March 28, 2019 at 11:29Team climate management
Would you like to work in a team that solves creative and non-standard tasks, where employees are friendly, smiling and creative, where they are satisfied with their work, where they strive to be effective and successful, where the spirit of a real team reigns, which itself is constantly developing?
Of course yes.
We deal with management, labor organization and HR. Our specialization is teams and companies creating an intelligent product. And our customers want to work in precisely such teams, create such teams and manage just such companies.
Also because such companies have greater operational efficiency, profit per employee and more chances to win in the competition. Still such companies are called turquoise.
And this is where we start.
We often start with questions about managing your work environment.
The concept is simple: there are factors that impede work - they must be gradually leveled, there are factors that contribute to work - they must be turned on and gradually activated.
The key word is gradual. Step by step. Systemically.
Details under the cut.
Of course, we know about kanban, dashboards, KPI, project management and SCRUM.
But there are basic factors that are faster, easier and cheaper to bring us closer to the goodwill, creativity and effectiveness of the team and company.
Of course, without canceling SCRUM.
So, questions about managing the work environment.
The first question. What about the microclimate?
No, not in the team. And with the physical and chemical characteristics of the air in the office?
The problem is that in good and very good offices Moscow is usually warm, dry and low in oxygen. Why? A cultural habit, or such are the typical settings of the ventilation and air conditioning system, or the climate, when for 9 months a year either heating or air conditioning works.
Let's consider in more detail. Air temperature.
Normal, stimulating active brain activity, temperature - up to + 21C.
A typical office temperature - above + 23 ° C - is ideal for falling asleep, but not for work.
For comparison: in the offices of Shanghai, Singapore, the UAE, etc. by our standards it’s pretty cool - less than + 20C.
Relative humidity.
Typical office humidity, especially when operating an air conditioner or heating, is less than 50%.
Normal for a healthy person: 50-70%.
Why is it important? With reduced humidity in the airways, the rheology of the mucus changes (it dries up), local immunity decreases and, therefore, the susceptibility to respiratory infections increases.
One humidifier in the office saves at least one working week spent in the fight against SARS (in terms of a year).
About carbon dioxide. With an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide, the central nervous system of a person is gradually inhibited and it falls asleep. Why is there a lot of it in offices? Because airing and conditioning are two different things. And the first often does not work.
The second question. Water.
Water-salt balance is a very significant factor in the functioning of the brain and the whole organism. 80% of the droppers that are placed in hospitals in the world are water-salt solutions. And it helps.
Most offices have drinking water, although not always.
But there are nuances. Psychological and cultural.
Imagine: the cooler is in the next office, five meters away.
This is problem? Yes.
People sitting near the cooler consider the water “their own”, due to a genetically determined habit of protecting their source from outsiders. Therefore, a trip of five meters - this is stress for the thirsty, and an extra reason for aggression for the "guardians". And so begins the confrontation of departments, genetically determined.
Cultural nuance. In Russia, it is not customary to drink water. A person who drinks water causes intense interest: something is wrong with him. To drink tea, coffee is normal. No water.
However, coffee and tea have a clear diuretic effect - that is, they effectively remove water from the body. As a result: the more coffee without water, the worse the brain works. Although American and European habits of carrying water with you, not only for fitness, but also for meetings, are gradually taking root.
Conclusion: water should be freely available to all and without “custodians”.
The third question. Where can you eat?
The topic is so obvious how poorly solved.
I don’t want to go into the features of a healthy diet, but the points that most experts agree with are the following:
A typical Moscow “decision” looks like this: in 15 minutes there is a cafe / dining room / restaurant where there is a business lunch and lines. There are “cookies” and sweets in the office, and what the employees brought with them. But you can’t eat at the workplace, and there is nowhere to have breakfast and dinner.
Compare the "standard solution" with the theses above. Not beating.
Google's research clearly says: access to healthy food within 150 feet of the workplace is a factor that significantly improves staff satisfaction and performance.
We add from Russian experience: ordering food for a couple of hundred rubles per employee per day (excluding corporate discounts) gives an increase of an hour and a half to their employees, active work.
Know-how.At one Russian IT company, breakfast stopped serving at exactly 9-50 in the morning, and dinner began at exactly seven. Obviously, how this has affected discipline.
The fourth question. Do you see the sun?
Example: Skolkovo, Technopark.
A sample and standard of office and innovative design.
However, in half of the offices, the windows face the indoor atrium.
And for a quarter of a year, half of the workers in the Technopark do not see the sun in the morning (it’s not yet risen), in the evening (it’s already set) and in the afternoon (if they don’t smoke).
Why is it important? Lack of sunshine is a lack of melatonin. The fastest manifestations: decreased activity, self-esteem, mood and the development of dysphoria.
Conclusion: closed balconies, verandas and roofs - interfere with productivity. But walks at lunch - quite a raise for her.
By the way, can I go with you?
In the office, down the hall, down the street? Can I get up at meetings?
These are questions not only about physical fitness.
For insights, insights, intuition and creativity are responsible "kinesthetic" brain regions, the same as for movement.
Roughly speaking: in the movement, “catching an idea” is much easier, as well as “utilizing” excess stress hormones.
Is it possible to move the desktop?
Swap places without the authority of management?
Sitting not at the table, but somewhere else?
This phenomenon works here: a change in the point of view on the office space - often changes the point of view on the subject of thinking. And the view of the horizon is better than the view of the wall: looking at the wall rarely leads to global thoughts.
Is it possible to sit in such a way that there is no one behind?
Someone behind - increases anxiety and brings burnout closer.
And do not get away from this - again, genetically determined.
Is it really important to see an employee’s monitor if it has a mobile?
Here we come closer to the concept of “personification of the workplace” .
A personalized workplace (or office), decorated with toys, amulets, books, posters and three monitors, is a sign of involvement and the development of a work-life balance. And clean and tidy tables - on the contrary.
We mention noise in one line .
Here are the standards: https://base.garant.ru/4174553/ . You need to look at Table 2.
Last question. Can you sleep at work?
It still sounds provocative. But not always and not everywhere.
There will be a separate article on this subject based on the materials of our special study.
So, here are 7 main factors that determine the working environment:
1. Air.
2. Water.
3. The food.
4. The sun.
5. Mobility.
6. Personification of jobs.
7. The noise level.
The solution to these simple and “everyday” issues is often enough to increase friendliness, responsiveness, development of a “team spirit” and a good basis for starting the implementation of something wonderful, for example, PRINCE2.
Work environment management as a system process.
The concept is simple: there are factors that impede work - they must be gradually leveled, there are factors that contribute to work - they must be turned on and gradually activated.
And there is an almost universal and systemic mechanism:
About cost economics. The solution to any of the problems described leads to an increase in labor productivity and return, which is many times more than the cost of implementation. All of these are extremely attractive investment projects.
And market and industry leaders have proven that.
Of course yes.
We deal with management, labor organization and HR. Our specialization is teams and companies creating an intelligent product. And our customers want to work in precisely such teams, create such teams and manage just such companies.
Also because such companies have greater operational efficiency, profit per employee and more chances to win in the competition. Still such companies are called turquoise.
And this is where we start.
We often start with questions about managing your work environment.
The concept is simple: there are factors that impede work - they must be gradually leveled, there are factors that contribute to work - they must be turned on and gradually activated.
The key word is gradual. Step by step. Systemically.
Details under the cut.
Of course, we know about kanban, dashboards, KPI, project management and SCRUM.
But there are basic factors that are faster, easier and cheaper to bring us closer to the goodwill, creativity and effectiveness of the team and company.
Of course, without canceling SCRUM.
So, questions about managing the work environment.
The first question. What about the microclimate?
No, not in the team. And with the physical and chemical characteristics of the air in the office?
The problem is that in good and very good offices Moscow is usually warm, dry and low in oxygen. Why? A cultural habit, or such are the typical settings of the ventilation and air conditioning system, or the climate, when for 9 months a year either heating or air conditioning works.
Let's consider in more detail. Air temperature.
Normal, stimulating active brain activity, temperature - up to + 21C.
A typical office temperature - above + 23 ° C - is ideal for falling asleep, but not for work.
For comparison: in the offices of Shanghai, Singapore, the UAE, etc. by our standards it’s pretty cool - less than + 20C.
Relative humidity.
Typical office humidity, especially when operating an air conditioner or heating, is less than 50%.
Normal for a healthy person: 50-70%.
Why is it important? With reduced humidity in the airways, the rheology of the mucus changes (it dries up), local immunity decreases and, therefore, the susceptibility to respiratory infections increases.
One humidifier in the office saves at least one working week spent in the fight against SARS (in terms of a year).
About carbon dioxide. With an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide, the central nervous system of a person is gradually inhibited and it falls asleep. Why is there a lot of it in offices? Because airing and conditioning are two different things. And the first often does not work.
The second question. Water.
Water-salt balance is a very significant factor in the functioning of the brain and the whole organism. 80% of the droppers that are placed in hospitals in the world are water-salt solutions. And it helps.
Most offices have drinking water, although not always.
But there are nuances. Psychological and cultural.
Imagine: the cooler is in the next office, five meters away.
This is problem? Yes.
People sitting near the cooler consider the water “their own”, due to a genetically determined habit of protecting their source from outsiders. Therefore, a trip of five meters - this is stress for the thirsty, and an extra reason for aggression for the "guardians". And so begins the confrontation of departments, genetically determined.
Cultural nuance. In Russia, it is not customary to drink water. A person who drinks water causes intense interest: something is wrong with him. To drink tea, coffee is normal. No water.
However, coffee and tea have a clear diuretic effect - that is, they effectively remove water from the body. As a result: the more coffee without water, the worse the brain works. Although American and European habits of carrying water with you, not only for fitness, but also for meetings, are gradually taking root.
Conclusion: water should be freely available to all and without “custodians”.
The third question. Where can you eat?
The topic is so obvious how poorly solved.
I don’t want to go into the features of a healthy diet, but the points that most experts agree with are the following:
- eat often and little by little;
- sweets are not the basis of a healthy diet;
- thinking is an energy-intensive process.
A typical Moscow “decision” looks like this: in 15 minutes there is a cafe / dining room / restaurant where there is a business lunch and lines. There are “cookies” and sweets in the office, and what the employees brought with them. But you can’t eat at the workplace, and there is nowhere to have breakfast and dinner.
Compare the "standard solution" with the theses above. Not beating.
Google's research clearly says: access to healthy food within 150 feet of the workplace is a factor that significantly improves staff satisfaction and performance.
We add from Russian experience: ordering food for a couple of hundred rubles per employee per day (excluding corporate discounts) gives an increase of an hour and a half to their employees, active work.
Know-how.At one Russian IT company, breakfast stopped serving at exactly 9-50 in the morning, and dinner began at exactly seven. Obviously, how this has affected discipline.
The fourth question. Do you see the sun?
Example: Skolkovo, Technopark.
A sample and standard of office and innovative design.
However, in half of the offices, the windows face the indoor atrium.
And for a quarter of a year, half of the workers in the Technopark do not see the sun in the morning (it’s not yet risen), in the evening (it’s already set) and in the afternoon (if they don’t smoke).
Why is it important? Lack of sunshine is a lack of melatonin. The fastest manifestations: decreased activity, self-esteem, mood and the development of dysphoria.
Conclusion: closed balconies, verandas and roofs - interfere with productivity. But walks at lunch - quite a raise for her.
By the way, can I go with you?
In the office, down the hall, down the street? Can I get up at meetings?
These are questions not only about physical fitness.
For insights, insights, intuition and creativity are responsible "kinesthetic" brain regions, the same as for movement.
Roughly speaking: in the movement, “catching an idea” is much easier, as well as “utilizing” excess stress hormones.
Is it possible to move the desktop?
Swap places without the authority of management?
Sitting not at the table, but somewhere else?
This phenomenon works here: a change in the point of view on the office space - often changes the point of view on the subject of thinking. And the view of the horizon is better than the view of the wall: looking at the wall rarely leads to global thoughts.
Is it possible to sit in such a way that there is no one behind?
Someone behind - increases anxiety and brings burnout closer.
And do not get away from this - again, genetically determined.
Is it really important to see an employee’s monitor if it has a mobile?
Here we come closer to the concept of “personification of the workplace” .
A personalized workplace (or office), decorated with toys, amulets, books, posters and three monitors, is a sign of involvement and the development of a work-life balance. And clean and tidy tables - on the contrary.
We mention noise in one line .
Here are the standards: https://base.garant.ru/4174553/ . You need to look at Table 2.
Last question. Can you sleep at work?
It still sounds provocative. But not always and not everywhere.
There will be a separate article on this subject based on the materials of our special study.
So, here are 7 main factors that determine the working environment:
1. Air.
2. Water.
3. The food.
4. The sun.
5. Mobility.
6. Personification of jobs.
7. The noise level.
The solution to these simple and “everyday” issues is often enough to increase friendliness, responsiveness, development of a “team spirit” and a good basis for starting the implementation of something wonderful, for example, PRINCE2.
Work environment management as a system process.
The concept is simple: there are factors that impede work - they must be gradually leveled, there are factors that contribute to work - they must be turned on and gradually activated.
And there is an almost universal and systemic mechanism:
- regular (at least quarterly) staff surveys;
- the choice of (at least one) that will make the life of employees better;
- implementation of the decision;
- improvement of the implemented solution.
About cost economics. The solution to any of the problems described leads to an increase in labor productivity and return, which is many times more than the cost of implementation. All of these are extremely attractive investment projects.
And market and industry leaders have proven that.