Most workers across the world spend up to 8 hours a day sitting in their desks or at their designated workplaces. Traditionally, employers have been investing in ergonomic office chairs and tables in a bid to make workplaces comfortable. In the modern office, however, employees are creating dynamic workplaces that give employees the flexibility to work from their preferred part of the office, at their own pleasure, rather than being tied down to a rigid desk.
Understanding Dynamic Working
Dynamism at the workplace recognizes that different employees are talented and skilled differently and that different people are optimally productive at different times of the day. It focuses more on an employee’s output and less on the number of hours worked. For as long as an employee plays his part in helping the company achieve its vision, it really doesn’t matter the technology he used or the time of the day he worked.
The concept of dynamic workplace has been actualized by technology. Employees are now able to log on to a remote computer and work from home just as effectively as they’d have done in the office. This allows employees enough free time to attend to their personal business without compromising their responsibilities at work.
But what are the pros and cons of this new development?
3 Pros of a Dynamic Workplace
1. Increased employee retention
As a corporate leader, one of your primary objectives should be to create a workplace where each employee wants to come to every day and never wants to leave. A dynamic workplace achieves this by relieving employees off the pressure of meeting deadlines and goals. It focuses more on facilitating employees set and meet their professional goals, and in the process achieve the company goals. Employees celebrate personal and professional milestones, they share happy moments together, they bond, and they mingle with their seniors freely. The leadership creates situations that cultivate togetherness and the feeling of family among team members. As a result, team loyalty increases, productivity levels rise, the employees feel happier, and employee retention increases. In case that does not work either here’s some tips on how to deal with anxiety at work. The company’s reputation as a dream workplace for most professionals in the industry leads to the top talents wanting to join your company.
2. Better workplace relationships
Dynamism enhances communication and knowledge exchange at the workplace. Not being tied down to a desk allows employees to have serendipitous meetings with other colleagues and interact at a more personal level. There is also a smoother flow of ideas between different departments when employees interact freely. And in the case of open-plan offices, employees find it easier to see each other and exchange friendly gestures. All these lead to a happy and healthy workforce. Research shows that good workplace relationships builds a sense of loyalty amongst peers, colleagues are able to look after one another, and everyone feels the commitment to perform well. Employees are also able to find better work-life balance, which is vital for optimal productivity. More over by investing in regular cleans or having a clean and neat environment, this will only add up to their productivity. Additionally this can also be attributed to the morning meetings that people have in the office kitchen. Coffee, morning chatter, catch up with each other’s business progress, is an integral part of building better workplace relationships. In fact, it makes sense to have a comfortable space that is available to everyone. And the good thing is that it is not that hard to assemble one. Nowadays, there are Ready-to-Assemble kitchen cabinets that can be put in the kitchen within the day, so no fuss is created in the office.
3. Easier rotation
Job rotation in low-sensitive positions curbs low productivity and stagnation. It challenges employees to learn more and acquire new skills, which in turn prevents them from coasting and boredom. It challenges employees to innovate and change constantly.
As much as rotation is important, many corporate leaders are unable to rotate employees who are keen on protecting their status quo than on growing professionally. These employees build networks during their time in 4-walled offices and use those networks to create roadblocks against change.
This is not the case in a dynamic office. When an employee interacts freely with colleagues from other departments, he/she stops being skeptical about change. Such an employee appreciates the need for cross-training; the need to learn new skills for higher future potential. That makes your rotation task a little easier.
Cons of a Dynamic Workplace
1. Communication challenges
In a case where employees work remotely and have to telecommute via their home computers, organizing meetings becomes a bit tricky. Thanks to teleconferencing and videoconferencing technologies, however, this challenge is gradually fading away.
2. Noise
When employees move freely in the office, noise distraction is almost inevitable. The good thing is that you can install soundproofing materials in the office to absorb the noise. You can, for example, install an acoustic board under your carpet to eliminate the noise reflection effect of hard surface floors such as wood.
3. Depletion of individuality
From a worker’s perspective, cross-training in a dynamic workplace makes you easily replaceable. Anybody in the office can take your job. Besides, focusing too much on collective success can easily deplete your individual ambitions.
Conclusion
Primarily, building a dynamic work environment is a great way of harnessing the talents and skills of every employee in your team. However, it is important to appreciate that there isn’t a perfect office environment. Before you adopt a dynamic workforce structure, be sure to weigh the potential downsides of such a move.
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