Starbucks didn’t become the most visited coffee chain in the world because they make the best coffee. They don’t. Sometimes it just tastes like plain crap.
Starbucks became what they are because of how they designed the experience of being there.
They all have comfortable seating, warm lighting, soft music, free wifi, and they put your name on the cup. At least they try to. They’re crappy at spelling. But everything aside from that spelling issue is intentional. Everything is sending the same message to the customer.
The message is: you belong here.
The Office Tour I Can’t Forget
That’s what I was thinking recently when a client took me on a tour of their brand new office space.
It’s a beautiful looking space. They had all the things. Foosball table. Ping pong table. Cold brew on tap. They had a brand new logo on a light-up sign and a whole wall painted with their company values in giant letters.
And then I saw the chairs at the employees’ desks.
They were kind of cheap looking. Closer to the kind you find at a banquet hall than an executive office. You know the chairs. The ones that make your tailbone beg for mercy by midday.
I pointed at them.
“Why those chairs?”
The CEO shrugged. “Budget. We saved a fortune. Do you know how expensive chairs are these days?”
So I looked at the wall. The one with the giant letters. With their core values.
Then I shook my head.
What Is Environmental Psychology?
There’s this thing called environmental psychology. Most companies have never heard of it. And very few take it seriously, even if they have heard of it.
The idea is pretty simple. Your physical space shapes how people think, how they feel, and how they work. And I’m not talking about this in some fuzzy, feel-good way. This is documented, it’s researched, and it’s a measurable fact.
Your office is influencing people’s productivity right this second. Whether you know it or not. And whether you meant it to or not.
The Message Your Office Sends Every Day
Here’s where it gets a little bit uncomfortable, depending on you.
Your office sends a message to every single person who works there, every single day. They show up and it’s one of 2 messages.
The message is either: we thought about you.
Or: we didn’t.
And once I show you where to look for it, you are going to see this everywhere.
