In 2008, we have inaugurated Pyxis’ second office. This office was meant to be different from workspaces that were out there back then. I remember, our clients were coming to visit our offices, to see our furniture on wheels and our whiteboard walls. Since then, Agility has spread more and more and most IT businesses have been forced to decompartmentalize their workspace and create places where collaboration is put forward.
Nearly ten years later, it was time to give ourselves a new up-to-date collaboration space. Here is a quick overview of our new offices…
What stayed
Open space
Open spaces ease the application of the Agile manifesto’s first value : individuals and interactions over processes and tools. It’s often the first thing businesses do when their teams work with agile approaches. The members of an agile team need to see each other and be able to exchange effortlessly, the open space offers this advantage.
Be aware that noise is a factor to consider when opting for an open space… Some studies have even shown that noise in open spaces undermines people’s productivity. On the other hand, others show the many collaboration gains of an open space. In order to benefit from it without any unpleasantness, we have installed separating panels in a few chosen spots to absorb sound and delimit distinct spaces.
In an excellent article, James B. Stryker presents three things to consider to promote interactions. Our new offices are consistent with theses visibility and density criteria. We have access to more surface and can therefore offer a bigger space to our employees, which contributes to minimizing the impact of the noise.
We have worked in an open space for almost ten years now and it allows us to multiply interactions and create team synergy. In recent years, we have experienced numerous benefits from this layout so it was obvious that the new offices would still be designed that way.
The Whiteboard walls
As mentioned by Kelly Waters in her article The Power of a Whiteboard, it’s ironic for a technological industry like IT to see teams favour whiteboards when there is a panoply of digital tools made for project management, but they are in fact very useful. Every day, our teams meet in front of boards to have their daily standups, establish roadmaps or conduct brainstorming sessions. We have therefore multiplied the whiteboard spaces that were too few in our old offices. Actually, most of the walls are now boards. It also enables information to be visible by all.
Along the same lines, more and more employees are trying Graphic Facilitation as a way to host their meetings. So we have provided as many surfaces as possible for them to develop their artistic talents.
Furniture on wheels
Since it was still in good condition and offers us great flexibility, we have kept the same furniture. It allows us to ease structural changes and the distribution of tasks within a team, simply by rolling the tables.
What’s changing
Better equipped work rooms
Our teams spend a significant amount of time in meetings, be that for planning sessions, retrospectives, a Lunch & Learn or other types of reunions. So we need appropriate spaces to have these meetings. The new rooms help our work to be even more collaborative.
Comfortable spaces
To answer the various needs, we now have different types of collaboration spaces:
- Discussion booth;
- Work lounge;
- Phone cubicle;
- Idea bar.
And we really look forward to trying these new installations that favour creativity!
A design that represents us
The first thing we notice when entering the new office is light and space. The designers chose a young, industrial and modern look that fits our team.
Sharing our space with a Solidarity Cooperative
We are very happy to share our environment with Le Tiers Lieu. It’s a collaborative workspace for all organizations, companies and individuals wishing to propel their projects while maximizing their social impact through easy access to Collective Intelligence.
Note that the beginnings of Le Tiers Lieu are already successful: Jonathan and Marie-Anne have recently received the social economy prize of the OSEntreprendre challenge.
Having a new workspace is motivating for team members. I share that motivation to work in this stimulating environment that, on top of it, is close to many shops… 😉
Follow us to know all about the upcoming events we will host in our new offices. We will keep you posted about what we are planning for Fall. We are looking forward to see you!
Special thanks to our colleagues who worked on the project, you can be proud of the result. And you, what advantages does your work environment offer?
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