Furnishing, Furniture and Fun (and Work)

   There are a multitude of things that differentiates one work place from another..decor..posters..post-its.. tidiness (or the lack of it) and last but not the least the people. But how much is the poster of (semi-)naked ladies in the bathroom related to the work culture?

   Recently I had some of my friends over to my office (I work at a start-up company called MoSync ... it has a very high geek density* so its not a normal office) on a Saturday. We were out practicing for our graduation dinner song and later out for a walk , some of us needed to use the loo. My office was a block away so I offered the use of our facilities.

 My workplace is a organized mess of monitors, macbooks, PCs and wires strewn all over the floor. In a sentence, it looks like the environment where people dream up the 'coolest things ever' and deliver the 'hottest selling software...ever' (Ever is an unusually overused word). Our fridge is half filled with things you would eat at breakfast and beers...a Nintendo Wii has a special place of honour in the common area and it has a huge screen to output pure gaming pleasure.

  I realized by the curious look on the faces of some of my friends that their offices looked nothing like this. They were in their own words, 'more standard'. But even then I understood, each of their offices probably has a completely different look and feel to it...and that there is nothing standard about any workplace in Sweden.

  This is an interesting point to start my article from...because it is the middle of the story..it is how Martin Scorsese tells his tales...and I like Scorsese. 

  The work that you are expected to do usually needs to be compensated by a workplace conducive to such work. I am sure the image of the government offices (Indian one's at least) stuck in everyone's minds is an old building, overpopulated with staff who sit around waiting for their next

 cup of tea, but suppose we take the exact same staff and put them in a sparkling new office, where tea is not served to you but is self-serviced...with conference rooms and white boards with targets and a strict office attire. I have a hard time seeing the same people sharpening pencils all day long.

  The point I am trying to make (and maybe have already made) is the amazing yet often unnoticed correlation between office atmosphere and work ethic. Indian offices are changing in their look as you read this blog, but its not as customized as the offices in western countries (in my case Sweden)..they are clean and neat but standard. Computer Engineers love having free beer and Nintendo Wiis, corporate office staff love having communal kitchens and informal Fridays...its not about having a general standard for offices...its about making sure your office has character!!

  So next time you start your company or join a new company, think about what kind of work you want to get done and change the decor accordingly..!! 

Till Next Time..Ciao

Shiv

*Geek Density : Depends on how many people have seen Star Wars (all the movies), atleast one season of Star Trek and have their own views on social media and internet polity vs entire office population.