Bookshelf cleaning uncovered interesting resources: educational kits, archived client projects, past marketing campaigns, and great mind-jogging books, idea cards, and audios.
Standing the test of decades: “A Whack on the Side of the Head: How to Unlock Your Mind for Innovation” by Roger vonOech, Ph.D. and his “A Kick In The Seat of the Pants: Using Your Explorer, Artist, Judge, & Warrior to Be More Creative.” These books resurfaced in the bookshelf cleaning.
As did a file on Art at Work. Magazine and newspaper articles speak to design, art, and their roles in securing customers, guests, and tenants. People want appealing designs in the places they work. Some companies invest in corporate art collections. Others create spaces for people to collaborate and to be creative without worry. One of the found articles depicts the dozens of creative ways hotels have designed “Do Not Disturb” signs for guest doors. The themes of the hotels are reflected in the lowly, yet important, message door-hanger. A lodge in Wyoming uses a bear holding the “Privacy Please” sign. A Washington, D.C. hotel has a hot pink door hanger with orange lips and “Too Fabulous to Be Disturbed.”
Resources such as door hangers can make a hotel stay memorable, or simply blend into the functionality of the space. Book resources can get individuals and teams into new head space for creativity and problem solving. And office collaboration can be supported by specific resources too.
Here are some stories of office collaboration despite 2020 distancing measures.
- Park picnic to get together once a month. Seeing each other is a part of what motivates many people to work. Cooped up at home for much of 2020, people do want a face-to-face check in from time to time. While weather permits, consider a park picnic – bring your own food; sit far apart; design a bean-bag/corn-hole game that keeps people apart; and yet still seeing each other.
- Mini-golf indoors. A law firm client had 9 holes installed in their office floor so that staff could relax yet stay distanced at work. The individual offices are glass walled – allowing for privacy and for visual contact. The shared hallways allow for walking about distanced from each other. And one casual meeting area has a retractable basketball hoop that comes out for some blow-off-steam time and humanly reconnect time too.
What’s on your bookshelf?
What art and design are helping your business create memorable guest experiences?
How is your team building collaboration?
Invitation from Jana: Your meetings – online and in person – are your most important tool for achieving team successes. If you’re ready to take strategic steps toward managing meetings and results as effectively as possible, we’d love to talk with you about partnering.
Workplace – the Blog: Managing the moments of our day-to-day business lives takes work. Together, let’s explore what issues and activities affect us every day (or some days) that we go to work.