Page 166 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

HOW DO I BUILD A POSITIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT? (EFFECTIVE WORK CULTURE OR SETTING)

status. The board table is rectangular, with the boss and his
lieutenants on one side and the aspirants on the other. The
boss sits in a larger chair than anyone in the room, and he
enters through a private door next to his chair so he does not
have to come close to the potential apprentices. All of these
visual cues signal that the boardroom is serious and the boss
is in charge, surrounded by symbols of power. The use of
physical space sends messages about the nature of the work
environment. Here the space communicates forcefully that
the boss is a man to be feared, whose word is final . . . and
who needs lots of external props to reinforce his ego.
A company’s work space sends an implicit message to cus-
tomers and employees alike about what matters. To dissect
that message more explicitly, consider layout, worker safety,
lighting, color, personalization, upkeep, and symbols.
Physical layout can hinder or facilitate relationships,
communication, efficiency, and innovation. Modular work-
stations let people quickly reconfigure space to meet chang-
ing requirements. What does it communicate when a
company has mobile walls so that employees can organize
space to form small task forces? Or when filing systems are
portable to allow employees to transport materials from office
to office?
Layout should include consideration of which units need
to communicate or work together. If you want closer coop-
eration between sales and engineering, put their offices next
to each other. If you want to boost creativity among your
innovative spark plugs, move them near each other. The
layout inside an office or plant also speaks volumes about
expectations: a U-shaped table with an LCD projector in a
conference room normalizes a one-way presentation to pas-
sive recipients, while a round table with flip charts and an

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