The intricacies of organizing a flexible office from the LIIS company
In May 2024, two charming female employees of the company LIIS gave us a tour of the office in St. Petersburg. Polina Shilovaproduct marketer, and Ulyana KravchenkoProduct Manager at Simple Office, told us not only about the workspaces set up on three floors of the office, but also about the unique open roof, where on warm summer days, under a canopy with ottomans, you can work with a laptop in the fresh air, admiring the wonderful views of the historical part of the city.
What are the strengths of LIIS as an IT solutions developer?
Ulyana (U): We attract young, talented, creative employees to our ranks and create a comfortable environment for them.
Polina (P): The LIIS office has created conditions for productive work, including teamwork, which allows employees to manage their working time efficiently. We adhere to the “Work-life blend” concept, which assumes that work is life, so it should be comfortable.
U: For example, when there is no urgent workload at work, and I need to do maintenance on my car, I can go on my own business during the day, but later, in the evening, compensate the employer for this time and stay late. This is how the “home/work” boundary is erased. It's cool in the office, and my colleagues are in the office. I choose a place where I feel comfortable: quiet, where I can concentrate or, on the contrary, have a brainstorming session with the team. This is what we put into the concept of a modern office.
What has been done in your office to make it comfortable for employees to spend time there?
U: Firstly, the design and functionality of our office correspond to modern trends: a lot of natural light, private areas, offices, open space. There are large meeting rooms equipped with tables, screens and videoconferencing for presentations, there are smaller ones with chairs where you can comfortably discuss a task with a colleague one-on-one. There is a large conference room, which, if necessary, can be transformed into two by lowering the partition. There are booths for telephone conversations. All premises have automated engineering systems: lighting, ventilation, climate.
P: Thanks to flexible zoning, a review can take place in one part of the conference room, and a warm-up session for which colleagues gather daily can take place in another. At the same time, no one disturbs anyone else.
U: The main advantage is our IT solutions for managing office space. Through the mobile application, we book meeting rooms, work places, we can book parking and lockers (storage spaces).
But what if your reservation has expired and the meeting with the management hasn't ended yet? You wouldn't tell the director: “Vacate the premises, it's my turn!”
U: There are separate meeting rooms for the management team, which, thanks to the flexible settings of the Simple Office system, can be booked only for certain groups of employees. We can set any rules for booking: only on your floor, point booking, and others. Colleagues see all locations on the map, but can only book what they have access to. And, of course, when this location is not occupied (the booking calendar is also in the application). This allows us to avoid such situations.
How is the navigation issue resolved?
U: Navigation is available in our mobile application, which is installed on each employee's smartphone. You can specify the desired location, and the map will tell you which direction to go. You can also find the desired colleague, their workplace, view their profile: office hours, email, phone number, and photo. This is a very convenient tool for onboarding newcomers.
P: In addition to booking, we also have other services:
management of engineering systems – you can use a mobile application to configure lighting, air conditioning, etc.;
own ticket management system. For example, an employee went into the kitchen and saw that the coffee was over. He doesn’t need to go to the secretary — he just needs to create a ticket, and the corresponding employee will fulfill it. Moreover, the ticket is easy to track and understand how quickly the request was fulfilled.
Tell us more about the corporate culture: what else, besides industrial gymnastics, can employees do?
P: We have our own gym with a locker room and shower, lounge areas where you can play board games, PlayStation. On the roof there are tables and soft chairs, balance boards and a table football. Colleagues can also get together and watch movies on the projector in the evening.
U: Corporate culture is not so much about what the employer gives to the employee, but about energizing employees for self-realization and development within the company. Of course, our company organizes large-scale corporate events, but it always supports the initiative of employees: we easily get together ourselves – we ride SUPs, go out of town.
Is the office often used as a “live” demo room?
P: Our office is a case demonstrating all our products, engineering systems and software. Everything we create, we create, first of all, for ourselves. Only after that the product enters the market. And, of course, we invite partners and potential clients to visit us. Students come to us for excursions and internships.
Who are your customers?
P: We are, first and foremost, a general contractor. Our projects include engineering solutions for PJSC Gazprom, PJSC Gazprom Neft, MFC Lakhta Center, VKontakte, SIAB Bank and other companies. We also develop IT solutions for the digitalization of construction processes and property management. Among the clients using the Simple Office product are such companies as Vkusno — i tochka, Avito, Lemana PRO and others.
How is hybrid mode implemented in the office?
U: We have assigned and unassigned workstations – it depends on the department and the work schedule. Accounting, for example, constantly works in one office and prefers to be in the office all five days. And IT specialists prefer to book a workstation where it is convenient and choose a hybrid schedule.
P: It is not necessary to work at the workplace all the time. You can, depending on your mood, go to the roof or to the lounge area, or take a small meeting room. And, as we have already said, we adhere to the “Work-life blend” concept. In LIIS, KPI is calculated not by the number of hours spent in the office, but by the number of tasks solved, and the final result is assessed.
Instead of a conclusion
P: If you are in St. Petersburg, come and visit us. The office is located at the following address: St. Petersburg, Professor Popov Street, 23A. We will be happy to give you a tour and show you how our modern hybrid office functions!
U: And if you want to try our software (booking system for flexible office), then on the website simpleoffice.tech You can leave a request and use the system for free for 30 days.
Interview participants
