Our client, 3Rivers Federal Credit Union (3Rivers FCU), was featured in the recent article How A Floor Plan Can Increase Efficiency And Collaboration, published by CreditUnions.com. In the article Don Cates, the CU’s President and CEO, spoke candidly about how 3Rivers FCU’s new headquarters has helped improve their project team’s collaboration and operations efficiency. The key feature of the new workplace is the open floor plan concept which increases the ability for team members to communicate and makes Don more accessible to his staff.
Here are Don’s 7 Ways Design Can Build Cultural Success, originally published on CreditUnions.com.
- Workspace should fit your culture, not limit it. Remember, the building isn’t your culture. It fosters your culture.
- Share the “why” behind it. Let everyone know the vision. It might not be the right environment for some, but that’s OK.
- It’s just space; no one owns it. If it is truly open, then it should be easy to move around and change folks around to improve collaboration, communication, and personal connectivity.
- The technology has to match the workspace. 3Rivers has roaming profiles so staff can work anywhere in the buildings. They also can forward their phone calls anywhere.
- Provide “hotel” space because other staffers will want to come and work out of this environment.
- Learn to communicate appropriately. It’s open, so understand what that means for others.
- Provide different interaction areas to meet and collaborate. Offer meeting rooms of various sizes and configurations that are schedulable and un-schedulable to allow for impromptu meetings. 3Rivers has more than 18 meeting rooms in addition to an outside courtyard and two cafés.