A change is as good as a rest…

We all have to cope with change. It’s part of any working environment, but it’s often forced on us, and because we aren’t in control it can be stressful and painful. That often leads people to try to keep things as they are and preserve the status quo – but sometimes being made to look at things differently can bring its own rewards.

Sometime ago we had a change round in our studio. No pressing reason – we all just swapped desks and moved computers, phones and personal belongings – it took the best part of a weekend of my time and at least an hour or two of everyone else’s.

At the end of it all, we had only moved a few feet, and there were a couple of muttered comments from people who weren’t sure they liked the new arrangements. With a weekend gone and knees sore from crawling under desks to find the right cables I began to wonder just why we had bothered.

But then we started to see the benefits – nothing spectacular, but definite benefits.

Little things like the member of our team who was no longer by the window and was now too hot – we turned the thermostat down and suddenly the whole place felt fresher and lighter and we saved money and carbon. Suddenly, things that had been easy to do from your chair became something you had to get up to do – but that extra effort made you look for a better way to do that – or even realise that you don’t actually need to do it at all.

I’m looking at a different part of our studio everyday – literally looking at things from a different perspective – and the move meant I had to clear out files of things I’ve been waiting so long to get round to, they aren’t actually worth doing anymore!

Tiny little things that on their own mean nothing – but combined together are delivering real benefits. But even more than that is what it has done for the members of the team. Sitting down at a different desk just reminds them that just because we’ve got used to doing something this way doesn’t mean we can’t change and do it a different way.

It’s genuinely enabling and curiously uplifting.

Physical moves like this can be a great way to start this process – but isn’t always practical for larger companies. Looking at the way your organisation presents itself can have the same effect – but can be easier to control and involve less upheaval.

Clients looking to do this often ask us to create a new look for their organisation – it might be a revolutionary new logo, a revamp of their website or literature – or just an evolution of their existing identity to give a fresh new look to a familiar face.

Whatever it is, it helps people see the familiar in a new light – and just a few small manufactured changes can enable customers and your whole team to stop seeing things the way they were, and start seeing them the way you want them to be in the future.