Recently one of our team members attended the SMPS (Society for Marketing Professional Services) monthly luncheon and heard a panel talk about trends in company culture, innovation, design and Chicago real estate are how they are informing companies in developing office space.
It was a wide-ranging discussion formed around a powerful case study from local startup-turned-success, ContextMedia. The importance they place on creativity, talent-retention and productivity made their process to develop a new downtown office an enthralling story. The 80 attendees ate a great lunch at the East Bank Club and listened to the SMPS moderator, the development team and a successful Chicago entrepreneur talk and answer questions.
Panelists:
Mandy Graham, Design Strategist, Gensler Chicago
Pat Flavin, Executive Director of MATTER
Brad Serot, SVP, CBRE
Shradha Agarwal, Co-Founder/Chief Strategy Officer, ContextMedia
Moderator:
Steven H. Bernstein, Director – Workplace Solutions, Faithful+Gould
While one could write pages on the soundbites that sprawled across many issues, this inspired quote from Ms. Agarwal spontaneously became the headline that drove discussion:
“Physical space is a manifestation of mental space”
This quote came from summarizing how ContextMedia effectively used their own employees and processes to design their work environment. In other words, an effective workspace must represent the way employees work in their own minds – be it focused, flowing, stationary, linearly, etc. If company culture is derived from the type of employees an organization hires and the workplace environment supported by the policies or workflow – and it is - then an “innovative” office space isn’t just an aesthetic designed by an on-trend architect, but an organic construct of the way people want and need to work.
It was a departure from the frequent talk of innovative “best-practice” design and became an intricate discovery about how CEOs need to understand their team and business workflow to inform what innovation means to them.
Throughout the event, the panelists spoke to other issues in the CRE and start-up industries. Here those key takeaways:
- There is a trend toward simulation work areas being built-in next to R&D spaces. Being able to quickly test a product/service has the ability to save time and money.
- Studies show that the best ideas come to employees outside of the conference room – and the c-suite needs to recognize and plan for that.
- A comfortable space has the power to induce creative thinking, although spaces should be practical in the sense that it supports productivity. For example, lounges should have methods by which employees can immediately record or show ideas (white boards, projectors, etc)
- The fight for talent is the biggest issue facing Chicago entrepreneurs
- Some employers are moving toward making the employees’ lives easier (onsite laundry, daycare, haircuts, etc.) – anything to invest the worker in the office and attract talent.
- There is a shift in decision making from real estate professionals to HR and/or Marketing for office accessories. HR/Marketing may spend more on items like furniture because they see it less as a strategic choice and a value-added benefit to support how their employees work.
- Fulton Market and River West are the hottest properties in the city. Likewise, it is harder to find suitable properties in River North. The “soul-crushing” high-rises are becoming harder to sell and demand more attention in terms of design updates.
- Start-ups choose Chicago for many reasons:
- They have a Chicago story to tell when marketing their product or service
- There is a perceived value in the community work ethic of Midwesterners
- 30-40% cheaper spaces than either coast
- Good talent
- Good Univerisities nearby
We’d love to read your comments on office design. Is there something in your current office that’s particularly effective for you? As a manager, how would you reconcile the needs of your employees with the needs of the business to create an inspiring workplace design?