Inside a Norwegian Office

The modern Norwegian corporate office is a thing of beauty. Imagine a vista of sensible floor plans along with that slick Scandinavian furniture in a workplace that is as efficient as the Norwegians that occupy it.

The Design Philosophy

Like many things in Norway, much thought is put into the office design and overall experience. You won't find many dark, lifeless offices like you find throughout the world. Instead you'll find big open windows with amazing views.

Open spaces, calm colors, exposed wood and great coffee machines with touch screens make them a worker's paradise. Even when the Norwegian worker is at the office it's important their precious nature is still within reach or at least within view.

No Corner Offices

You won't find many mazes of endless cubicles nor will you find many private offices. This isn't America where one's office sends a clear signal of your status in the company.

The American executive often dreams of obtaining the coveted corner office as the ultimate symbol of status. Sometimes this even goes as far as putting the executive's office on a higher floor and overlooking the rank-and-file, lower-level employees. That is of course so they can easily survey their domain and loyal subjects.

It also creates a very clear distinction of where one sits in the multi layered hierarchy of the American office place. This is less important in the flat hierarchy of Norwegian companies where they go to great lengths to avoid such perceptions of inequality.

A Calm and Quiet Environment

In addition to this equality there's a calm and peace found inside the Norwegian office. However, if you ever want to cause pandemonium within these walls I recommend this one simple trick: go around and ask every single person "How are you doing!?" when you arrive in the morning.

This type of pleasantry might be common in other work cultures but not so much in Norway. Instead it's more common for workers to arrive at their desk and not speak to a single soul.

Norwegians are also notoriously awful making small talk as well. So if you ask how they are doing, they might even take you seriously and start telling you about all sorts of random personal issues!

American vs. Norwegian Morning Routine

Right away I noticed this is much different than a typical American office. A start of the day in USA might look more like:

As you can see there's a lot of social interaction before the day really gets going. No wonder Americans have to work so many extra hours at the office! We spend our time much less efficiently. We even have what is best described as a 'water cooler culture' where employees often gather around the water cooler or coffee machine to converse extensively.

Of course in Norway the water is so clean and pure one simply needs to take it directly from the tap, no water cooler needed!

The Early Start

The Norwegian work day also starts significantly earlier than in other cultures, sometimes clocking in at 7:30am. In California we might come into the office as late as 10:00am, requiring us to stay much later in order to get in a proper day's work.

So while many like to criticize Norwegians for leaving the office so early – typically around 4:00pm – this is not so bad when you consider how early some of them start their day.