In many ways a business center is like the setting of a play. Everything is in place: the furniture, the equipment, the lights. But just like in a play, there’s more to a business center than these tangible elements. Just as a play comes to life when the actors come on stage, so a business center comes to life because of the people who use it, who interact with each other.
There’s something about a thoughtfully designed and well-run business center that affects the way people work. “In my business center, there’s a sense of high energy,” says one entrepreneur in Chennai. “It’s something you can feel from the moment you enter.” The people who come there are excited about their work and the business center supports this feeling by creating the right atmosphere, combining style and comfort with a touch of creativity.” A well-managed infrastructure is the first requisite, however. Everything must run like well-oiled machinery. Unless that happens and can be taken for granted, the intangible elements that can contribute to a great work culture won’t amount to much. That’s why the best business centers go to such lengths to perfect every detail. Business centers in Delhi, for example, put quality and service excellence on top of their list. A start-up in Bangalore describes her experience: “It’s as if they had read my mind. Whatever I would have liked in my work space was right there. I was excited to start working.” “By the way,” she adds,”someone in the business center started the tradition of doing a high-five with clients at five minutes past the hour. How cool is that? I go into the corridor, do a high-five with like-minded people and even the team from the business center, then get back to work more charged than ever.”(This continued even during the pandemic by doing a mock high-five without actually touching one another.)
“I got a feeling of positivity from people in the business center,” says an executive from a medium-sized business enterprise in Andheri, Mumbai. “My company took the decision to give up its office premises and move to a business center. We were facing growth challenges and I must confess I was feeling a bit down-hearted but there were so many people there with a positive attitude, it was contagious! When my mental attitude changed, my work showed better results.”
And so it goes on. “Every day is an adventure,” says a business executive in Kolkata. “Working from home was more convenient but I did not get the feeling that something new and exciting was about to happen. It seemed like the same old thing. So I started going to the office – my office space in my business center –and somehow things were different. Work actually became fun.”
Though the concept of business centers has been around for a long time, a change has come about in the way many of them are designed, run and managed. The emphasis is not only on the space a person occupies but also on the environment in which he or she works. A great deal of effort goes into making the business center conducive to creativity and innovative thinking. For instance, an inviting lounge or a breakout area (observing the strictest pandemic guidelines, of course) encourages knowledge and experience sharing. One thing leads to another and often new ideas and fresh approaches to problems are generated.
The tangible and the intangible. The best business centers combine both to enhance the work culture of their clients. The setting and the actors help make the play a success. In a business center, too, the stage is set for incredible performances –in real life.