Capitalizing on Positive Office Culture

by Julia Kicinski

To a visitor entering an office space for the first time, the atmosphere on the surface may appear deceptively studious. Outsiders aren't likely to witness the rubber bands occasionally sailing across the room or the lighthearted roasting that accompanies brainstorming sessions. This interaction between employees reflects an aspect of what is known as office culture. How a culture presents itself varies from company to company, but maintaining a positive office culture improves employee retention, helps workers stay engaged, and encourages innovation.

Company cultures typically fall under one of four broad categories: clan culture, hierarchy culture, adhocracy culture, and market culture. No one culture is necessarily better than another, but each has its own set of pros and cons. Interestingly, company culture is often reflected in office layout, decor, and amenities, which can combine to directly influence the health of the culture. Here are some thoughts on how to use the physical office space to capitalize on positive office culture. These ideas are geared toward the main culture types, but can easily be adapted to fit your specific culture.

Clan Culture

If you've walked into a relaxed office full of chatty, mischievous employees, you may have happened upon a clan culture. A clan culture has a family atmosphere, an environment that many employees and employers alike value in an office space where collaboration is key to project completion. This type of culture is most common in smaller companies where most of the employees know each other. Careful attention to office space can encourage continuation of this comfortable informality without sacrificing work quality and output.

Create a collaborative workspace

Maintaining a traditional workspace in a culture where coworkers inevitably just hang over their cubicle partitions to chat can be both difficult and counterproductive. Although you don't want to lose that close familial bond by requiring employees to remain in separate spaces, you also risk sending the message that socializing is preferable to working if you remove focused work areas. However, setting up your office space with an open or hybrid floor plan can allow team members to continue relationship building while working without the added distractions that occur when they step away from their desks. A small lounge area would be beneficial for informal meetings, but also add open tables and maneuverable white boards that indicate to your employees that conversation while they work is acceptable. In short, if your employees like to hang out, let them!

Customize decor

Take advantage of your informal office space by adding in creative ways to recognize team accomplishments. Camaraderie can easily be taken too far in a clan culture, leading to an unintentional decline in respect for leaders and a subsequent loss of focus on work output and quality. Work to eliminate this tendency by finding ways to demonstrate leadership boundaries without sacrificing the jovial atmosphere. For example, a strategically placed dry erase board in your open layout can double as a progress board to keep focus on upcoming goals or projects and as a doodle board for puns and cartoons. Encouraging themed decor for events such as holidays and birthdays paves the way for celebrating team milestones with a small office party or other fun event when a long-term goal is accomplished.

Hierarchy Culture

A hierarchy culture is probably the most common, or at least the most traditional, in a business world. In complete opposition to the way a clan culture operates, this type of environment is very structured, with (as the title suggests) a hierarchy of employees each fulfilling a particular role or job description. Hierarchy cultures tend to leave little room for flexibility in the workplace, instead following a set way of accomplishing tasks that has been proven to work well. Positive aspects of a hierarchy culture can be strengthened by balancing expectations set by the office environment with available amenities.

Build a structured workspace

You can spot a hierarchy culture a mile away. The most effective office layout for this type of environment will likely include private work stations where employees can concentrate on their individual tasks with minimal distractions. Managers may have offices in the back to separate them from the rest of the staff. This structured workspace emphasizes the firm expectations of how to perform the job, but can still be adapted according to individual preferences. For instance, implementing an open-door policy for managers can foster a more approachable environment without eliminating the effective hierarchy structure.

Offer a relaxing break area

An unfortunate byproduct of a quiet cubicle office is that there will be some days when you don't even realize a person is working that day until they pop out at break time. Hierarchy cultures sometimes get a bad rap for losing sight of employees plugging away at their hidden desks and taking the efficiently completed work for granted. A simple way to combat the possibility of employees feeling forgotten is to offer a well-furnished break room with comfortable furniture and quality appliances. An old, rarely cleaned refrigerator or a microwave with only half the buttons working suggests that employees are overlooked and under-appreciated.

A nicely furnished break room can also eliminate feelings of segregation common in a structured workplace. A basic break area with a large number of small, empty tables will prompt employees to sit alone quietly reading or browsing social media rather than seeking out coworkers. Lighten up the area with rugs, inspiring plaques, or fun brand-related decor like a wall clock. Try offering some larger tables and a comfortable seating area to encourage conversation. You could also add some interactive elements like a doodle board or community jigsaw puzzle to help coworkers build community.

Adhocracy Culture

When you walk into an office with an adhocracy culture, you'll likely be met with a wave of contagious energy. An adhocracy culture is filled with creative individuals who thrive off of chasing innovation. This office space will likely be very fast-paced while employees think ahead to next steps, take risks as they experiment with the best ideas, and relentlessly work to complete the tasks at hand before a new project comes to light. You can promote and protect that creative energy with a few small adjustments to your office space that can make a huge difference to your dedicated employees.

Design an inspiring office environment

Away with drab! One risk associated with an adhocracy culture is employee burnout, and your employees really will experience burnout if they have to sit in boring, colorless cubicles for the entirety of their workday. Provide your employees with an environment that will spark creativity and energize rather than drain them. Incorporate bright colors and fun designs into your decor; perhaps even offer your staff the opportunity to redirect their inspiration and decorate the space themselves. You can strategically incorporate furniture like an accent table or ambient floor lamp to make the office area feel more relaxed. Try adding a gallery wall with a variety of artwork, including pieces by your employees. Another wall could be sticky-note friendly for brainstorming, planning, or unconventional communication—anything to keep the creative juices flowing.

Integrate fun zones

Who doesn't like a chance to have fun at work? Great things are accomplished very efficiently in an adhocracy culture, but employees also benefit from a brain break. Give your staff the chance to break out of work mode by offering activity options in the break room. Activities like board games, video games, a ping pong or foosball table, or a dart board provide a space to expend energy that doesn't require the innovative brainpower associated with their job. An arts and crafts area can offer a no-consequences creative space for calming the nerves and clearing the mind. You could even sponsor an office-wide event like a cookout; just make sure to work it into your busy office schedule so that the staff can attend without feeling guilty about stepping away from work. These fun reprieves will prepare employees to return to work refreshed and ready to continue producing amazing ideas.

Market Culture

In a market culture, office employees are very results driven and performance oriented. Employees follow sensitive deadlines, set individual goals for themselves, and are often rewarded for individual accomplishments in the way of commission or other forms of profit sharing. Combat the possibility of interpersonal conflict by facilitating a space that emphasizes team productivity.

Add team work areas

It's a lot harder to get mad at somebody for beating your personal performance record when it's a buddy sitting next to you rather than a faceless name on a computer screen. Just because the office has a competitive atmosphere doesn't mean that coworkers can't also develop a friendly personal network, but that's hard to do in an office space with tall partitions that send "do not disturb" messages to anybody walking past. In addition to your staff's personal work spaces, try offering some collaborative work areas to allow personal interaction. Stools and high tables encourage movement and short conversations, and moveable furniture such as chairs and desks with wheels can keep the workplace from remaining overly separated.

Plan an employee appreciation day (or week!)

Nothing says "I appreciate you" more directly than, well, actually saying, "I appreciate you." When employees are being pushed to the limit to meet goals, they run the risk of stretching things too far and taking an unethical approach to reach those goals. Setting aside a specific day(s) each year to intentionally tell your employees that you value their contributions can combat the feeling of always needing to do more, even to the extreme. At the same time, this event will emphasize the best part of market culture—the mutual benefit of profit sharing that comes with quality work—by recognizing company-wide accomplishments.

Appreciation days are a great time to step away from structure for a little while and participate in fun group games like a scavenger hunt or egg toss. At signmojo.com, we spice up the fun with company corn hole tournaments using custom corn hole boards! Office merch, free food, and contests not related to work all demonstrate a care for your employees themselves as well as the work they do, which contributes to a healthy market culture environment.

Know What Your Office Culture Needs to Thrive

Ultimately, you know your employees and office needs better than anybody else. Strategically creating an office environment that caters to your employees' interests as well as your company goals can make a huge impact on your office culture, effectively eliminating negative aspects of your particular culture and nurturing the positives. A great culture isn't easy to come by; make the most of your resources to keep up the good work!