Sketch by Dirk Mooij, 1900–1960

By Michel Mooij MArch.

The contribution a dedicated working environment can make to improve the performance of people is great. Interest in the branding of the office environment is growing, for the workplace is considered to contribute to a sense of company pride. A fascinating, healthy working environment with a choice of ergonomic workstations and meeting places offers people the opportunity to develop their individual work style and feel connected to the company. Everything is pursuing an efficient realization of the mission of the enterprise!

That the physical environment has an impact, is evident from the fact that people like to blame the circumstances blame if something fails. It is plausible and yet uncontrollable. A good reason to look into the working conditions more closely. To get a comprehensive picture of the influence of the circumstances on the performance of people, we must focus our scope on the totality of people, the motivation, and resources in space and time. Which means the way of working, the work environment, working conditions, the tools, knowledge and skills, the mentality, the interconnectedness, the shared values and so on.

The circumstances are only partly determined by the arrangement of the physical environment. The working conditions are primarily created by the workers themselves, in the interplay between their way of working and the possibilities of the environment. For example, a chair is not right or bad in itself. You can sit right or wrong, and that can be due to your posture or the furniture. To ensure proper working conditions one must focus on the interplay between behavior and environment. Part of the responsibility lies therefore with the worker himself. The employer must offer a good chair, but the employee must be able to or want to sit correctly. Which becomes more of an issue when working out of the reach of the employer, for example, in the motorway restaurant, the train, at home. The solution to make the company responsible for the workplace at home is not a real solution because the work extends further than the office and home. The employee is the only one anywhere actually present. Which applies not just to the ergonomics, but to all working situations that can affect work positively or negatively. If you need to work with concentration for example, will you then look for a place that offers the best conditions for it?

And then there are the social conditions. For example tension with colleagues, bullying at work, disappointment and so on. But also positive influences of peers, such as inspiring one another and listen to each other.

Branding the office will have to encompass more than the physical environment alone. The use of a house style in the interior is not enough. If we want to accomplish that employees feel engaged, care about the company and know how to attract customers, then branding will have to focus on the interplay of community, environment, and work style.

Community

The concept of working community says something about connection and cohesion within the organization. In a community, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A community is a social structure. It indicates shared values and social control.

The concept might have connotations of religious communities or idealistic communes, but there are also other communities such as Facebook. A community may have the character of a village, a family, a clan, a club, depending on the size and binding. In Japan, there are still communities around companies with lifetime employment. Community gives members something in return which is more than just the job satisfaction. A harmonious working community where employees respectfully communicate with each other is itself able to support an employee, that would otherwise call in sick and look for help elsewhere.

Through the relationships of the employees, the working community is connected to networks outside the company. Labor relations and private relationships merge into one another.

A working community has a particular scale, where people know each-each other and find themselves able to maintain contact. This size depends on the social skills of the members and the extent to which mutual contact is required, the social structure. As the group grows, the consultative structures will be more complicated and take more time. But the group feeling, the trust, connection, and care for one other are decisive on this. With what do you identify yourself? For what do you feel responsible? We were brought up to the size of a school class. Maybe that’s a good starting point. But the size of a collaborative group is also determined by the human dimensions and spatial relationships: you should be able to see each other, you want work within earshot, within reaching distance or walking distance. And you share the same tools, or you work on the same product.

Environment

The working environment is the physical environment in which people work. That may be the office but for those who travel a lot, it is also the roadside restaurant the home study, the meeting room at the customer’s office, and so on.

At the office we are used to individual chambers, group areas, open plan offices, meeting rooms, the company restaurant and so on. It is the current practice, for example, that a division of twelve employees is accommodated in a range of two double offices, two group rooms of four and three persons and a single office for the head of the department. The number of persons per room and the measure of privacy often refer to the hierarchy of functions. This practice can be different. You can, for example, give access to a domain where the entire group can meet and discuss, with spaces where people can retreat for a little dialogue, with spaces in which occasionally can be worked alone in concentration and with a general area in which people can work either alone or together. In short, a working environment (working landscape) that contains all desirable situations without people to claim their individual territory.

The work environment requires a spatial structure, in line with the dimensions of the working groups or communities. Such a working environment is not a molding of the way of working, but offers opportunities to find and create the appropriate settings.

But the work environment also has its ambiance and has autonomous quality, which is not necessarily always adapted to work. Sometimes the environment is downright hostile and leads to a different way of working. For example, in a crowded shopping mall, where you try to find a quiet spot to make a phone call. Depending on the ingenuity of a working style, an environment which is not designed to work can sometimes be used very successfully to work. Think of a fisherman’s hut where you can retreat to write.

The working environment is a part of the larger environment. Especially when people work outside the office, it will turn out that the working environment becomes more and more part of the living environment. The workplace can also be integrated into the living environment more consciously, and operated in a more hospitality-like manner by companies specialized in hospitality. For example a company canteen as public restaurant, company fitness as neighborhood gym, town library as workspaces, or company training rooms for communal use.

Work Style

It is not so that the working environment can be derived from the work processes (naive functionalism). It is also not true that a working community is achieved with a well-organized work environment. These are two dimensions of the shaping work. The third dimension is formed by the individual. His wishes, skills, aspirations, needs. This can be summarized for our purpose under the work style.

In a time when information technology offers the freedom to virtually work anywhere, employees are increasingly aware of the impact the environment has on their effectiveness and the influence they can exert to set up the environment so that they can work optimally. They become aware of their individual work style.

Not the traditional way of working that is imposed by the operation of an office, but the strategy that was chosen by the independent worker himself in effectively organizing his work and his workday.

Work Styles also say something about the culture people want to belong to, and how they want to deal with their environment. As the working environment is part of the entire living environment, thus making the work style part of the lifestyle.

The Interplay of Community, Style and Environment

A good interplay between Community, Style and Environment will lead to a mutual reinforcement of the contribution to productivity. I shall explain the interaction between the components in pairs.

Community and Environment

The working environment, working landscape gives shape and dimension to the work units in the working community. The working community sets requirements for the environment. If both come together, it creates a work situation that can be assessed on efficiency, effectiveness, flexibility, and creativity.

The work environment can if properly chosen and designed, demarcate, protect and reinforce the working community. The place that connects people, the atmosphere and ambiance that binds the people. Working communities often are defined by the physical environment, such as the monastery or the working farm. Virtual communities have different delineations, such as a particular computer platform or specific language. Communities can also regularly seek the same type of work environment, for example, the industry-lofts that are hot the creative scene, or hotel lobbies in the commercial sphere. The relationship between the work environment and working community is then also determined by the work style.

Community and Style

On the one hand, the work style represents the DNA of the working community, the way of working, which binds the members and on the other hand the work style is connected to the lifestyle of the individual employee.

Experience with the work style is shared and leads to improvement in the way we work. The community manifests itself outward through the work style of the people. The goals of the community are reflected in the work style. The work style is a binding element in the community. In a natural way, the focus with this is on efficiency, effectiveness, flexibility, and creativity both individually and for the community.

The binding of an employee with a community in which he or she feels at home based on shared values in the work style is stronger than the binding based on a career path and salary increases.

Style and Environment

The interaction between the work style and the working environment is a continual process of selection. The surrounding amenities offer support and inspiration, and the worker selects a spot. What do you do, where, and why? This interaction happens both at an individual level and at the organizational level. At the organizational level, decisions are made about: site selection, accommodation, and available staff; access to customers; working conditions and available amenities. At the individual level, choices are made about: availability and suitability of workplaces and facilities for the task at hand; access to colleagues and clients; chances for meeting, serendipity and inspiration.

Being consciously engaged in the selection process leads to continuous awareness of your efficiency, effectiveness, flexibility, and creativity. As a spin-off ideas emerge again on other workplaces, atmospheres, and environments, which better contribute to the output of the working styles. The working environment is assessed as the contribution to the performance of the individual and the community.

Connecting

With the integrated approach of working community, working environment and work style, a credible and convincing tool is created, to connect people, places, and communities in a total branding of the company. Which is more than styling of the office. It is the overall impression that the organization leaves behind with customers, employees, visitors, and passersby, in the office and outside.