BEHAVIORAL ARCHITECTS

Random meetings increase the power of innovation The most creative idea does not necessarily arise at your desk – but rather in a random conversation with an acquaintance, colleague or stranger. The research article 'Workspaces That Moves People' by Ben Waber, Jennifer Magnolfi and Greg Lindsay argues that face-to-face interaction is one of the most important activities in an office – and there is a very special reason for this. It is the random conversation between people working in different departments that creates a fertile ground for innovation and creativity. This is also the reason why the layout and design behind the spaces in a company are absolutely essential. Some of the best decisions and insights come from the meeting at the coffee machine or in the canteen – but this also requires that the space leads to conversation. Only a few companies actually measure whether the layout of the spaces has an effect on employee performance, but this is a mistake, according to Waber, Magnolfi and Lindsay. Their research shows that random meetings between employees in a company can improve the performance of the entire organization. The spaces can even be designed to produce specific results – whether it is more sales, innovation or creativity. The office landscape should therefore be considered a strategic tool that can create growth on several parameters. There is therefore much evidence that the office of the future will include multifunctional spaces that create a fertile ground for networking, conversation and a break from the classic division between departments – which will improve performance both horizontally and vertically. Would you like to know more about how the spaces in your company create a fertile ground for favorable conversation? Then do not hesitate to send us an email or call to arrange a coffee meeting. See more evidence Contact us

Can you change your habits? In the article 'To Change a Habit, Get Extreme. Progressively', Nir Eyal provides a good method for how to break bad, old habits and build new, good habits. The method can be used both by large organizations and on an individual level. Building a new habit An easy way to build a new habit is by coding this new habit together with an existing habit. Eyal gives the example that if you want to start taking a vitamin pill every day, you can advantageously place them next to your toothbrush, which is part of your regular routine. Taking a vitamin pill as an extension of the mandatory brushing of your teeth every day contributes to repetition - which works. Repetition works until the behavior eventually becomes automatic and is performed without much thought. Breaking a bad habit There is a lot of literature that suggests that if you want to break an old habit, you should replace it with a new one. Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, gives an example of one of his former bad habits, which was eating cookies. By taking a step back and considering the basis of the habits, he found that it was not the habit itself that gave him satisfaction, but rather what surrounded the habit – in his case, it was the social aspect. However, Nir Eyal has a third method for breaking unwanted habits. He suggests what he calls “progressive extremism,” which works well in situations where it is not possible to replace one habit with another. For most people, it is difficult to break all of your bad habits at once. Therefore, he recommends starting small and working strategically by eliminating the bad habit one at a time. The key here is to start by eliminating the habits that you can easily let go of. Each step should feel almost effortless, but involve something you can be proud to eliminate from your life forever. After a while, you can review the list of things that are no longer a bad habit and reassess whether there are current habits that could be beneficially added to the list of bad habits. Progressive extremism is a slow process that can take years – but on the other hand it is effective, as over a longer period you let go of controlling habits and make letting go a success. Would you like to know more about habits, behavior, space design or are you just curious about what behavioral architecture is? Then don't hesitate to send us an email or call to arrange a coffee meeting. See more evidence Contact us

4-day workweek with Pernille Garde Abildgaard Interview with Pernille Garde Abildgaard At Together Architecture, we work on how companies can optimize their square footage to create the best framework for productivity, social relationships and mental well-being.  But we are also interested in how working hours and structures affect companies. That is why we have had the pleasure of speaking with Pernille Garde Abildgaard, who is an author, lecturer and adviser to companies and organizations in the implementation of a four-day working week. We talked about her company, the positive effects of a shorter work week, and how to best implement this as a company.  Can you tell me a little about yourself? I am originally a journalist, but have been self-employed for the last 10 years. I have always been interested in job satisfaction, and in recent years have published three books on the subject.  The older I've gotten, the more I've become interested in time. It's as if if we don't take control of our own time, it flies out of our hands. This is also why I chose for my company to be called 'TAKE BACK TIME', as I believe that we must take back time. We must not allow it to be constantly stolen by big companies that make a lot of money from capturing our attention. Time is important as it is our most limited resource. At least that's how I see it. We are only here for x number of days in life, and we must use those days wisely. We must spend them on what makes the days exciting. Such as high professionalism, as well as strengthening and maintaining the relationships that make us happy. It is important that we are aware that we are using our time correctly.   Can you tell us a little about your company TAKE BACK TIME? At TAKE BACK TIME, we help companies convert from a 5-day workweek to a 4-day workweek. But we also just help ordinary companies to work smarter, achieve higher focus and have greater job satisfaction. Today, we have helped more than 40 companies convert to a 4-day workweek. How does a 4-day work week work? A 4-day work week is a work week with reduced hours but at the same pay and with higher or the same productivity. This means that some companies can go all the way down to 30 hours, cutting a whole day off. Other companies land in 32, 34, or 36 hours. But it depends a bit on which sector we are dealing with.  Why does it work particularly well? The reason why a 4-day work week works so well is because it brings a number of advantages that benefit both the employer and the employee. We have observed that increased job satisfaction goes hand in hand with increased productivity. By implementing a shorter working week, you increase job satisfaction and thus also productivity. We see that employees achieve more in four days than they previously did in five days. The increased job satisfaction also makes it easier for the company to recruit, associate and retain their employees. In addition, we see that the employees use the extra day off to improve their skills, thereby increasing their skills development. We also see an increase in voluntary work, which can be seen as a strengthening of civil society. Another argument for implementing a shorter working week is from an environmental point of view, as you achieve an energy saving. Both in the form of the company closing down one whole day a week, but also because they provide fewer transport costs for the employees. In general, we see a better work-life balance and a better bottom line. I have yet to see a company that has introduced a four day work week that has lost money on it. After the pandemic, we have gained new insights into working fewer hours, working at home and the importance of job satisfaction. We have also become aware of disturbances and which tasks must be solved on a collective level. We see that a shorter workweek embraces structural and collective solutions in terms of finding methods that make us all more efficient and happier at work.  In addition, we also see that the process towards a four-day workweek will be the biggest and best team building exercise for companies. This is, of course, because when we convert to a four-day working week, we force each other to decide what provides value, which tasks work particularly well and how we avoid wasting time. There are a whole lot of things that make the conversion to a four-day workweek create a whole new culture, and a healthier culture in the workplaces that introduce it. Can you explain how a 4-day work week can increase equality and solve climate problems? Right now we see that there are more companies implementing a shorter work week out of consideration for the climate and the green transition. These are often manufacturing companies. By only working from Monday to Thursday, the company can completely shut down production from Friday to Sunday and thereby save on both energy and transport costs. As for equality, we can see that a 4-day working week frees up time to deal with personal responsibilities such as childcare and household duties. A shorter workweek therefore increases flexibility between the genders, and can also help create a more attractive workplace for women.  Can all businesses benefit from implementing a 4-day work week? It depends a bit on the company's business model. But in general, I would say that most companies would benefit from converting to a four-day workweek. The first thing I always ask when a company comes to me is why they want to implement a four-day workweek. If everything works well, if they don't have problems with recruitment, if they don't have problems with mental attrition, if they don't have problems at all and fight with, then it's a big thing to start with, where are not some problems to be solved. In one way or another, you have to articulate what kind of problem you want to solve.

The Danish Heart Association, Stine McBean Larsen Interview with Stine McBean Larsen. Stine McBean Larsen is Senior HR Development Consultant for the Heart Association and has played a decisive role in driving the transformation of the physical working environment so that it reflects the organization's values ​​and its employees.  What is your ambition as a workplace? As a workplace, we want to be a modern, professional NGO. This means that we would like to be able to attract employees who are interested in working for a stronger purpose. We want to be an organization that works professionally and has good structures and frameworks for how we do things. The thing about being modern, it should be expressed in the experience that it is a contemporary environment. Both in the way we work in the organisation, but also in our office design. In addition, our ambition is to be an agile and cross-organised workplace where there is a strong community. One way this is expressed is by offering our employees a flexible and developmental working life. Can you tell us what the main challenge was for the Heart Association with its previous layout? Before, we had a call center in an office that was physically located in a completely different location. This meant that we had around 70 employees who worked physically elsewhere, and that we were therefore not united as an organisation. We therefore had the experience that the square meters were not really used as they could be. Our main challenge was both that the space was not well optimized, but also that the office was not designed for the needs that we had in the organization. Previously, our office lacked space for community and cross-organisational collaboration. In addition, our premises were not designed to work digitally. The meeting rooms were one of our big challenges. All of our meeting rooms were furnished quite classically with a table, some chairs and a screen, which did not support the various needs. After all, meetings are diverse. Some meetings require a formal set-up with participation via screen, while other meetings require more intimacy and relational support for the conversation in the room. Another example of how the square meters were not used optimally is our old canteen. Before, the canteen was only in use when lunch was served. The room was functional, but it was neither cozy nor aesthetic. It was therefore not a room that anyone wanted to stay in. Specifically, our old work environment did not meet the real work needs that we had. In the Heart Association, we have very different functions and different types of profiles that like different types of furniture and rooms. Our old office didn't care about that aspect at all. What specific changes has the Heart Association, in collaboration with Together Architecture, implemented to address these challenges? We have solved the challenges we had by first and foremost saying goodbye to the old office where we had a call center. We have then chosen to integrate these employees, thus becoming more employees in fewer square meters. In relation to meeting rooms, we have chosen to create more diversity so that we can promote more types of meetings. For example, we have created soft meeting rooms where we have furnished them with armchairs and lamps instead of tables, chairs and screens. In the soft meeting rooms, there is a better opportunity to have one-to-one conversations and well-being talks. We have also got standing meeting rooms for the quick meetings. In addition, we have created a room that we call "the flexible". It is a workshop room where you can also write on the wall and where you can quickly move the furniture around so that you can set up the room for the meeting or workshop in question. The new office provides space for us to be different as people who have different types of work tasks and rhythms. What are the financial conditions underlying the project? The calculation we have made is related to the fact that we have terminated some office facilities, which consisted of our call center, and integrated this into our current office. The money we have saved by not having the extra office, we have spent on the furnishing of the new office. We have been preoccupied with having a business case that went to zero. It has therefore not been an additional investment for us to buy new furniture etc. We have taken the money that has been left over, and that way the economy is connected. We've really just moved our money around instead of adding money. What tools have you used to evaluate the effect of the new interior design? We have measured the effect of our interior design by asking about the experience of the room itself. The way we have done it is by doing a baseline survey before the office was set up. Here, the employees and managers have been asked about their experience of the old office. Some of the questions we asked were: does the office support interdisciplinary collaboration? Do you feel that the office is a modern, professional NGO? And do you feel the environment close to innovation? When we asked our employees about the layout of the old office, most of the answers were 6 (scale from 1-10). 100 days after the layout was implemented, we asked our employees the same questions. All the answers had increased by two points, so most scores are between 8 and 9. We generally find that our employees are very happy with the results. In addition to our employees, we have also experienced great interest and attention for our interior design from the outside world.  Before the new interior design, we actually did an association exercise with the employees, where we asked, when you enter the office, what words pop up in your head? Here we created a word cloud in which the employees described the old office as cold, strict, and as an interior that resembled a bank or a dental clinic. We did the same exercise with the new office, where it was words like homely, sensual, professional, modern. How will you ensure that the new layout continues to meet the organization's needs and goals in the long term? What we have done is create a layout that is flexible and scalable. It has been important for us to

The hybrid working life Do you work with hybrid? The hybrid working life is increasingly taking centre stage in the debate about the future of working life. Hybrid means crossbreeding and refers to the fact that many employees are offered the opportunity to work both from home and from the company's offices. Few believe that the hybrid will disappear again. This means that we need to learn more and more about what works best to ensure the greatest well-being for employees. The article 'What Great Hybrid Cultures Do Differently' from Harvard Business Review March 2022 concludes that you will be most successful if you treat all employees as if they were working from home all the time. In addition, it highlights five management parameters that management must constantly focus on. The five parameters are about different aspects of strategic communication and emphasize that transparency and openness are alpha and omega. We can largely recognize that openness is part of the core of the hybrid working life, which also needs to be supported in the design of the workplace. Because with the hybrid working life, you will need fewer desks and far more open and accessible places where employees can meet both socially and professionally. Would you like to know more about meeting places and space design? Then don't hesitate to send us an email or call to arrange a coffee meeting. See more evidence Contact us