(Bk Business) Carol Kinsey Goman Ph.D.-The Nonverbal Advantage_ Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work -Berrett-Koehler Publishers (2008)

130 The Nonverbal Advantage
actual Cat employees. The result was amazing: with a little
imagination, you could actually picture yourself in a European
market square surrounded by familiar sights and faces.
Employees were then encouraged to use the piazza for
informal meetings and discussions. “Let’s discuss it over a cup
of coffee in the piazza” has now become part of Caterpillar’s
business culture in Geneva. And because so many people use
it for regular exchanges, it’s become an important means of
sharing information on an impromptu basis as well. But the
most impressive result is how workplace design helped build
workforce camaraderie and a common sense of purpose.
In a completely different type of enterprise, AdFarm, a
Canadian advertising agency, uses workplace design to symbolize
organizational values. According to Art Froehlich, a
senior partner with the firm: “In our organization the owners
have windowless offices, and staff members are assigned
the nicer rooms with views. No one has a corner office. All
those are turned into meeting rooms. Using space this way
is one way we communicate our values to employees. And,
by the way, we’ve been chosen as one of the fifty best workplaces
in Canada.”
Using space, creating your own space, or invading someone
else’s space can, as we’ve seen, play a critical role in how
we interact in business situations.
It’s been decades since space exploration began and the
first Russian and American satellites orbited the Earth. As it
applies to professional relationships, however, it seems that
we are on the frontier of a different “Space Age.” Make that
exploration work for you by understanding the messages that
are being sent—and need to be respected—when people use
space and distance as part of their workplace communication.