Q. How can a leader create a casual work environment?
It’s just the way the physical space is set up. We have workspaces where there are maybe four people working in a space together. We have dividers, but it’s not like a normal cube. It stimulates conversation between people.
So, just setting up the physical space. Our previous space had a pool table and Pop-A-Shot, which people didn’t actually play them very much, but it felt cool and more comfortable and casual.
We have, once a month, an innovation jam where we just invite the whole company to come and sit around on couches and just talk about cool stuff they’ve seen or they’ve done. It’s not totally free form. A lot of times, we will put forth a specific topic to have them thinking about.
It’s just time for everybody to step back from their work and sit around in a more social way and talk about cool stuff.
We will take ideas from the group if they want to establish something to do (that’s) extracurricular. Someone suggested having a yoga morning. So, we found a yoga instructor that would come in on Wednesday mornings and lead a yoga class. It’s cheaper than if they did it at a fitness studio or something like that, so we’re helping subsidize it a little bit. This is a way for people to get together. It’s been great because people from different teams from inside the office, different workgroups, are doing that together.
Q. What is the benefit to having a casual work environment?
It’s a difficult balance for sure. We like having a casual work environment because people are more social, there are definitely a lot of friendships that have emerged through it.
I think people feel like they can speak openly and there is a lot of trust. So, the balance is that, as we grow, we also need some more structure and systems in order to just manage the workflow and provide a feeling of stability inside the company, as well.
We employ a lot of younger people, so having a more social, casual work environment, I think stimulates a lot of creativity and camaraderie.
We really encourage our staff to be active and try to locate emerging trends. We encourage people to do extracurricular things and arts or culture because it really helps. Being out there and seeing what’s happening in some of these cultural and artistic communities really helps us build better programs for our clients and infusing new trends into our programs.
How to reach: All Terrain Inc., (312) 421-7672 or www.allterrain.net