What Kind of Culture Do You Want at Work?

How many movies or shows center around the office? I mean, The Office! And the number of jokes, all about gathering around the watercooler.

We spend so much time at work that we even hear about “work wives,” “work husbands,” or the “work family,” referring to colleagues we work with so closely they feel like family. None of this is surprising when we consider the significant proportion of time we spend pursuing our livelihoods.

Corporations, for their part, often spend significant resources to foster a productive, effective culture where people want to be. I have not yet met anyone who wants to work at The Office in real life, no matter how amusing it can be to watch the show.

What makes a culture a place where you want to work?

Responses vary, especially now that the workplace can more often extend to a room in your home or the corner coffee shop. We all contribute to shaping the office environment, but generally, someone, or a whole department, creates policies that define the working environment.

Organizations have been modifying their approaches, depending on what seems to be working, what other organizations in their community are doing, and their organization’s values.

There is a wide range of possibilities, from highly defined numbers of vacation days and working from a physical office five days a week, to a work-from-anywhere approach with as many vacation days as you would like to take, while you can fulfil workplace responsibilities.

If there is significant potential for flexibility, some organizations have leaned on surveys or other feedback tools to determine policies. 

With the quick pace of any workplace, it is tough to have the resources to determine what is working and what needs to change for stronger progress to mission with a culture that works for everyone in the organization.

D-sides has been working with organizations in this often resource-intensive and important exercise of creating a human-centered workplace culture where people can work to their potential. We are happy to share the lessons we have learned along the way.  Reach out and let’s talk about it!