1: Innovation in the Workspace

For those of us who have spent our careers in the corporate world, the office workspace conjures up a mindless maze of 4′ x 4′ cubicles. Cavernous spaces with row upon row of dimly lit box, with heads hunched over, each person hoping no one notices them that day and they can work in relative isolation. But then along comes “Agile” and “Scrum” and “Lean” processes, where team togetherness is not only encouraged, but has become the norm. And the beloved maze is no longer conducive to ways of getting work done.

Now, I love my cubicle (e.g. personal) space as much as the next person. It took me a long time to get my own cube and I like to make the most of it. But the more I work on an agile team, the more I see how restrictive my cubicle has become. I’ve noticed it especially with team, which hasn’t embraced the degree of collaboration required by Scrum. It has reached a point where some of the team members refuse to meet together until all changes have been fully defined. Otherwise, they feel they’re brought into discussions too soon. This has meant that design happens in a vacuum with no input from the rest of the team, which is both lonely for myself as the Business Analyst, and completely the opposite of what is intended by AGILE.

Having been trying to deal with these opposing mindsets for awhile now, the article “Rethink Workplace for Innovation and Growth” really leaped out at me. The article describes offices with open floor plans – no cubes, no walls, and no siloes. At first glance, for an introvert like myself, this isn’t remotely appealing to me. But the more I thought about it in regards to my own situation, I see the wisdom in it. I’ve noticed over this last few years that Agile teams require mature and open communication. However, many of my colleagues are loathe to engage in creative and productive discussion. This often results in open hostility, or just the opposite, passive communication (behaving in person, but then running off and tattling to bosses). I’m beginning to think that as much as I like my personal space, the only way to succeed with Agile, and allow innovative ideas to flourish is the open office space. It would literally force the team to be together in the same space.

What about you – what do you think of open office spaces? What are the pros and the cons? Do you believe them to be more innovative and creative?

Sources:

https://bizwest.com/rethink-workplace-growth/

#agileworkspace

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *