Startups have changed the economy because they’ve proven that anybody with a good business idea can find funding and reach the market. They’ve also revolutionised business practices and the way people work on a daily basis.
This has mostly happened out of necessity. Startups usually start as small and well-connected teams of experts, and their business practices reflect that. These innovations have soon found their way to larger and more prominent companies and now, everyone is doing it.
Close cooperation
In the initial phase, startups usually have only a handful of employees. More often than not, all the employees are also the founders and the investors as well. This has created a management structure without any hierarchy. Companies are set up in a way that promotes and encourages close cooperation among everyone involved in the business.
This changes the day-to-day dynamic of a company. Everyone is much friendlier and more easygoing if there are no barriers that come with status within a company. This leads to a free and open exchange of ideas.
Peer review
Every company needs to have a system in place that determines who is getting promoted and based on what criteria. This makes the working environment much less stressful and provides motivation for each employee without making the office too competitive. Startups have added a new quality to this process, by relying on peer reviews.
Assessments that come from co-workers are more honest, better tuned in to the needs of the company and they usually come in real-time. The tech involved in organising an office also helps with this quite a bit. It allows employees to provide both in-depth analysis of every coworker, and short notes that deal with a particular issue or set of issues.
Office setup
Working in startups is often quite intense and the schedule changes a lot. This means that offices had to become much more comfortable and friendly. Most offices have more than one break room and game rooms are not that uncommon either. All of this is designed to help the employee unwind and thus be more productive when it’s really important.
Offices should also have kitchens that accommodate diet habits of the employees. Using high-quality appliances will allow your employees to make both quick snacks and more elaborate meals if there’s a need for them.
Payments
Startups have changed the way we are getting paid and what’s considered employment. These businesses are usually small and compact, at least at first, but there’s often a need for additional professional labor, for consulting or in order to work on a particular project.
Full-time employees and part-time employees are often working side by side mixing the benefits of gig economy and traditional company structure. This means that some employees are going to be paid per project, while others will receive a salary based on the number of hours they put in.
A healthy office
Since working hours can get pretty long for startup employees, the office environment should take the workers’ health into consideration. This means providing enough room for breaks and exercise as well as some healthy snacks that could be a good substitute for homemade cuisine.
It’s also very important to provide enough drinking water inside the office, which would discourage the employee from drinking too much sugary drinks. Having a UV water system is the best solution because that way you can rest assured that the water is clean and healthy.
Careers
In the end, startups are changing how people see their careers. The truth is that an average startup doesn’t have that much of a lifespan. In a matter of a year or two, startups either fail or get absorbed by larger companies. This affects how people see their future in the industry.
Careers within a company are becoming much shorter than we are used to and career paths need to be planned across more than one company. Sometimes career paths can span a few different industries with a focus on similar skills and interests.
Startups are changing the way people work in both small and large ways. The way offices are organised is going to have to adapt and so will employees, as all companies are starting to look like startups.
By Derek Lotts
Derek is an Advisory Editor at Smooth Decorator and writes about décor, gardening, recycling, ecology and everything related to home improvement. He thinks all of these topics fall under the self-improvement category. He believes in the power of sharing ideas and communicating via the internet to achieve betterment.