Dr. Gleb Tsipursky – The Office Whisperer
Nirit Cohen – WorkFutures
Angela Howard – Culture Expert
Drew Jones – Design & Innovation
Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
Bayer Guatemala Modern Office Features
Open-plan design
Meeting rooms with state of the art technology
LED lights
Noise absorbing carpeting
Noise absorbing panels
Height adjustable monitors
Big windows and lots of natural light
New recycling system
In-office coffee shop
Brainstorming room (it has no table, only chairs)
In-office gym
Football (soccer) and basketball court
Showers and locker rooms
Childcare facilities for children up to 2 years old
Dining area with outside seating
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Some Extra Perks, Amenities, and Sustainable Practices
Healthy snacks, usually fruits or veggies are given out twice a day (according to a janitorial staff member, it takes about 15 minutes for all of it to be gone).
A store that sells Bayer products for employees
Yoga, spinning, and pilates classes
Drinking glasses are made out of empty glass bottles
Recycling bins
Lots of plants
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Bayer Guatemala went all in for the change, and although everyone still has his or her assigned seat, the dynamics of the entire workplace changed. “No one has a private office or meeting room. The environment itself has changed; it’s more relaxed, friendly, and inviting.”
“We decided to maintain the assigned workstations as a way to improve productivity and efficiency. The seating was arranged depending on the interactions of each team; finance and accounting are in the same area, sales and invoicing in another.”
“We all went through a big change, and many had to adjust their approach to how they work.”
It’s been a little over a year since Bayer transitioned from traditional office to modern and agile workplace. And the results have exceeded expectations.
“We’ve doubled our capacity and cut our energy costs almost by half,” Ziegler mentions. And although the Corporate Manager had his initial doubts about how productivity would be affected, he’s glad to say that, “efficiency has improved, decisions are made faster, and we haven’t had any issues with noise levels.”
Of course, several measures were taken to ease the transition for everyone (something Ziegler recommends for anyone thinking about adopting an open-plan office design).
“We had to lay down some ground rules, if you’re going to take a call you should do so in the call rooms or small meeting rooms. We also gave out a ‘survival kit’ to everyone the day we moved into the new offices. The kit included a pair of earphones, a handbook on open-plan office best practices and behavior, and an individual plant for everyone to keep at their desks.”
Given the turnout of the change and the positive response from employees, Ziegler mentions that more Bayer offices will follow Guatemala’s lead and transform into a coworking model. Even so, Ziegler mentions Bayer Guatemala is not 100% done with changes. “We want to remodel our security gate, the dining area, and we want to install solar panels.”
The transformation of Bayer offices in Guatemala is just one example of how much the coworking movement has accomplished. As more companies and corporations begin to adopt flexible and agile workspace models, we’re wondering in which direction our industry will grow next. We’ve already seen a corporate coworking consultancy open, but what else is going to come out of this change?
