Enhancing the working environment: The Power of One has just begun

When I first started at RB back in July, our office layout was the stereotypical expanse of cubicles that one might expect in any larger corporation building.
I didn’t mind this so much, except for the fact that I am an extreme extrovert and get energized from interacting with others. Being in a cubicle behind 4 beige partitions hidden from the sunlight and the world is not my idea of an inspiring working environment. I also do not like interacting solely by email or phone, and in fact, I would find reasons to get in front of those with whom I was working, as I found that we were exponentially more productive and creative when we could interact in person.

The other challenge was that the people, both those on our immediate team and those on cross-functional teams, were not necessarily situated close to you, meaning that you would spend more time walking around the office than you wanted only to find that the person you needed wasn’t in his or her ‘cube’.

The RB management had clearly identified this issue as well, and had already initiated its “Power of One” plan to literally break down the walls separating co-workers and improve our productivity, thereby taking our company culture to the next level.

Just last week, our brand teams were relocated down a few floors as the company renovates our office space with a new open floor plan.
Our temporary “holding pen” has a similar, more open floor plan layout, allowing for more visibility of other people, more access to fellow team-mates and resources, and more overall productivity.
I am now sitting very close to all of my immediate team members, which makes everything from the asking of a question to the collaboration on a project that much quicker and simpler.

I have read before about the successful implementation of such floor plans leading to positive changes in advertising and social media agencies, so I am excited about what this “revolution” in the layout of our working environment will yield for us in the coming year.
As a strong believer in face-to-face interaction among colleagues, I suspect that this change will result in not only increased productivity but higher morale among RB employees.