I am researching high-performance culture both in terms of developing teams and also in the environment (physical and virtual) that underpins the desired culture.
Organisational Culture
An organisations culture is of great importance, defining it’s sense of purpose, aligning everything to a direction of travel to maximise the benefits for the organisations stakeholders whether they are internal staff, customers, or my main focus, students in a Higher education context. Most people would agree with the CMI’s definition of culture as ” …shared values, beliefs and assumptions about how people should behave and interact, how decisions should be made and how work activities should be carried out. Key factors in an organisation’s culture include its history and environment as well as the people who lead and work for it. ”
My interest focuses on the environmental side, the physical and particularly the technological environment we inhabit in our workspaces -most of us would probably like to work in a space overlooking sweeping vistas, with walls matched to our colour preferences and adorned with inspirational work to help us be as productive, creative and overall happy within our workspace. The reality, of course, is that compromise is always required regarding the physical space even with the greatest level of flexibility.
Technological Ecosystems
Beyond the physical space though is the technological space we live in – the screens we are looking at for most of the day, the interactions we are having with these interfaces. In the ‘apps age’ User Experience (UX) has really come of age as, if something is difficult to use for us, it is very easy to trash it and try a different app. My interest is in how the entire ecosystem of physical and technological elements come together to create a cohesive space for everyone to excel in. My research is looking at how, in all businesses (although my focus is Higher Education), there is an holistic UX layer where the totality of the technological ecosystem can have an impact on the users:
- It can help support the user and their wellbeing
- It can help foster a sense of belonging and enhance the organisational culture
- It can inspire the user