How To Maintain Corporate Culture And Values In A Hot Desking Environment
Every organization is looking at effective ways
on how to increase productivity while lessening the operational costs with
today’s economic condition. In the 21st century working environment, there is
growing management enthusiasm for hot desk services because the cost of office
spaces and buildings at major cities are ridiculously expensive.
Implementing hot desking
setup is seemingly intimidating for an established organization, especially if
its employees are used to working in a fixed desk or a traditional office
setup. One of the challenges of embracing a hot desk office in Hong Kong is how
to maintain the culture and values among the dispersed employees.
Can you influence your
employees to shift from the traditional office setup into an “on-the-road”
flexible working spaces? Are you a startup who is planning to implement a
virtual office to your new recruits? How are you going to maintain the culture
and values of the company despite the absence of physical interaction?
These are some of the
frequently asked questions of managers and business owners. To avoid
compromising productivity and corporate values, here are three ways to do it:
Inform the team, and go
through the process with them
What is the first thing
you do as you sit in front of the office table? Probably most of you are gazing
at our loved ones’ pictures while you wait for the PC to boot up. There is a
sense of identity and belongingness when you sit in your personal desk before
you start the day.
However, a growing band
of staff starts the day as they unpack their stuff in a new desk every morning.
These nomadic workers are the new forefront of companies that have implemented
a hot desk environment, allowing them to use different workstations round the
clock.
It seems intimidating at
first for your team to work in this type of environment, but you must inform
them and educate them why you are going to implement the system. Go through the
process with them, and let them know that you are willing to help them cope up
with the change.
Cultivate open
communications
Your leadership team
must communicate and model the organization’s values and culture. From there,
it must be channeled to the team members down to the rank and file.
Information, instructions and specific details should be sent clearly among the
staff and employees.
It does not matter where
they are, but as long as you have unified virtualization systems and
communication tools that can be accessed by each employee, it would be easier
for both the management and employees to communicate directly.
Some of the companies
(Britain’s Yellow Pages, Siemens, Proctor and Gamble etc.) that use hot desk
services have staff spread across five continents, and they are doing a great
job in affirming and living out values. It takes a constant awareness on the
part of the management and leadership to give importance and impact of what
they say and do.
Schedule meet-ups,
trainings and boot camps
While the most
challenging part in a hot desking environment is the absence of physical
interaction of employees, you can compensate it through regular meet-ups,
trainings and boot camps to cultivate the relationship among the team.
Most of hot desking
services include packages where you can rent a conference room to gather your
employees. Some of them might be working in different locations and time zones,
but with the advancement of technology, you can conduct live webinars and
videoconferences at the same time while the big event is ongoing.
After all, culture and
values are not tied up with a physical office. In fact, they are bound to
people’s lives and work ethics. Above all, creating constant awareness to the
plans and strategies of the organization would drive everyone to commit and work
under the corporate culture and values regardless of time and location.
Author Bio:
Reynold Gustavson is a self-employed online entrepreneur currently
working from four different cities around the world. He is a regular
contributor to various sites and blogs specializing in startup businesses,
business travelling and working environment solutions for self-employed
business owners.
