

Coat Buttons Undone

Winter Walk

In the colder months of the year, should you quickly glance at the commuting business person when they are travelling to and from the office, it is most likely that you will notice a common corporate appearance – black coat, single coloured scarf and the occasional dark gloves. If it is raining, the umbrella is usually of a colour to complement the coat, once again…black.

However, when this worker arrives at the office and disrobes their black coat and scarf, there is an observed vibrancy of coloured shirts, ties, suits and skirts.

To me this is an interesting conundrum.

All these workers have a similar external appearance as typified by the black coat, yet once the “coat buttons are undone”, each of them has their own unique dress style that expresses their individual personality.

So in the office environment, don’t judge a person’s character and capability by their external persona. Try to get to understand them better when they have been given the opportunity to demonstrate some of their hidden talents!

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by Steven Cramer on July 8, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Steven Cramer on July 8, 2013

https://thinkingfuturethoughts.com/2013/07/08/coat-buttons-undone/

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