As I continue my eclectic reading journey a few things connected...Steve Simpson in a recent Unwritten Ground Rules publication wrote about the subtle signs that have a not so subtle impact on our environments - bottom line, if you present people with a well maintained and cared for work space, they will generally keep it that way. The minute you allow this to slip, so will the care and concern shown by the people.
Some people I worked with last year repeatedly complained about their office - bitterly and quite destructively so. I reckoned it wasn't too bad at all, the problem was in the fact they didn't seem to care about the place, didn't feel cared for and didn't do anything to show any pride...they are also a pretty stressed bunch which led me to connect to the other article on the MindTools website about "How tidiness and maintenance affect stress"... it's true.
This really got me thinking and connecting with the section in the recent AHRI White Paper, "People@Work/2020 on the 'not so smart office of the early 21st century'.
Put this all together...
- office design is critical and careful thought needs to be given to the type of work people will be performing and how they will perform it
- be obsessive about a 'walk the talk' approach to maintaining the overall look and maintenance of a workplace
- support staff to maintain realistically orderly workspaces and provide them with the resources to make this easier.
There's something for everyone - at the organisation level, the work unit level and the individual level!
We can't always have the ideal office or physical workplace, but how we look after it both personally and collectively would seem to have a major impact...
We can't always have the ideal office or physical workplace, but how we look after it both personally and collectively would seem to have a major impact...
Links to the 3 articles/documents
http://www.ugrs.net/newsletters/CI131.pdf - check out the article on page 2 "Subtle Signs"
and
http://www.mindtools.com/stress/EnvironmentalStress/Maintenance.htm
http://www.ugrs.net/newsletters/CI131.pdf - check out the article on page 2 "Subtle Signs"
and
http://www.mindtools.com/stress/EnvironmentalStress/Maintenance.htm
and
