10 Ways to Improve the Workplace
A great challenge prompt by @roccodesta.
1. Create your own.
The best way to enjoy the ideal workspace is to have it be your own. The best way to do that is to run your own business and not work at an office, but a good runner-up situation is to have a remote job. The point is, as long as you work at an office there will be limits on what you can do to improve the workplace. When you have your own, the limits are only in your mind.
2. Eliminate PC culture.
People will police themselves. If a positive culture is established from the top, which is required for this to work, then most people will treat each other with dignity and respect without onerous rules that leave people afraid to ever speak up about anything.
3. Eliminate email.
People are hooked to their email inboxes like it's crack cocaine. Structure the business such that digital communication is never transferred via email. Use tools like Slack or - gasp! - speak in person or on the telephone.
4. Return to Kellogg's 6-Hour Day.
I strongly recommend anyone interested in flexible work listen to this podcast. It's ENLIGHTENING. And a brief listen. Essentially, it details the surprising results at the Kellogg's corporation during the Great Depression when they switched to a six-hour workday.
5. Allow unlimited vacation.
This would be abused by some but not by most. The majority of workers are too jittery about losing their jobs, or afraid their work will falter if they take too much time off. The concept is to have the option of such freedom, regardless if someone takes advantage of it.
People who are committed to doing great work won't abuse this policy.
6. NO CUBICLES.
"I can't wait to go work in a cubicle!" Said no one in the history of mankind.
7. Remote work as little or as much as you want.
If the company has a physical office (why?), allow employees the option to work in-person or remotely as they wish.
8. Eliminate hourly and salary pay.
Compensate purely based on results, not time worked. Productivity will go through the roof.
9. Base the entire workplace culture around kindness and dignity.
A great workplace culture is such that kindness is the core value. Everyone is treated like a real human being, one who has a mother and a family and who wants the best for themselves and their loved ones. They're not treated like "resources" or cattle that need to be herded to induce productivity, and they are certainly not mistreated due to their gender, race, or any other personal characteristic.
When people are treated with dignity, they are far more productive and happy.
10. No doughnuts!
Sorry folks, but doughnuts = cancer. So does candy, cake, and all the other garbage that seems to permeate many workplaces. Stop bringing them into the office!
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