There’s plenty floating around the internet about creating a great place to work in. Much of what you read falls into two camps (in my opinion)…. it’s either in the ‘Google Camp’ or it’s not.
The ‘Google Camp’ is for all companies who either do tech or some form of cutting edge stuff. They’re the companies that allow people to come to work barefoot, have unconventional furniture, and crazily designed office space, etc, etc. Follow this link to see lots of similar pictures to the one below.
And then there’s the ‘Everybody Else Camp’, who I think wish they could work in a Google type environment. I can’t imagine there’s actually any theory, research or intelligent argument that would suggest you’d get less from your people in a Google environment, and more from them in the traditional bland space being served up at the moment?
And then every now and then you find spaces in the middle. Transitioning, I like to believe, to a space and place where people feel ‘excited’ to be in. It’s not an easy transition. Surprisingly enough there is resistance. Those that believe fun and work don’t go together, that enjoying work means you’re not doing anything meaningful and productive.
I’ve been doing some work with Tracker since November. Last week I walked into the men’s bathroom and was confronted by the following two stickers around the men’s urinal. Who can resist smiling when confronted by these. I laughed out loud. And I’m not the only one. All the men I spoke to at Tracker loved what was going on.
And it’s not just the men who are smiling in the bathroom. The women are too. I asked someone to grab an image for me.
It’s that easy to recreate the spaces and places in any organisation. And the results can only be positive. Having people smiling at work has got to equal better productivity.
