This probably shouldn’t surprise anyone, but I like to think in operational terms. No strategy will ever work if it can’t be supported by the everyday operational reality. No operation will ever succeed if it isn’t in support of the strategy. This is all pretty 101 for workplace realities.
Where things get more challenging is when thinking about static vs. dynamic possibilities for how to run workplace operations. It is SO easy to fall into static mode when delivering workplace operations. The coffee needs to be refilled three times a week. Supplies are ordered once a month. There are always exactly 100 desks that can be used. Townhalls are held quarterly. Financials are closed monthly. OHS reports are due bi-monthly. Tickets must be resolved within a business day. The fixed calendar can quickly come to dominate the day-to-day.
Yet, the employee experience of the workplace is dynamic. Employees are usually not on a fixed schedule, leading to different people in different desks every time they come in. The vibe of the office is different depending on the day of the week. They want to use the space based on their day, which probably doesn’t look the same as the last few times they were in the office. They dynamically experience the office because they do not run off a fixed calendar routine.
This tension between often static operations versus a dynamic employee experience can lead to decisions that try to make the experience static as well. It is easy for real estate people to try and fit employees into neat boxes that play nice within the workplace as it is designed, but that is no reflection of the real world.
Let’s look at the humble “desk” that is still the core of almost every office. In most modern offices, the average desk is unassigned and either booked through an app, temp assigned based on the day, or treated first-come-first-served. On any given day, a different person is potentially sitting at this desk with different arrival and departure times. Many (most?) days, this desk is nothing more than a central hub for its occupant who moves between amenities, conference/meeting rooms, break room, and collaboration areas based on their calendar and meetings. Yet, if the desk does not have typical monitors, power, and accessories, it will be rejected by most occupants except on the busiest of days. The central space of the office is dynamically utilized. All booked spaces will tend to see the same types of dynamic behaviors.
Yet, the desk is often treated statically in workplace programs and designs. It is assigned to a fixed neighborhood or block of space. A static definition can lead to static operations for a space that needs to be dynamic. This static definition often leads to a workplace team choosing technology that matches the description of the space on paper, but not for how employees actually use it. It leads to metrics that show generic occupancy, but not engagement with the space. It can lead to many small problems that, over time, add up to larger problems.
Any given issue, is simple enough to overcome. But applying static operational mindsets to dynamic areas can lead to long-term misalignments that seemingly come out of nowhere.
How we think about a space is often how we treat that space. Our mental framework takes hold, and we don’t stop to realize the limitations it puts on us.
What does this mean for you? Mainly, it pays to be introspective and to think about everything through both a dynamic and static lens. Anything rarely is all one or the other. The best results can come from outcomes that balance both worlds.