The secret to unlocking workplace productivity improvements lies in asking the right questions from the outset. http://bit.ly/23M6s0O

1. To achieve meaningful results from workplace transformation, first
understand what drives business performance and client experience
for your organization.

2. 1. What constitutes value for your business?

3. This question can be answered by strategists and leadership in an
organization, though it is often not articulated in a clear, significant
way. What does your company value most? Profit? Innovation?
Community impact?
There are likely many things you’d like to achieve, but not every
goal is a driving value. You should be able to identify a few core
values that you measure every activity against.
1. What constitutes value for your business?

4. 2. What is the desired client experience?

5. 2. What is the desired client experience?
When discussing workplace transformations, questions about the
client are often an afterthought because the focus is on the staff.
However, you can’t assist employees in providing the best, or
correct, client experience if you haven’t defined what that
experience is.
Map the client journey from start to finish. How many touch points
should there be? What’s the preferred medium? What is the sensory
and emotional response you’re looking for in each interaction?
Knowing this information in detail will help you create a workplace
that supports the employee’s role in the client’s journey.

6. 3. What observable behaviors are required to
drive those outcomes?

7. 3. What observable behaviors are required to
drive those outcomes?
Here is where you combine the insight from steps 1 in 2. Identify
the behaviors that will produce your desired value and client
experience. What can you actually see, touch and feel that reflects
the outcomes you’re trying to achieve?
Identify crucial work processes, day-to-day activities and
behaviors that contribute to your goals. Will your employees
need to entertain clients, concentrate alone, or brainstorm with
others? Are certain times of the year busier/more crowded in the
office? How are projects managed? Think about the tools and
strategies you use—or would like to use. Asking these questions is
essential to establishing an accurate road map for your workplace
strategy.

8. 4. How can your workplace better enable this
behavior?

9. 4. How can your workplace better enable this
behavior?
The workplace is the final piece of the puzzle that will help enable
and stimulate the behavior that will drive the value you want. Once
you know how you’ll use the space, you can build the workplace
around that insight.
Now more than ever, businesses are realizing that there are no rules
when configuring a workspace. You may need a state-of-the-art
conference room, or maybe your meetings are smaller and more
casual. Perhaps most of your employees work remotely, so rows of
desks aren’t very practical. Your research team might be split by
industry, so maybe you organize their workspace that way. The only
workplace rule is that it supports the work performed there.