To continue in more detail from yesterday’s entry, one of the things about the PACE construction project was the consideration of workspace that had gone into the planning. It was the first area we were asked to assess. One of the problems with the office space in a lot of performing arts facilities is that they are almost inserted as an after thought into the design. Ticket offices especially seem to get the short shrift especially in light of the fact they are the location where 90% of interaction with the public transpires. You want to improve customer service? Try knocking out a few walls and giving the ticket office personnel some room to work!
The placement of staff in relation to each other is an important consideration. A gentleman from Iowa whose offices were inundated by the floods earlier this spring/summer talked about how the dynamics of staff interactions had changed since their temporary quarters forced them to all work on the same floor. He noted what an impact a single set of stairs, or lack thereof, can make.
Much of the conversation was general covering the theoretical needs of each department based on people’s experiences at their home institutions. Some positions need privacy to discuss details. Some need secure storage for personal and financial information. Some, like graphic designers, need to have access to natural light and perhaps control the lighting in their space. The question arose, since you can’t put all the department heads and their support staffs in one place, is it theoretically better to have the department head near the executive director or near his/her staff?
This would be especially true for marketing. If the organization operates under the philosophy that marketing is the job of everyone in the organization, they should have prominent placement in the facility. In a presenting organization it was also felt that the programming person should be in close proximity to keep lines of communication open regarding the viability of promoting different artists. The counter argument to this was that creative types, including the marketing director, tended to thrive in less formal environments than existed near executive offices. Ultimately, the consensus from the marketing people in the group was that they would suffer the neckties if it facilitated the marketing department’s activities.
My stints in marketing departments seem much more straitlaced by comparison. I feel deprived. This was one of the places where the direct value of participation in the project to professional development started to coalesce. At conferences we talk about how to attract audiences to our theatres. What we don’t get a chance to share is how we have arranged our work environment to enhance interactions among staff members.
An observation that continued to be mentioned was that whatever arrangements and organizational culture emerged in the first few years would become the founding precedent for the next 40 years. It can’t be easy for the people at PACE to make these decisions with the awareness of the possible repercussions lingering at the edge of their thoughts.
Some details of this entry have been changed since original posting to comply with confidentiality agreements.