Forget, for a second, about whether your company’s workplace is a naturally lit, open space, with funky desks and cappuccino machines — and instead take a look at the people who work in it.
Some workers may be the super productive type, who turn out a lot of product and content, but may fall short on quality. Others may be more focused on quality rather than quantity. And others may be just generalists, who don’t necessarily excel in either area.
A new study published in the Harvard Business Review found that locating workers with complementary strengths (a productive with a quality) could boost organizational performance as much as 15 percent. The study says that for a 2,000 person company, this could add up to $1 million in additional profits.
In the study, the results appeared immediately and vanished quickly if the arrangement was disrupted, suggesting it’s more the result of peer pressure than peer to peer learning. The Wall Street Journal’s Sue Shellenbarger writes about the topic here.
Sometimes the best solutions are right in front of you. But keep the lattes going just in case.