Unfolding Narratives

You mention autonomy and ownership as key factors that define
your office space. How does it manifest in the design?
Hike is a flexible performance driven company. Autonomy and
ownership is the key to our culture. We believe in getting the best
people on board and unleashing their potential. Employees then don’t
need to be managed. Our workspace has so many options; spaces of
solitude, hammocks and the most comfortable seating styles, gardens,
recreational and fitness spaces and so on. We’ve got a café stocked
24/7!
Our people are organised in cross-functional teams of 6-10, which
drive features and innovations you see at Hike. They are results
focused and flexible in how they approach their projects. Once the
project is completed, the team dissolves and team members align to
other projects. This ensures agility, ownership, autonomy and growth
for our people.
Can this ‘newage’ look and feel of the design be a general standard
for better staff productivity in any office?
Technology is one of the most fast evolving industries today and hence
this is the sector that is seeing most change in the way they approach
their people and places. However, any company must decide its own
work culture. Ultimately, every business is an organisation and its
people set its culture and drive how the workplace should look like.
How has your staffs responded to it?
Most were lost for words. People love the new workplace and we’re
still adding a few more pieces here and there. It’s a little more lived
in. Once we got employees to the new workplace, I personally took
them for office tours in small groups – talking about every little detail.
Everyone was extremely excited when we did that. Today, it’s
interesting to watch them utilise all the different workspaces to the
maximum potential.
Architecture Update March 2016 27