Co-working spaces: the new-age office that best cultivates innovation

Make your workspace work for you — create a space that encourages innovation

We spend ~160 hours working in a given month. For the majority of us, this time is spent in an office meant to foster creativity, communication, and ultimately a better business. Technology has revolutionized many pieces of our daily lives and has too impacted the concept of an office. As needs of employees change, employers must shift the manner in which they best support their employees to produce their best results.

Personally, I find that my best work is accomplished when it also aligns with my passions; work that fulfills a personal purpose cultivates personal happiness and joy. In a Ted talk I recently watched, I was drawn in by the idea that the physical space in which we work plays a significant role in the joy we have. Joy, among other things, impacts the work produced and the level of innovative thinking possible.

Inspiration and motivation come from within, but also come from our surroundings.

– Ingrid Fetell Lee states in her Ted talk, “Where joy hides.”

So how exactly can companies encourage innovation while being flexible with their employees needs?

Create a spin-off of a co-working space

Co-working spaces are no longer a space for start-ups and entrepreneurs. As work continues to be digital-focused, employers are shifting the concept of what it means to ‘come to work.’ For many people, it’s important to leave the house to get into the right mindset of working effectively (away from noise or other distractions). For others, going into work is effective in accomplishing this need, however their environment may not be as conducive to inspire innovative thinking as it could be.

Regardless of the space where work is being accomplished, ways to stimulate productivity and creativity remains consistent.

1. Height creates a sense of ‘no limits,’ and creative problem solving

Like your business potential, you want your employees to feel there are no limitations in what they can accomplish. The concept of limitations is perceived by our physical space.

“People perform better at tasks requiring creative problem-solving skills under ceilings 10 feet or higher compared to eight-foot ceilings” (details). Glass ceilings and other boundaries that project a feeling of being boxed in, should not be existent. Things should feel taller than they are. For example, when decorating, choose a tall bookshelf versus a short bookshelf. Alternatively, select decor with vertical stripes.

Our mental space stands in direct proportion to our perception of physical space.
– Medium

2. (Visual) Distance supports creative thinking

Construal level theory (CLT) is a mental model in which the interpretation of distance is affected by interpretation and contextual understanding. According to CLT, the observation or perception of things being far away stimulates abstract thinking.

The greater our perception of something being in the distance, the more inclined we will be to idea formation; early stage ideation (brainstorming, sketching, drafts) relies on abstract, big-picture thinking.

For example, if you are planning where your business will be in one year, versus 5 years, you are more likely to think of more impactful, creative, opportunities and goals when discussing a 5-year plan versus a 1-year plan; 5 years is farther in the distance so thoughts will be more focused on ‘what could we do,’ versus ‘how do we do it.’

Closeness in proximity prompts detail-oriented thinking, whereas distance prompts open-minded, unbiased, free thinking.

3. Neutral colors create a sense of relaxation

Color choice plays a vital role in giving a feeling of comfort and relaxation. Cooler colors (blue, green) are more soother than warm colors (red, orange).

By decorating or painting walls with warm colors, your initial level of energy will spike, however it will also quickly fade due to being over stimulated. Soothing, earth colors, encourage relaxation and make people feel as though there is more space, opposite of warm colors which make people feel closed in. Exploratory thinking will increase in spaces with more neutral tones, so choose your colors wisely.

4. Let there be l i g h t

“People who work in windowless spaces get ~46 minutes less sleep on work nights, experience lower-quality rest, and are less physically active during the workday than colleagues who are afforded adequate exposure. Additionally, medical scientists report higher levels of depression, anxiety, delirium, and even psychosis among patients lacking access to outside views in healthcare facilities” (details).

Dim-lit, natural space encourages exploratory thinking, whereas bright spaces encourage rational, logical thinking.

Finding a balance between the two is challenging, but with natural lighting from windows and dim to medium-lit lights will provide balanced thinking required for creative, efficient work.

5. Smell the plants

Awaken your brain through smell. Scents like eucalyptus and citrus help people feel alert, and lavender helps people remain calm. My personal favorite place to work is somewhere where I feel as if I am outside surrounded by nature. A balance of earthy colors and greenery from plants, combined with fresh scents from things found outside like flowers makes me feel at-ease.

6. Make the coffee and food spots your hang-out spot

Whether coffee, tea, or water, make the space people frequent a place inspiring to communication and collaboration. Food and drink are a social activity, so why not encourage communication in the office by making the space where food and drink are consumed are also a place people enjoy – feel relaxed, creative, and open-minded.

Food and drink feed your body, so why not feed your brain at the same time?

7. Inspire through storytelling

Remind people why they do what they do. Whether through written phrases, photos, or paintings, reminding employees of the goal they are working toward inspires their work. Whether a start-up focusing on growth, an advanced company encouraging innovation, or a co-working space explaining the value they provide to members, storytelling is an extremely effective tool for encouraging big-picture thinking.

Being creative and innovative is a lot about surroundings — feelings of freedom, relaxation, and time foster limitless, innovative, thinking. As you build or design an office for your team — remember that what works best for them, will work best for your company’s success.

Why diversity matters

Learn about the importance of diversity in the workplace from a young female in tech (me).

Without challenge, there is no change, and without change there is no long-term success.

To be successful, change through innovative thinking and decision making is inevitable. One way to stay innovative is by having a diverse team.

I have experienced being part of diverse, and not-so-diverse, teams throughout my educational and career development, and have seen the positive and negative repercussions on business failure or success resulting from the level of diversity within a team.

This post defines diversity, outlines the importance and challenges of diversity, as well as documents ways to create a thriving, diverse team.

What is diversity?

Diversity comes in all shapes and sizes; diversity can be found by educational background, sexual orientation, income level, religion opinions, values, geographical location, communication style, language, and much more.

In May, I attended the PODIM conference in Slovenia and spoke on a panel called, “Winning Team, Winning Company” which focused on the importance of diversity in the workplace.

When we kicked-off the discussion with a panel solely of women (a man did join the discussion later; there were supposed to be two men on the panel), we had to address the elephant in the room – how can a diversity panel only have women? It was simple,

What makes us different, is not always visible to the naked eye.

Why does having a diverse team matter?

In teams without diversity, you’ll find little differentiation in opinion or thought. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

This quote relates to teams which have had little conflict in decision-making, which is why there is a tendency to hire those with similar opinion and thought; similar opinions simplify discussion around decisions.

That said, just because decisions will be simplified, this does not necessarily mean they will be the right decisions. One of the greatest challenges that goes hand-in-hand with having a diverse team, is conflict.

My experience with diversity

To level set, I am a college-educated female and currently work at one of the top technology companies in the world. The companies and people in the following stories will remain anonymous; these stories are not about where or whom with these situations arose, but rather these stories help illustrate a few challenges of diversity.

I remember meeting two people working at a small company. After sitting down and asking a couple questions about their business, the man paused as if something was wrong and said,

“I’m sorry, when I heard [we were meeting], I was expecting to meet an older, white, man.”

There was a bit of an awkward pause – I truthfully didn’t know whether he was joking or not – so I laughed off the comment, and continued to ask questions about the business. As we continued our discussion, I continued to question whether he was indeed joking or not; when I provided business recommendations, even after sharing my educational and professional background to earn trust, there was a lot of push back.

A few days later when we met in person among a group of men and women, this person sought advice about his business problem from an old white man whom provided the same advice as I had days prior which he then agreed to.

Take-away 1: Cultural differences are not an excuse for cultural norms.

I shared my experience with a group of friends, and the following day after sharing my story, a friend pulled me aside and said,

“I’m so happy you shared that story. I see and hear things like this all the time, that I didn’t realize I had gotten so used to it. I stayed up all night thinking about it, and spoke with my mom about it the next day. I don’t like that I see this, and don’t say something – knowing how you felt, is not something we should accept as okay.”

In another situation, I was working with two men and a woman to meet a male and female business partner. After about 10 minutes into the conversation, the female business partner began speaking about the business and one of the men I was working with cut her off mid-sentence and began speaking over her, stating, “[we shouldn’t do that, we should do this].” The woman’s face looked white as a ghost when he cut her off and for the remainder of the three-hour meeting she did not speak; the men spoke with the men.

This feeling of sexism was further augmented when – throughout the meeting – I noticed the male with which we were meeting made eye contact only when speaking with the other males at the table. While this example is of a small behavioral trait that can easily be brushed off, I felt it is important to note; there are cultural differences and some need to be understood in a manner of difference in cultural norms, but there is also a level of disrespect which cannot and should not be considered acceptable as a cultural norm and brushed off as if it is acceptable behavior.

Without respect for each other and the differences among us, we cannot be successful.

Take-away 2: Sexism can occur between the same sex, as well as the opposite sex

During a meeting, when seeking to understand business objectives and clarification, a female told me that “[this was none of my business and to just do the work].” I felt immediately disrespected as I felt I was inquiring about a business decision. I was further criticized by my comments and received feedback it was not my place to ask questions — and it was my place to do the work. I felt completely disrespected and questioned why I was hired at a company where I was not allowed to bring my knowledge to a team to help make better decisions. A very similar situation occurred at a different company with a male counterpart.

Always seek [and work] to get your team on the page with your strategy and strategic goals, otherwise they will not respect you as a peer or as a leader. Effective leaders understand each person’s strengths, weaknesses, and differences and encourages and supports conflicting points-of-view.

While creating a thriving, diverse team likely seems – understandably – impossible and challenging, it is not.

5 Ways to create and support a thriving, diverse team

1. Be open minded; listen
As expected, when people come together with differing opinions, there is conflict. While you may be stubborn in your ideas, it’s important to make sure others feel respected and heard.

Carolyn N. Spencer of Amazon promotes diversity in her environment by supporting people to openly express their thoughts and feelings.“This is the only way to truly grow – personally and in business.” – Diversity Matters

Take the time to listen to the other person’s point of view, and allow them to explain their reasoning for wanting to move forward with the recommendation they suggested. By listening, you may realize they had thought of something you did not.

2. Speak up; respectfully challenge others’ point of view

This one is not easy; in moments we can all get emotionally responsive. It’s important to step back, asses the situation and how your comments may come off and adjust your body tone and behavior accordingly.

If you disagree with someone, or want to share your point of view and know it will be controversial – pose your idea in the form of a question – lead the person there by helping them think differently.

Example: “I am sure you have already thought about XYZ, but XYZ.”

This type of conversation comes across less judgmental and threatening, eliminating potential tension between you and the other person speaking.

3. Be aware of acceptable and non-acceptable cultural differences
While we are diverse in many ways, cultural differences can impact communication styles and therefore impact interpretation of the level of respect received.

Be cognizant and educate yourself on what cultural differences exist around you. Note and communicate if something makes you feel uncomfortable or disrespected; there could be a simple misunderstanding.

4.Give feedback, and teach others to encourage diversity
Without acknowledging that teams are diverse, and therefore will run into situations where people disagree and a decision is made which others do not support or understand.

If people do not support or understand why a decision was made, then you cannot be a successful leader or have a successful team.

5. Work with each other to get the best result
At the end of the day, your goal is to be successful. If in the face of differing opinions and stagnant conversation, find a place of agreement or way to make a decision.

For example, if your business replies on customers to purchase products, then you pick whichever is the best decision for your customer.

Summary

At the end of the day, it’s most important for everyone to acknowledge that there is bias in the workplace; the worst thing you can do as a company is pretend like there is no discrimination; while we do not encourage or support it, often times discrimination is sub-conscious.

In simplest form, every company should have mandatory diversity training. While we can’t control people’s background or biases and beliefs, we can however encourage and have low tolerance for disrespect. By creating a mandatory diversity training at work, you acknowledge there can be bias in the workplace but most importantly how to address or escalate inappropriate behavior or respect between others.

Diversity drives change. Without change there is stagnation and little-to-no innovation. Support diversity in your workplace to drive business success.

For more discussion and inspiration on diversity, check out this Ted Talk by Janet Stovall called, “How to get serious about diversity and including in the workplace.”

Disclaimer: This post does not reflect the views of opinions of my employer, Amazon, the PODIM conference, or SwissContact Entrepreneur in Residence (SwissEP) program. Copyright, Carolyn N. Spencer.

Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR) programs and benefits

What is an Entrepreneur in Residence? Learn about entrepreneur in residence programs and benefits from a former entrepreneur in residence.

To be successful, change through innovative thinking and decision making is inevitable. One way to stay innovative is through an Entrepreneur in Residence program.

An Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR) is someone who acts as a consultant traditionally in a business setting. Often focused on research and innovation, EiRs provide new perspectives on a current or future idea, or challenges a company may currently experience or expects to encounter. An Entrepreneur in Residence is a subject matter expert and is often hired to work in a company, community, or country which lacks the necessary skills or expertise that would otherwise enable them to succeed in a particular business area or market segment.

I served as an Entrepreneur in Residence in the Balkan region from May to June 2018, as part of the the Swiss Entrepreneurship Program, SwissContact. Through my experience as an EiR, I came to understand the several types of EiR programs, and realized first-hand the benefits of EiR programs embedded as an integral part of a community; supporting local and international companies.

Based on my experience, this article outlines one way to infuse innovation in a country, company, or community by outlining the types of EiR programs, and EiR program benefits.

Types of Entrepreneur in Residence programs
1. Within a country
As part of the Entrepreneur in Residence program I participated in, I traveled to three countries in the Balkan region (Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia) and worked with various startups, accelerators, and incubators. Compared to the US, these countries needed education and support from external subject matter professionals in the form of business, marketing, and technology expertise.

I visited these countries and shared knowledge, best practices, and trends in innovation, user research, SEO, website design, branding, trends in mobile shopping and e-comments, and the importance of diversity in the workplace.

By working closely with students, CEOs, entrepreneurs, educators, and the business and academic community, I verbally received positive feedback on how useful the knowledge sharing experience was; a few pieces of direct feedback received included:

“That was so great; I’ve never seen the students ask so many questions. Can you please come back?”
– After teaching innovation and the importance of user research at the Telekom Digital Incubator, Telekom executive.

“I’m really happy you shared that story; I forgot that that happens, and that I shouldn’t allow that to happen; it’s not right.”
– After sharing a story of encountering sexism and agism during my work as an EiR, student in Macedonia.

“Your story really inspired me.”
– After sharing my story of starting at a community college and now working at Amazon, entrepreneur in Macedonia.

“Maybe I will start a business, now.”
– After sharing my story of having no business background, then stating a business in college, students in Macedonia.

“Now we know how to think big and start small.”
– After giving a talk on how to think big and start small, GSIX team.

Overall, each country and its’ culture is unique. By teaching and sharing my experiences, it reminded people in the countries which I worked that they are intelligent, empowered, and should take a chance if they want to make a change; and ultimately that that they can become who they want to be within their own country and that resources are available to compliment their experience.

2.Within a company
Internal hire
An internal Entrepreneur in Residence is someone who challenges the current way of thinking and impacts the overall strategy and development of a business, product, culture, etc. They encourage the company to think like an entrepreneur; making quick decisions with sometimes limited information; testing assumptions and learning quickly.

Major companies like Google, Dell, and Target have EIR programs encompassed of a handful of people, or dedicated teams whose sole job is to research and think about ways to address new or existing problems in innovative ways.

External hire
By hiring an external Entrepreneur in Residence for a period of time, a company or organization can benefit from an entirely new, and unbiased opinion and perspective in business strategy and execution. Employees can be biased in their thinking and decision making, and afraid to disagree with others if they have differing opinions.

3. Within a community
Often as volunteers, employees of a company will donate their time, knowledge, and skills to a community as an Entrepreneur in Residence. They will educate others about their expertise or work with a group or community program to help achieve their business or organizational goals.

Alternatively, a community or city may invest in funding a community-centric EiR program which focuses on brainstorming and solving problems in the community, such as becoming more technology-centric, supporting small businesses, and attracting large businesses.

Benefits of Entrepreneur in Residence programs
By hiring an Entrepreneur in Residence, or creating an entrepreneur in residence program, you have dedicated experts in a space which you may not normally have easily accessible to you. If your company feels stagnant, hiring a EiR can re-ignite innovation in the workplace; they will see things from a new perspective and challenge previous decisions and strategic direction.

To learn more about the Entrepreneur in Residence program that I was involved with, please visit https://www.entrepreneur-in-residence.net.

Disclaimer: This post does not represent the views of opinions my employer, Amazon, or the Swiss Entrepreneurship Program. Copyright, Carolyn N. Spencer.

A Guide on Infusing Innovation in your Company and Product

Presented at the first ever Womenpreneur Talk meetup in Serbia| Bellgrade, Serbia | 2018

Want to change the way your company thinks about product development or change the way your company identifies and changes business strategy?
Request access to the guide below to learn how to become an Innovation Changent and to learn about the Critical Innovation Point, by contacting me.

Startup Weekend: Challenges, Learnings, and Recommendations

Over a 54 hour time period, over 100 attendees came together to start something new at Techstars Seattle International Startup Weekend. Attendees shared initial problems they’d like to solve, formed teams, received coaching support, and pitched final business plans.

As the event ended, I spoke with a few teams about their Startup Weekend experience; their challenges, their learnings, and their recommendations for others.

What challenges did your team face during Startup Weekend?

Figuring out the most salient information to share.
Validation. It was difficult to go out, and talk with people on a Saturday. We tried to ask people questions, but due to our business problem most people weren’t available to speak with us.
Time management. We started to practice pitching later in the day on Sunday. We had our deck ready on Saturday, but didn’t start practicing our pitch until fairly late.

What did you learn from Startup Weekend?

We should have thought about market validation sooner, especially on the supply side.
I wish we had thought of ways to get customer insights faster, and in a more scalable way.
It’s important to learn the business side of things, so you can quickly identify whether something is a good or bad idea.

What recommendations do you have for others attending Startup Weekend?

Develop a process for listening efficiently within the group, and with coaches and mentors; you don’t want to go around and around discussing the same topic.
Practice pitching.
For the pitch, it was less important about having a working prototype, than it was having information showing you validated the business idea; don’t stress if you don’t have a developer on your team.
Be willing to pivot your idea based on customer research insights.
Do your research of the business model canvas ahead of time; having a background in that will be helpful.
Focus on problem definition and validation.
Take advantage of the time you have here at Startup Weekend, and commit to it.

To learn more about Techstars Startup Weekend, please visit: https://startupweekend.org/

The Importance of WHY in Marketing

Why does your company do what they do? Simon Sinek answers this question best.

As a published author, Ted speaker, and well-known innovation strategist, Sinek’s career focuses on the WHY in business and marketing. WHY you do something, versus HOW or WHAT you offer, he argues creates a stronger connection with your target audience.

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it,” says Sinek.

People aren’t solely attracted to a particular product for it’s ability to solve a problem, but also for the company’s overall mission and vision, as disseminated through their marketing communication.

In his 2009 talk (below), he illustrates the importance of why as it relates to Apple. People buy Apple products because they solve a problem, as well as because the leaders and employees of Apple are driven to create great experiences for their customers.

Consumers repeat purchase and recommend products and services, as a result of the reasons why the company makes the product.

The key difference between a new product and an old one isn’t always about making the user experience better, but focusing market communications around the product in a light that relates back to the reason why the company exists. The focus on problem resolution is only one half, while the other half is the emotional connection of the company to the customer.

Diffusing Innovation And Marketing

The concept of innovation has been on the forefront of business’s minds with every minor advancement in technology that hits the marketplace. Since businesses aim to remain at the top of their market sector, they are continually facing the dilemma of diffusion of innovations, which is the rate of adoption [and] spread of innovation in the social system through communication via particular channels-influential individuals, related businesses social networks (Flew, 2008). The obstacle marketing agencies and employees have to overcome relating to the diffusion of innovations is being able to properly predict which technologies will be the most beneficial in effective communication and profitability, as well as adopting these new and advancing technologies as rapidly as their customer’s demand them.

Before marketing professionals and companies adopt new channels to market, they have to extensively research and consider the advantages, and potential challenges, to each new marketing opportunity. As seen in many circumstances, becoming the first to adopt a new piece of technology, can dictate the success, or failure, of a company down the road. The problem however is, that marketers have to know what pieces of technology, for example, social media websites, consumers use and somehow convert that knowledge into marketing strategy to either increase sales, maintain their current customers, gain new customers or explain a new way to use their product or service. Unfortunately marketers face another dilemma trying to predict what will be the new innovative ways they can communicate messages with society. David Norman discovered and labeled what is known as the technology S-curve, which can relate to the diffusion of innovations. Adoption of new methods in the beginning, related to social media marketing in this scenario, is typically slow, because marketers can not predict the future and know that one social media platform will be used more, or will be more effective, than another. This only adds to the challenges that marketers incur; they want to be ahead of the game, but it is challenging to know what new forms of communication will be adopted by consumers and other marketing professionals. Since profitability is key, a marketer does not want to waste time using a new method of communication, when it may not be the most effective form. As seen in the chart below (“Wikipedia.com,” 2009), the majority, about 64 percent, are the mainstream and late adopters, who lie in the middle (Flew, 2008).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Diffusionofideas.PNG

This provides statistical evidence for the dilemma faced by marketers; if they use a new form of communication, they may not know if the communication will be effective or not until they have already invested a significant amount of time and funds into it, since others may not adopt new methods as rapidly as they are.

Once marketers have decided their new strategies they wish to adopt, they have to then use such methods quickly and appropriately to satisfy consumer demands. According to Moore’s Law, [the diffusion of innovations] does not actually define the rate … but rather how fast [something is] demanded.” (Malone, 2011). Businesses, like marketers, have to be able to listen to what their consumers are demanding and act accordingly. For example, many industry professionals are now “tweeting,” on Twitter and publishing blogs about the most recent industry news. It has been said that social media platforms are, “the marketing of the future,” (Engle, 2009). With this key insight, businesses have been responding to the demand for a larger presence on social media webpages and have become users of Twitter, Facebook and blogging websites to stay connected to their consumers. Businesses are working with their strengths and listening to their customers, overcoming what is known as the innovators dilemma (Flew, 2008). Companies have numerous new social media marketing channels to choose from, but the key is to choose which will be the most effective to communicate with their desired target market and target audience. By keeping up with what consumers are demanding via internet marketing channels, they can show their customers that they are at the top of their industry.

No matter the industry, a company must evolve and quickly adapt to consumer needs and demands. Businesses, such as marketing agencies, have to listen and observe the way in which the marketplace is shifting and adjust their business plans to fit these changes demanded by consumers. For now, marketers may feel comfortable using social media platforms to communicate messages, but the question others, among myself now ponder is, what will be next?

References:

Engle, Erika. (2009, August 23). Twitter is business and marketing tool for realtor. . Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.bond.edu.au/pqdlink?vinst=PROD&fmt=3&startpage=-1&vname=PQD&did=1842032231&scaling=FULL&vtype=PQD&rqt=309&TS=1327920052&clientId=21143

Flew, Terry. (2008). New media: An introduction. (3 ed., pp. 207-210). Victoria, Australia: Oxford University Press.

Malone, Michael S. (2011, May 08). Moore’s law lives: the future is still alive [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2717143/posts

Wikipedia.com. (2009, December 10). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Diffusionofideas.PNG