Over the recent years, much emphasis have been given to the importance of keeping one’s employees happy. With several literatures on how it affects their work performance and tenure, it got organizations in a frenzy to turn their working environments upside down. Tech conglomerate Google has installed slides in its Zurich office while online retailer Zappos have encouraged some of its workers to dress up as their favorite animal on certain days. Fussball as well as pool tables and other gaming facilities can now be found in several contemporary offices – proof that organizations are going great lengths just to make their talents happier in order for them to work longer hours and be more productive.

The aforementioned ideology roots way back during the 1930s. Little do managements know that you can’t force everything to be rose-colored. The moment that you start coercing, it creates a crack in the system that could cause a greater gap in the long run.

From inspirational Instagram accounts to self-help books teaching us how to harness perpetual positivity, everyone – literally, everyone­ – is berating us to “look on the brighter side”. Though statements of the same nature are usually said in with good intent, there is a truth that is hard to accept for a majority of us; that not everyone wears their rose-colored glasses everywhere.

In fact, science says that in order for us to actually be happy, we need to take them off once in a while

Danish psychology professor Svend Brinkmann says that forcing ourselves – and other people – to be consistently cheerful creates more damage than good.

Of course, he takes into consideration that there are individuals who carry a brighter outlook in life than most. Yet at the same time, he acknowledges the dangers of forcing other people to be rose-colored.

When happiness becomes a constant necessity, it hinders us from the ability to cope during or after bad situations. Brinkmann adds we should be able to feel what we feel whenever unfortunate events happen. Fear, anxiety, sadness, and all the other similar negative feelings are the necessary evil that life comes with. We need to be open to dark times so that when they happen – and they will, as he says – it won’t strike us as intense as it would if we’re accustomed to nothing but pure positivity.

Brinkmann adds that when a company turns their employees’ happiness into commodities, they are exploiting them as humans who carry emotions. Hence, it’s not safe to simply settle on a one-size-fits-all solution.

If managements want to really increase the engagement of their talents and keep them upbeat, they shouldn’t just settle on bandaid solutions. It’s detrimental that companies view their workforce as complex human beings instead of oversimplifying their emotions. This means creating a proper dialogue with them in order to consider their individual needs.

When you enforce employees to “smile their worries away”, we are banning the negative emotions they need to truly deal with difficult circumstances. Therefore, creating a deeper emotional damage.

As mentioned earlier, organizations are encouraged to take a deeper look on what would make their employees happier. Each workforce would have a different view on what can cheer them up and some would simply be downbeat interventions. Overall, organizations shouldn’t force feed happiness. Instead, they should focus on looking for different ways of reaching the needs of each talent.

For one, allowing some employees to work from their respective homes can be a good start. And if your management is feeling a bit generous, maybe you can give certain teams access to coworking spaces for all the hard work they have been doing.

These shared offices gives members the chance to work in a much more lax environment and allows them to concentrate and work on projects on their own pace – a perk that satisfies a majority of workers.

The reality that not everyone can – or should – be always positive or happy is quite hard to accept for most people but a person’s happiness is more than just vodka shots or slides. Don’t reconstruct so easily, talk to us today and we’ll help you find a desk for your unhappy employee.

Pets have always been a thing.

Since time immemorial, these adorable creatures have accompanied us through majority of our lives. We take them with us to almost everywhere – restaurants, shops and even during our travels.

Remember that one woman from New York who tried to bring her pet peacock to Los Angeles with her? The aforementioned artist bought her service animal a seat to the flight yet in the end, it was denied entry – much to her dismay. The colorful bird is actually an emotional companion and he’s not the first one to go through that same airline. Last January 2016, a turkey boarded a Delta flight and later that year, a duck flew from Charlotte to New Carolina – both of which are service animals to their owners.

It’s a thing and though it stirs confusion to a majority of the audience, it’s an actual rising phenomenon. Pets can now be seen not just in airplanes, but even in offices.

Newark Liberty International Airport reports that there’s a 75 percent year-over-year increase of customers bringing emotional support pets or animals on flights. Its administration understands the need of passengers with disabilities, hence, they are doing all that they can to serve them whilst still taking into consideration the safety and well-being of their employees and other customers.

This growing number has a scientific explanation; over the recent years, experts have found evidence showing that animals don’t just bring health improvements to the table, they can also help improve their owner’s mental health – and this includes individuals with challenging disorders.

Though admittedly, the studies are significantly small, the reported benefits carry enough weight for clinical settings to open themselves up to animal-assisted interventions such as pet therapy alongside conventional treatments. Science have said that social support – a well-proven cure to anxiety and loneliness – can sometimes come on four legs. Animals can help alleviate stress, fear and anxiety in kids, elderly and basically, everyone in between.

Because of the growing awareness of the upside of having these cute creatures around, the number of households with pets – commonly, cats and dogs – are rising. Their owners? Majorly members of the millennial generation.

With full time jobs, these professionals are constantly on the look-out for pet-friendly offices. What made dogs and cats wandering around corporate floors possible? The movement of coworking spaces.

Not only did they open their doors to pets in order to attract the younger demographic of today’s workforce, providers moved by the positive impact the aforementioned animals creates — such as, improved productivity and higher job satisfaction. Moreover, they promote a warmer and friendlier culture – a kind of environment that everyone seems to be looking for.

These shared offices allows its members to bring their own pets with them to work. Its open plan layout gives plenty room for them to wander around and spreading smiles throughout the premise. Though there are hygiene and noise concerns with having them around, certain coworking spaces balances the interest of both pet and non-pet owners by allowing them in once a week or once a month.

As weird as the whole concept of pets around the office is, it’s one of the many living evidence that we can create a happy work environment that will benefit everyone within the facility. Talk to us today and we’ll help you warm up your company culture!

A large majority of today’s budding entrepreneurs are setting aside cultural and political differences in the hopes of creating a more diverse team within the workforce. The reason behind this trend? The premise that organizations with a wide variety of members are far more creative than those of teams coming from a similar background.

With several literatures backing up this ideology and the constant encouragement by the public to break down walls, it’s not surprising that a lot of companies are looking to diversify their workplace.

Still the question remains, just how much can diversity affect the creativity of one team? How does one strengthen them through leadership and inclusion?

For us to evaluate just how effective it is in enhancing inventiveness, it’s important to know how it influences idea generation and implementation. Viewed as two different scenarios, the diversity of a team dictates just how successful they will be in generating ideas and implementing ideas.

Recent experimental studies have suggested that though heterogeneous team composition seen as an advantage in producing a wider range of original ideas, its benefits ultimately weaken when it’s time to decide which among them will be implemented. A meta-analysis conducted on 108 studies and more than 10,100 teams report that the enhanced creativity produced by teams with higher diversity is interrupted by deep-rooted social conflict and decision-making dilemmas that are rarely found in homogenous groups.

Though it follows the creative process of free thinking, openness to failure and mind wandering, it should be immediately followed by convergent thinking and effective project management for it to become actual innovations. It takes more than just diversity to implement a company’s wide array of creative ideas.

Admittedly, diverse teams are prone to conflicts, and these arguments can only be mitigated if they are lead effectively. It’s not rocket science that strong leadership is a fundamental resource for organizations across industries.

When members set aside their own agendas to corroborate with others for the common benefit of the project, the natural tension between wanting to get ahead of prospect competition  and needing to get along with everyone is articulated.

It’s important for homogenous teams to learn how to empathize with their coworkers and to see things from other perspectives. Only when they have learned to manage their own conscious and unconscious biases will they be able to agree on one thing.

“Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance” diversity advocate, Verña Myers said. In order for leaders and organizations to truly stick with practicing diversity, it’s important that everyone feels they are included, that their voices matter.

Hence, creating an open knowledge sharing culture is present within the team to truly enhance creativity. Everyone should be encouraged to speak up and leaders need to create an environment wherein it’s safe to share novel ideas. Implementing feedback and sharing credit for team success also aids in promoting inclusivity.

Though skeptics would say that diversity may bring more problems and complications than creativity, the rising movement of coworking spaces is proof that diversity and inclusivity could create great results for everyone participating.

Well-known for its diverse community, these shared offices are attracting startups, entrepreneurs and even large corporations across several industries for the authentic networking it provides to its members. With a culture that promotes inclusivity and interdisciplinary collaborations, coworking allows professionals to experience what its like to work when the walls separating us from one another is diminished.

Creativity isn’t the only thing that businesses can unlock when they create diverse representation and inclusivity in their workforce. Though complicated and intricate, the process is worth it when it leads the team to sustainable growth.

Produce equal opportunities for every member of your team and talk to us today about coworking spaces!

As scary as it sounds, technology is slowly replacing jobs – frankly speaking, those who are holding these jobs are now slowly being replaced by robots.

And though one would assume that manufacturers and production companies are the only ones to be affected by this change, the chances of other industries being saved from the AIs are slim to none. Even knowledge workers are at risk. Recent surveys said that 39% of jobs from the legal industry could be automated in the next ten years. A separate study has said that even accountants have a 95% of losing their jobs to automation.

The manufacturing industry would feel this change much sooner than most.  With “robotic bricklayers” rising in the market –  machine learning algorithms programmed for optical part sorting, automated quality control, failure detection, and improved productivity and efficiency. The National Institute of Standards predicts that “machine learning can improve production capacity by up to 20%” and can help reduce raw materials waste by 4%.

 There are several literatures and other reports predicting the loss of millions of jobs by the year 2020 – providing us with a grim reading of what the future may entail. But with all the technology being served on the table, one question remains: where does this leaves us, humans?

Business leaders and executives are captivated by the idea of saving them millions and millions of labor costs without sacrificing the quality of product they provide. The idea of having AI technology to enhance production is a dream come true for a majority of corporations and as they become blinded by these shiny machineries, corporate leaders seemed to have forgotten the effect this could mean for the people behind their operations.

Though many would believe that it would be best for companies to have lesser employees, CEO and founder of Fetch Robotics, Melonee Wise says otherwise. She cautions the arrival of AIs isn’t as black and white as executives would think – for every robot in the world is a human behind it taking good care of its system. She adds that the point of technology is to boost productivity, not cut workforce.

Consulting firm McKinsey took matters into their hands and started studying the kind of work most appropriate to automation. Their findings conclude that they create betters results in technical work – leaning towards tactical applications.

On the other hand, task that require high degree of imagination, creative analysis and strategic thinking is harder to automate. The current technology available as we speak finds activities involving managing and developing people difficult. These AIs cannot apply their expertise in decision making, planning, or creative work.

Its safe to say that there is still room for our workforce. There are still tasks and projects that can only be successfully accomplished with the innate ability of humans. This poses a new threat to managements around the world; how will they integrate this new technology into their current workflow without disrupting peace within its workforce.

The goal is for technology to take over some tasks without replacing the people who have spearheaded this work. Wise reminds the majority that robots and AIs themselves are just tools that leaders can utilize how they see fit. Corporations have the choice to whether replace human work or augment the new technology into their workforce.

As mentioned earlier by McKinsey, creativity and imagination still play an important role at work. And finding a way for both creativity and automation to thrive in one realm could be the best way to go. One proof of this possibility is the well-received, coworking spaces. Priding itself in its ability in cohabitating the polar opposites, providers have designed these serviced offices to be flexible enough to accommodate new technology and aesthetically refreshing to encourage creativity.

By reshaping their current workforce, businesses can generate a new human resource development agenda that provides success that is both technological and human.

Some of us have been guilty of this before – eating lunch at our desks because there’s simply too much to do and we can’t be bothered to get up. Though we initially think that this helps us increase our productivity, Fast Company says otherwise.

Author Bob Pozen says that instead of thinking how you utilize lunch to get more things done, see it for the function that it actually serves. He adds that maybe exposing yourself to germs isn’t that worth it if you can actually get more if you step away from your desk.

Admittedly, the notion of having a quick lunch is indeed productive – in a sense that it takes us less time. It’s a hard and fast rule, but it’s not really what we need. We want a functional rule that would help us make the most out of our workday.

Pozen says that eating alone can help you recharge your personal resources. The absence of stimulation actually encourages associative or integrative thought – both of which can spur one’s creativity. If by any chance you have an idea in your head, you can take this alone time to work on it without any interruptions. He adds that you can also use this time to replenish you energy by taking a walk or taking a 20 minute nap. Each suggestion, of course, would work differently on each individual. Hence, he suggests experimenting with a few different approaches.

And other else than providing employees some time for themselves, lunch is also considered as one of the most effective social activity in the office.

The well-acclaimed and now global trend of coworking couldn’t have emphasized it enough; building a strong sense of community within a company – or team – plays a vital role in creating a thriving working environment.

Pioneers of the movement have set standards and several guidelines on how to curate or strengthen an enterprise’s culture and one of the most suggested activity is sharing meals with one another.

Pozen further discussed in the aforementioned article that you don’t necessarily have to spend lunch all by yourself, its other function is to serve as an opportunity to socialize with your coworkers. Eating together can effectively create connections that could produce fortuitous results and fortifies trust within teams.

Providers of shared offices have utilized this in reinforcing unplanned collaborations and conversations by having in-house cafes and snack bars. Steve Jobs did the same thing back during the inception of the Pixar campus, but in his case, he put bathrooms in one central place so that individuals from different departments would run into each other alongside with their ideas.

CEO of the food startup ZeroCater, Arram Sabeti, says that eating together offers a lot value than what meets the eye. Managers can use this time to casually check in on on-going projects while establishing a much more personal relationship with their employees.

Even though some people nowadays view lunch breaks as something overrated, it’s still worth considering whether the way you are spending it right now is the most efficient way to go. Is it really helping you or is it costing you more in terms of your overall productivity?

Why don’t you have lunch with us and we’ll help you figure out a way of working that increases your proximity to success.