danhilton’s posterous

A product of your environment

A recurring theme in many of the offices / companies I've been involved in has been the quality and atmosphere of the offices that I've worked in.

Some people (and companies) don't pay too much attention to them, opting for the cheapest / simplest choice at time of need, which I believe is a classic false economy. When working with online projects, you're dealing with a wide range of skill sets and problems; some of which are creative fluffy ones and some that are hard crunchy ones. These both require different types of people and different types of environments. Some things are a given though and for the benefit of anyone building a creative online office space I give you a brief list of key performance indicators to get right:

1. Beverages - Coffee must be strong and / or of good quality. Tea must range from PG / Tetleys to 'crazy' tea - Lapsing / Green tea etc. You need a water cooler. Do not get a constant heating urn - your staff need that 5 - 10 minutes break to defocus and gain some perspective on what it is they're struggling with.
2. Ergonomics - Don't scrimp on chairs nor monitors, your staff can't work for you without their eyes and backs. Provide a decent set-up process as part of their induction. Ergonomics and health & safety is not a joke - it's the law and it shows that you do care about them as individuals more than just the economic value they provide to the organisation.
3. Noise - A noisy office can be a great creative powerhouse of fantastic ideas; don't let it become a common room of banality. Let people wear earphones, be tolerant of random conversations and not afraid to poke their nose into a conversation if they have something of value to add.
4. Art - Is a very dangerous area. If you impose it on people, they will resent it if it is seen to be expensive; if you decline it you run the risk of having no soul. Best option? Let people decide what they want on their walls, have an art office team to go and seek ideas and maybe even commission themselves. But no nudity OK?
5. Whiteboards - Big, lots and in places where people can gather and stare at them. Whether it's notices, new data models or just drawing stick people they help people communicate ideas and work through them with others.
6. Dresscode - nothing ripped and nothing with swear words, otherwise your free to go I say. You may find that the types of people you employ will impose upon themselves a herd dress code - I heard of a local agency that has had to start having a cowboy day as so many employees turn up in check shirts.
7. Perks - Be different, but useful & relevant: free snacks are great but not if they are full of fat and sugar. Encourage cyclescheme, gym membership, cultural engagement and family time - flextime is a great one for this. Give random acts of kindness, that way the perk is always noticed. Different professions have weird perk cultures; sales is the obvious outlier with incentives and performance related pay at the heart of the remuneration package.

In short, as others have said, "Talent makes capital dance."  If you want to retain talent, you better make sure they can dance. For more inspiration:

This ain't no disco | blog about agency studios