Call Center Productivity & Flexible Serviced Office Design

At this day and age, we have learned to acknowledge the fact that good design has enough power to influence the way we think and behave. And as today’s call center businesses finally see the value of employees truly engaged in their work – a good example of encouraging certain patterns of thought and behavior – they finally realized that maybe they should be paying more attention to their overall office design.

Environmental psychologists are mavens of design for the scientific world. They are the ones who concentrate their attention to sensory experiences, psychosocial factors, psychological drives, and how it influences the effects of being in one space or another. A large number of environmental psychologists are moving what early scientist have learned about how humans experience space into design practice where it can help make people’s lives better.

Among the factors that they focus on is how design affects one’s mood. Through a series of psychological chain reactions, mood influences worker engagement – meaning, a positive state of mind results in enhanced levels of engagement and productivity. So in order to create engaging environments, BPO organizations need to design a workplace that emits positive mood.

Call center employees who work in offices as such convey to their colleagues that their employers value their presence in the team and the contribution that they make to their company – and the good feeling they get from being respected enhances their engagement. Admittedly, it’s easy to come up with mission and vision statements that go on such great lengths to discuss how much professionals are prized by those handing them their paychecks; so instead of paying attention into these proclamations, they focus on interpreting the messages sent by the environment they are placed in. BPO organizations spend tons of their budget on their respective call center workspaces. Hence, it’s no surprise that what they are communicating to the members of the workforce carry more weight than easily generated passages.

Workspaces indicate respect for its users when it supports them as they do their jobs – employees want to do their work well and this creates a big influence in one’s self-identity.

Generally speaking, designers speak to the employees who will work in that space regarding their jobs and how it can be designed in such a way that would optimize their performance. Unfortunately, those offices built out of the said conversations often don’t align. More often than not, it gets designed to look good – to resemble that one workspace seen by the CEO from some magazine spread.

Instead of copying some other aesthetically pleasing space, the main aim of its design should be to be able to help workers do well in contributing to their respective companies. Most workers need acoustical focus in accomplishing certain tasks – a feature that’s hard to achieve in a field of cubicles or amongst a sea of faces sitting at long tables.

One good idea is harnessing the power of color. Whenever people are doing tasks that require a lot of mental work, their environment should be relaxing, and when work is relatively easy, energizing spaces are needed. Individuals feel relaxed around colors that aren’t very saturated but are relatively bright. A moderate visual complexity works best – meaning that space should only have few colors and patterns.

Another suggestion is for call center organizations to leave enough room for their employees to control both their environment and work day. Workers should have a say on the lighting and temperature of their workplace. In addition to this, professionals value companies that allows them to utilize a variety of workspaces depending on their needs.

The design has enough power to enhance an employee’s productivity. Moreover, sincere spaces that reflect their needs and concerns is something that today’s workforce values. One good example of this is the growing number of professionally managed offices such as call center seat leasing and flexible private offices. Though the movement admittedly has gained a lot of critics, there’s no denying that modern professionals lean towards work conditions that help them reach their goals. In addition to this, it gives ample room for recreational activities so that they can take good care of their personal lives too. These are the types of environments that keep them engaged.

And in case you’re in search of a new home that would be beneficial to your team, talk to us today, and we’ll show you a few engaging serviced offices.

It is a well-known fact that the Filipino people, together with its beloved homeland, went through several bleak circumstances the past year. With the rampant war on drugs and the various political disputes that they have witnessed firsthand, one would assume that these individuals would be pessimistic about the coming year.

Yet it seems that this is not the case at all.

According to the Gallup’s annual global End of Year Survey, the Philippines ranked third as the happiest country in the world following Fiji and Columbia – a completely stark contrast to the results of the 2017 World Happiness Report wherein the Philippines found itself all the way down to the 72^nd place.

Orchestrating an opinion poll amongst 55 countries, the aforementioned research covered the overall optimism of the participating countries for the coming 2018. The Philippines garnered a net rate of +84 in the study’s happiness index and a net rate of +40 in its hope index, classifying it as the 9^th optimistic country in the world.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a conference last Wednesday, January 3^rd that the current administration would see to it that the Filipino people’s happiness will have a strong foundation by ensuring improvement of the economy and of the government as well.

Going further, the study reported a decline in economic optimism over the last months. Results showed that though 28% of the world now possess a confident outlook towards the year 2017, economic pessimism remain to be 2 points higher. A downward trend has been observed since the end of 2015 down to the end of 2017.

As for hope, a bit less than 40% of the surveyed population believe that 2018 will surely be better than 2017 – 13 points down compared to last 2016. An alarming 23% expect an even worse year and 32% believe that things will remain to be the same as 2017.

Lastly, over two-thirds or 59% of the participating communities claim that they are happy – almost 10 points lower in contrast to twelve months ago. And though the past year was deemed to be a tough one with numerous terrorist attacks around the world, majority of all the respondents are happy.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque says that the country’s ranking didn’t surprise him. In a statement to Inquirer, Roque said that Filipinos are known to be happy, resilient people who manage to smile amid difficulties. Hence, it’s not much a surprise to him that the Philippines ranked 3^rd in the global happiness index.

The Filipino people’s inborn nature of hospitality is one of the major characteristics that attract foreigners besides its beautiful beaches and scenery. Digital nomads is sure to have an easy time settling in with the help of its friendly locals. In addition to this, plenty of coworking spaces can now be found scattered among the islands. These shared offices is home to several passionate resident professionals always ready to welcome new members with open arms – another crucial factor that captivated the hearts of remote workers.

Freelancers and entrepreneurs fell in love with the country’s happy nature for it helps them overcome loneliness that is often felt by independent workers. According to a 2010 YouGov poll, a vast majority of homeworkers suffer loneliness and isolation as they don’t have the presence and support of colleagues and workmates.

Recently, an alarming increase of the number of affected workers have been observed, resulting to psychologists and scholars highlighting the potential danger it possess. A study from the University of North Carolina reports that loneliness can elevate an individual’s risk of heart disease, stroke as well as cancer – making it as menacing to your health as the lack of physical activity. Majority of us have undermined loneliness and isolation for years, unaware of how treacherous it could actually be.

Experts says that in order to alleviate this, collaborating with other fellow professionals is suggested rather than isolating oneself. By doing so, it gives them the opportunity to have a helping hand in terms of tasks and even someone to confide during bleak days.

Nowadays it’s become one of the most contributing factors as to why the coworking movement continues to rapidly grow. The Philippines’ contagious happiness and relentless hospitality have made it even a more desirable country to cowork in.

Want to catch a dose of the happy virus? Talk to us today on how to find the perfect spot in the third happiest country in the word!

American author and presidential speechwriter James Humes once said that the art of communication is the language of leadership. And though certain leadership characteristics are inherent traits, effective communication is a learned skill.

For an organization to be successful, good communication practices are needed. It is the foundation of every aspect of the business. Whether it’s a large scale company inside private offices or startups in coworking spaces – no matter the size, without it, the basic functions of the management such as planning, organizing, motivation and controlling will not go smoothly.

Miscommunication is an error most of us are already familiar with. Even in our daily lives, we tend to miscommunicate with one another. From the errors between the sender and receiver, to the ambivalent language used to words that has multiple meanings and connotations; a lot could go wrong in a simple conversation between two people.

These drawbacks, though simple, can majorly affect business operations. Poor communication can hit both customers and suppliers. Staff morale can go down when relevant information aren’t relied timely. It can increase absenteeism by impacting motivation and can escalate levels of stress.

According to a survey conducted among 1,400 corporate executives and employees, eighty-six percent of the respondents have said that the lack of collaboration or ineffective communication contributes to workplace failures. In addition to this, the aforementioned study also discusses how common these issues are to various industry sectors. Its authors says that these miscommunications can slow down projects, productivity and has the ability to ultimately impact both client and employee relation.

Data from other reports have showcased how costly poor communication can be. Over an estimated $37 billion are spent on employee misunderstandings regarding company policies and business processes are in both the US and UK and companies lost a cumulative cost of $26,041 per worker per year to productivity losses resulting from communication barriers.

Conversely, the abovementioned report stated statistics demonstrating the positive impact of good workplace communication.

Companies who practice highly effective communication among their leaders receive 47% higher total returns to shareholders over the past five years compared to those who have least effective communicators. In addition to this, American electronics provider, Best Buy found out that high employee engagement scores result to better store performance – for every percentage point it raised employee engagement, there was a $100,000 increase in the operating income of their individual stores annually.

Improved workplace communication has the ability to change the game for your business. Several studies have said that this can deliberately increase a worker’s productivity.  Effective work group communication can lead to significant improvement in the overall performance of a company. Moreover, experts have found a strong link between organizations observing effective communication and the productivity ratings of their employees.

It increases employee job satisfaction by empowering the workforce with upward communication – information flows upward and would usually entail feedback. The more employers are able to listen to their employees, the better. Job satisfaction can also decrease rates of absenteeism and turnover.

There are several ways businesses across various industries can improve the communication within their workplace.

Assessing the current communication utilized can give you an idea on the areas that needs to be improved. For example, your team is struggling to keep up with conversations through email. Why not try social intranet solutions and collaboration tools. Listing down your workplace communication methods can give you a clear idea on what to do next.

Internal communication is essential so it’s only apt to check in with your employees regularly. You can set meetings with them to discuss their thoughts on a project and task. By doing this, you are somehow implementing an open door policy between you and your employees – they are likely to feel more comfortable to bring matters to your attention.

Startups and teams in coworking spaces can take advantage of the open plan layout to improve their communication. Unlike in traditional workplaces, members of the team can easily approach their superiors to discuss tasks and project updates with them. Readily available communal areas can set a relaxed vibe during discussions.

The group’s internal communication can be strengthened by attending weekly happy hours or team-building events. In addition to this, each member can improve their communication skills by interacting with other members within the vicinity.

As per James Humes, leadership’s language is the art of communication. It is a skill that can be learned and improved throughout one’s life time – just like swimming and biking.

Hone your skill and communicate with us today!