The environment has a huge impact on how we feel, think and behave. When we understand the role the environment plays, we can begin to use it to boost human performance.
Think of it as a tool. As something that can help people do their work better, on their own and with others. More than merely the stuff we can see and touch, this tool shapes the intangible. You can talk to people through space. You can use space to bring them together. You can show how much you trust people by letting them choose where they want to work.
The old myopic view of the office has been challenged. Increasingly more organisations agree that the environment can enable collaboration, facilitate quick information exchange, and deepen connections to purpose and values. No more the cubicle containing a 9-to-5 of drudgery, the physical environment is a strategic weapon, right under your nose.
Yet there are still countless examples of hot-desking initiatives that go wrong, or breakout areas bombing. Why is this? It comes down to an outside-in, rather than an inside-out, approach. If you take another organisation’s success and expect it to work in your own, the result is hit-and-miss at best. Instead, understand what people need to do in order to deliver on your business goals. Then design the experiences you want people to have, linking them to the values and behaviours you want to see.
So how does space impact innovation?
Power to Heal
Countless studies have proven the physiological effect that our surroundings have upon us. The sight of nature through a window can increase recovery rates of patients. Plants in the office reduce the stress levels of workers and aid concentration1.
Feel Good Space
Some spaces can make us feel happy. Bright colours and natural light can lift spirits. They can also signal change, as David Cowland describes in his article2. Noisy, overcrowded spaces with artificial lights and dull decor do little to disguise the stress of work. Access to natural daylight is an environmental hygiene issue. Take it away, and watch stress-related illness and poor performance soar.
Space to Think
Space impacts our brains. Exposure to environments that are ‘enriched’ with visual interest nurture brain plasticity. That is, increase our brain’s ability to change and learn. Also, a sense of spaciousness and movement affect how safe people feel. These brain states are essential for creativity. When you feel safe, you can explore more than one solution. Space also enhances productivity. Performance in an enriched space is 17% better than a ‘lean’, sparce one. What’s more, empowering people to choose their own setting almost doubles the impact3.
Collision Chambers
Distance between people can help or hinder efforts to cooperate. If you want to increase the amount people communicate, move them closer together. People located a distance of 18m from each other will interact twice as much as those further away4. Face-to-face interaction remains the most rich of all forms of communication. In these situations, we pick up non-verbal cues and develop trusting working relationships.
People can and do collaborate over distance, of course, using whatever technologies they have available. Yet, on the whole, communication is less social and more focused on the topic at hand. It tends to be more planned, and less ambiguous. But it is also more likely to contain misunderstandings than being together.
The challenge of distance is in defining the most appropriate mechanisms for communication. As rule of thumb, colocate people who need to talk to each other, and those who might benefit from chance encounters.
Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has created a strategic goal to emphasise the importance of bumping into people: ‘Return on Collisions’. It is the number interactions someone has in any given hour in a defined physical space. Research which shows that most innovation comes from the application of something outside your industry to your own.
Shape Behaviours
Anyone who has visited New York more than twenty years ago will know that it was not a safe place to be. You wouldn’t dare venture into Alphabet City or the Meat Packing District. Now, these are two of the most vibrant and affluent parts of Manhattan.
During the 1990s, there was a huge effort to clean up the city. Graffiti was scrubbed from subways, broken windows in run-down areas were fixed. Critics complained that this effort was wasteful of public money. The authorities should be going after the bad guys. But something surprising happened. The clean-up of the city sent out a signal that these places were cared for. If even small acts of vandalism weren’t tolerated, nor then, were more serious acts. The result? Violent crime declined by 56%. 5 I’m not suggesting that your workplace is rife with crime! But why not inject some collective responsibility for the care of the environment? Then watch a sense of citizenship grow.
Mobilise Communities
In the wake of the 2014 Istanbul riots, another great example of the power of the environment was born. More an intention to ‘make people smile’ than accidental activism, a retired forestry engineer did something unusual. He spent 4 days and £700 to paint stairs that connect two neighbourhoods in the colours of a rainbow.
Almost overnight, he woke to find the stairs had been hastily painted a dull concrete grey by the authorities. Outrage sparked though social media. Before the government could right their wrong, communities came together to paint the rainbow back. Over the coming weeks, many other colourful variations popped up across the city. The message of positive solidarity in the face of adversity was undeniable.
Make Space Matter
The environment we place ourselves in has the power to heal. It has the power to help us remember and learn. And it can shape our behaviour. So, then, do you think that our workplaces, where we spend most of our waking lives, might have an impact on peoples’ happiness and performance? Of course.
We can use the environment in our workspaces to affect people in positive ways: physically, neurologically, emotionally, socially. When you begin to understand the power of the environment, you can find ways to use it as a tool for change. It doesn’t need to cost a fortune. Small changes can have a big impact.
Before investing in a space change, pause to think about both the tangible and intangible elements of the environment you’re creating. Take time to consider the ambience and meaning of your space – as well as how you arrange the physical stuff. Do this, and your spaces can yield palpable results in output and engagement.
