The second lesson of ten I’d like to share with you is the importance of the work environment. I’m sure you won’t be surprised if I say that creating the right work environment matters. One of my goals in business has always been to own a cool office space, something which people are really proud of; where staff and clients want to spend time. Whilst this takes time and money to create, I’ve always insisted we can build the best environment and create this as we evolve our culture. In doing this, in taking our time it’s provided an opportunity to understand the importance of various aspects of the working environment, understanding the whole piece.

What does ‘environment’ actually mean? Is it just furniture, decor and artwork? It’s actually more complicated. It’s also individual to your business. And, no surprises, it all comes back to people. Which types of people do we want to have in our business? This is the question we need to ask ourselves before attempting to built the environment which suits those people.

There’s a theory there are two types of people, one who require a stick and carrot, rewards to work hard; and then the other type of person who simply want to work, they gain self-satisfaction from a hard days work. Ideally in my business I wanted a person who wants to work, has the right ethic and values however enjoys a workplace which provides incentives to push themselves to their full potential.

Once we are clear on the type of person we want in the business, we can begin to build the environment to attract and retain them. The environment is often understood to be simply about the look of the space, the physical aspects; furniture, plant life, benefits etc. This however is only a piece of the puzzle, management style, communication protocol, ethos etc are also a big part of the work environment we set.

Understanding that the work environment is far more than just free food and beanbags, there is a whole lot more that goes into building the right environment. So in summary my second lesson in ten years of business is deciding which types of people we want in our business then building the right environment to suit those people.

Thank you for reading, I hope you are enjoying these short videos and blogs. I’ll share more with you over the coming weeks. If you haven’t read or seen my first video please view it here

Image provided by 4D Workshop, showcasing their Melbourne workspace http://www.4dworkshop.com.au/