Photo credit: L.L. Bean via Twitter
When Being an Outsider Isn’t a Bad Thing
L.L. Bean created a program to encourage their employees to bring their work outside. With research backing the ways spending time outdoors improves quality of life, the team at L.L. Bean sought to model their love of nature within their workplace culture. The program, “Be an Outsider at Work,” is the world’s first outdoor coworking space. Employees can host interviews outside, hold blue sky brainstorming sessions and have walk-and-talk meetings outdoors. Some of the new employee onboarding process takes place outside as well. Spending time outside increases creativity, decreases inflammation in the body and reduces stress – imagine all the ways working outside could add to your quality of life, even for a few minutes a day.