Coolest Workplaces in DFW: Collaboration Changing Business
D Magazine’s Coolest Workplaces piece showcases some spectacular commercial spaces in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Home to some of the worlds largest companies, such as AT&T, American Airlines, and Exxon-Mobil, the DFW metroplex has always been the land of big business. And anyone who watched even a little bit of the TV show ‘Dallas’ knows that Southfork Ranch was built on big deals and big oil. But it’s a new kind of Dallas that is bringing new approaches to commercial spaces, collaboration and bringing new energy to the city voted by USA today readers to have the best skyline in the world. When it comes to exciting new design in a thriving metro area, the ‘new Dallas’ is a one of a kind.
The trends towards more open, social business models and commercial spaces is driven by millenials as detailed in the D Magazine piece:
According to Judy Pesek, the south central regional managing principal of design firm Gensler, younger generations’ priorities are just different. Where baby boomers viewed the work/life balance as a top priority, millennials are looking for jobs with purpose. “They don’t just want more money, more prestige, or a fast track to the C-suite,” Pesek wrote in a post for D CEO Real Estate earlier this year. “They want to feel like their work is meaningful in a larger context; they want to give back to their communities. And, they want to decide how and where they work best. The savvy employer who gets this will have an edge on attracting and keeping top talent.”
Top employers are using design as a central component to appealing to the millennial crowd. It’s a successful solution for getting their attention – something businesses everywhere have otherwise struggled to do. Consider McDonald’s challenges for example.
With 80 million millenials in America alone, making up 25% of the population, businesses must tailor their strategy – both in recruiting and operating – accordingly. Top brands across the country have counted on Clarus Glassboards™ to help achieve such an accomplishment and redefine the commercial space. Glassboards help modernize the commercial aesthetic – important for millennial appeal – but even more importantly, Clarus glassboards foster a collaborative environment encouraging teamwork and improved engagement.
Many of our customers ask us how they can update their space, and how the glassboard can transcend the writing surface, to fulfill more than the whiteboards of yesteryear. And without further ado, here are some of Clarus glassboards’ tips for a cooler workplace:
Clarus glassboards make any commercial space more collaborative and inspiring.
- Open spaces enable collaboration
Critics of open design lament the noise and distractions. But with glass, open doesn’t have to be 100%, open. The Clarus glassboards definition of open focuses on collaboration, not a lack of walls and partitions. Glassboards bring employees together, fostering collaboration, transparency, and teamwork.
- Digital isn’t everything
Ever email a colleague 10 feet from you when you could have just had a quick chat? Truly, technology is circumventing some of the interaction in the workplace. Glassboards are refreshingly analog. Inspiration and leadership require more than emoticons. Give your employees the perfect blend of form and function to communicate and demonstrate leadership.
- Enable serendipitous collaboration
Does your office space create spontaneous collaboration? Holding meetings only in meeting rooms is so 1987. Today’s coolest commercial spaces use glassboards in unlikely places. Because creativity doesn’t always strike in meetings, giving employees a forum to share ideas and seek feedback can change the pace of business.
- Appeal to different learning and communication styles
Glassboards blend visual, with auditory and kinesthetic learning styles. Employees might miss the point in an email or struggle to express themselves. Glassboards are a versatile medium for visual expression with which they can share thoughts and ideas more quickly. Just think about it – don’t you think better standing in front of the glassboard?
- Make a statement on sustainability
There’s a reason millenials choose organic and non-GMO over ‘artificial’. They have the same preferences for the spaces they occupy and want to understand your commitment to sustainability. Woods, glass, brick, metal are all thriving as the eco-friendly materials of the modern workplace. And glassboards take it a step further – they never need replacement and are budget sustainable as well – a great lesson in holistic design.
