Seeking Sustainability Through Office Renovation? Address Arising Issues With a Collaboration Session Classic
In this post-COVID era companies are having to make some tough decisions to make it on the path toward sustainable growth. Many have had to implement more digital technologies to do what they have always done faster and cheaper. The development of new teams such as the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion group and the Environmental, Social and Governance team have surfaced in corporations around the global. A large number of companies are targeting waste including in the area of real estate. With all of these changes new challenges are bound to come up. The revamping of real estate is where you may be affected the most.
Let’s say that your company has determined that a move or an office renovation is necessary to cut costs. In the case of a renovation, you may find yourself working from home yet again for the next few months until it is complete. You may come back happy to be in an office setting again only to wonder where they moved your office. Eventually, you come to find out that instead of having an office you now have to work from an open workspace and it turns out that you’re not the only one. The current lay out is making it very uncomfortable and difficult to work. In conversations with your fellow colleagues you learn that no one is really content with this new office concept. There must be some way to organize the staff so that so that everyone can feel comfortable and productivity is not hindered
How can we identify the issues regarded as the most challenging about this situation and find solutions? I’d recommend doing a collaboration session that you no doubt have heard me mention before called an LDJ. The acronym LDJ stands for Lightening Decision Jam. It’s made up of three specific exercises, is highly adaptable and can be used for so many things such as:
Problem solving
Tricky decision making
Brainstorming
Retrospectives
Trouble shooting unclear situations
The LDJ Classic starts with the Sailboat exercise that will first focus on the things that are actually work well with the above mentioned situation. There’s got to be at least a few positive things that can said for having an open concept at the workplace. Next, the problems with it would be brought up and likely there would be much for people to say. After everyone has got their complaints off their chest in a timely manner of course, it’s time to ideate some solutions to the difficulties of the new setup with 10 for 10, a quick and easy brainstorming exercise. It’s one of my favorites. After voting and choosing the best ideas prioritizing them is accomplished through Action Board and the solutions are assigned to be carried out and reviewed by a certain date. You may think this would take entire day to complete but it can actually be done in about an hour and a half. If you have any questions about this series of exercises, feel free to ask me below. In the meantime, happy collaboration!