Beanbags in the boardroom and table football on the terrace may not feature in your average contractor's head office, but a more open attitude to work and the working environment can make for happier and more productive people. Less traditional offices seem to be becoming more fashionable. Not that a builder needs to go so far as to have socks hanging from the ceiling and a 'soft room' instead of a boardroom, as in an advertising agency on London's Brick Lane, but there is no doubt that the space around you affects how people work. Simons Group chief executive Paul Hodgkinson says that his firm is keen to work collabora-tively. He moved the firm from eight offices to one location in Lincoln two years ago. "We decided we wanted to be very collaborative all in one location," he says. He was keen for people to exchange information in an open manner.
展开▼
