Office talk: Have your say
We want your views on what makes the perfect global office.
Who are your role models, how do you navigate through the maze of technology and how can you achieve a glowing annual staff review?
Have your say about Global Office. CNN's Richard Quest and Becky Anderson will read the best e-mails on air.
January 27 , February 3 , February 16
March 1 , March 22 , March 29
April 6 , April 21 , May 10
At the heart of workplace democracy lies the human need for "equity" -- to be treated with respect, dignity and to be recognized for one's own unique contribution. Sadly, our bureaucratic business models focus entirely on trying to achieve "equality" -- which ranks lower on the scale of human needs than equity. Albert Koopman, Vancouver, Canada
Business enterprises should have a clear internal demarcation of what can be and cannot be democratic. From a production perspective, employees can be encouraged to give process improvements with an end to improve productivity. From a people perspective, employee groups can be encouraged, which should be self-driven, thus helping manage work-life balance within the organisation. Ranjan Matthew, Pune, India
I watch with interest the clip of collective decision making at the Brazilian firm. In my experience the average level of general education required to make it work has a lower limit. Without some basic understanding of how businesses work, how markets develop and how banks fund ventures, collective management by the uninformed declines into frustrated dictatorship. I have concluded that a better and more reliable business model is to use more traditional work and management partitioning while handing 20-25 percent of the company's profits to those employed, paying 75-80 percent to investing shareholders. Crispin Pemberton-Pigott, Matsapha, Swaziland
In some companies bosses do whatever is possible to develop their own images and engage in their own politics. If any organization needs to get the best possible contribution from its employees they should implement Ricardo Semler's ideas. Sumithra De Silva, Colombo, Sri Lanka
I think that everyone has felt sleepy after a lunch in a job, this a normal "need" for us, in particular when we eat fatty meals. To cope with that we should shift our eating habits and our employers should establish a room for sleep in a workplace. Ladislav Jelinek, Prague, Czech Republic
I feel it is very personal whether an employee likes a job. If the person likes the job he or she is doing, then that person will not feel that they are spending much time in the office unless the office is not comfortable for that person. Onyebuch Ndukwe, Umuahia, Nigeria
I read Ricardo Semler's book "Maverick" earlier this year and found it compelling and reassuring. I have been trying to create participative management model for the past three years, in spite of skeptism by people both in other companies and my own firm. Testament to our success has been the fact that I can take four months out of the office and the team are building the company in my absence. In my experience participative management is fundamentally sound, but suffers some fundamental issues have to be addressed by both the business owner and the people that work within the organisation. The owner has to be willing to trust the people that they employ, and bring them into each area of the business, and eventually allow them to make decisions that determine the path of the business. This runs counter to the psyche of most entrepreneurs who seek control. Jim James, Singapore
It comes as no surprise that innovative workplaces are being established here in Brazil. The fact is bosses love to control their employees because there is no sense of trust and no loyalty on either side. But people are not machines, they are human beings, with lives, families and friends -- these are the things that make life worthwhile, not working 16-hour days until we die. The corporate world loves this idea, maximum productivity with no retirement benefits, but society as a whole suffers greatly. I personally attribute many of the ills in the U.S. to inadequate care by a baby boom generation hell bent on making money. When corporations see their workforce as a family -- or at least as humans with lives outside the office -- bosses sense the real needs of their people. Employees do not always want a raise or more superficial perks. Money, contrary to popular belief, cannot solve all ills. Michael De La Peņa, Brazil
I teach "the business of health care" part time at a local university in our area. One thing that I try very hard to get across to my students is that if you are going to take your place in the corporate world, you must learn to leave "street language" at home and remember that you are what and how you project yourself. If you send a memo with careless spelling mistakes, you give the impression that you are careless in your work and others will not take you seriously. I am amazed, and disheartened, at how many memos and other publications I read with blatant spelling and grammar errors which, many times, change the entire intent of the of document. Susan Miedzianowski, Clinton, Minnesota
A good customer relationship program is only successful when the customer knows that there is a person, a real person involved behind the software. A person that is trusted can deliver higher margin products. Dr Harold Dresner, Karmiel, Israel
