Who owns the employee cafeteria? The principle of "leave it to the experts."
I'm Yamaguchi from the department responsible for acquiring new customers and developing new projects.
This is a story about when a company approached NOMURA Co.,Ltd. with a request to renovate their employee cafeteria.
At first glance, it seemed like a relatively simple project involving interiors renovations and furniture changes.
However, when we actually looked into it, the project turned out to be far more complicated than we had anticipated.
What exactly was the problem? And how was it resolved?
Please bear with me for a moment as I tell you this story.
Complex circumstances surrounding office space
The plan to renovate the employee cafeteria initially seemed like an extension of simply replacing interiors and furniture.
However, in reality, it was a project involving multiple departments.
The cafeteria is managed by the Human Resources Department as part of employee benefits. On the other hand, the General Affairs Department, which faces the challenge of a shortage of meeting rooms, has expressed interest in using it as a meeting space at certain times of the day.
Both opinions are expressed with the company's best interests in mind.
However, it was unclear who would coordinate the opinions of both departments and how.
Who is the employee cafeteria for?
Originally, employee cafeterias should be "spaces for users." However, the discussion somehow shifted towards "which should take priority?" Should we protect the quality as an employee benefit, or should we prioritize company-wide efficiency? The more the management's logic takes precedence, the more serious the dilemma becomes.
The problem wasn't the conflict itself, but the direction of the discussion. Instead of focusing on "who is right," we should have been exchanging opinions from the perspective of "how can we make them compatible?"
It's only natural that discussions won't be productive if everyone's objectives aren't aligned.
When a third party acts as a lubricant
We deliberately took on this project as "third parties." Our first step was to carefully listen to both the HR and general affairs departments. When the parties involved are involved, their positions often take precedence, leading to rigid discussions. By acting as an intermediary, we were able to gradually loosen the discussions. Because we were outsiders, we could avoid taking sides and instead translate and organize the intentions of both parties. This was like the "lubricant" of the project.
By returning to the fundamental questions of "what do we want to protect?" and "whose space is this?", the discussion shifted from "which should we prioritize?" to "how can we achieve a balance between the two for our employees?"
Instead of prioritizing the convenience of each department, we focused on the comfort and ease of use for the employees who would be using the space. By re-evaluating the design from this perspective, we were able to create a space that maintains the comfort of a cafeteria while also being suitable for meetings at certain times of the day.
In other words, "Leave it to the experts."
Organizing questions and aligning objectives is also one of the roles of professionals involved in creating spaces.
This story about the employee cafeteria is by no means unique. Similar misunderstandings can occur in cross-departmental projects.
What's important is to maintain the perspective of "what is this space for?" rather than "who is right." However, in situations where different positions are involved, there will be times when it's difficult to sort out the situation on your own.
In such situations, entrusting the task to a third party with specialized expertise is one way to manage your work. Why not consider letting a specialist handle it as one of your options?