Where and how we work

I read a couple of really interesting blog posts today. The first one was by Julian Stodd who worked with us a couple of months ago. In it he was talking about the way that we ‘meet’ with people being much more flexible these days. Having so many options to connect in virtual ways with people does mean that we don’t always have to be in face-to-face contact. Traditional views would have it that there is nothing like face contact to make strong connections with people. Julian puts forward the idea that connections in virtual space can be much more fluid and we can bring forth aspects of ourselves that we might not normally bring into direct contact. There are some really interesting ideas in what he says.

For me, I know that I travel far less than I used to in doing my work. And that I often have really productive conversations with people using video links rather than travelling to them. Some people are reluctant to do this, but with a little persuasion it is becoming much more commonplace.

The second blog post I was looking at was by an App Developer – sorry, but I’ve lost the link. His post is about the different places we work in. He runs an App business. All of his staff are home based. He says that it is increasingly difficult to talk about where we work, as we find ourselves working where we happen to be. This also reminded me of the book I read by Scott Berkun recently. Called, A Year with No Pants”, it describes his time at WordPress where he led a team that were scattered across the globe and were all home based.

That prompted me to think about the office base for the team I work with. We moved offices a few weeks ago. We had been in our previous base for just over 2 years, and before that we were in the same building but on a different floor. Each time we move, costs are an important consideration, driving down our overheads. But so is the ambience and the way in which our workspace contributes to team working and the ability to work creatively.

These two blog posts have prompted me to think even more about the way I work. It’s important to constantly challenge the assumptions we make about working patterns.

A couple of years ago we were challenged by one of our Associates to look at whether we actually needed office space. I think this is still essential for us. But I will continue to review where we are based, how we work with others (Google Hangouts, FaceTime and Skype are key parts of our work now) and look at the best environments to create great work places for the team.

We have recently agreed to introduce a monthly Team Retreat Day for example. This will be a day when we are in our office space – not available for outside meetings – and we can use the time for focused work and thinking time, planning and creating time. We will divide the time into action focused mornings with group work and afternoons for reflection, thinking and planning. I hope this time once a month will develop into a space where we can develop even more ambitious ways of working.