In Bellmont Partners’ 28-year history, our workspaces have evolved nearly as much as our team and the public relations industry as a whole have in that timeframe. From working from home before WFH was a thing, to creating an early office in a former workout studio in Prior Lake, to being pioneers of hybrid work years before the COVID pandemic, we’re adept at adapting our environments to the needs of a growing team. (Take a trip down memory lane for more details on each of these chapters in our history.)
When it came time to reimagine Bellmont Partners’ Edina office, which we’ve called headquarters for 10 years, we knew a few things would be important: 1) Flexibility for our hybrid team, with some folks in the office one day a week and others there nearly every day. 2) Upgraded technology to match the reality of today’s work. 3) More meeting spaces for collaboration.
How to achieve all these goals in the existing footprint – and amidst an overall refresh of carpet, paint, ceiling tiles, lights, HVAC improvements and more – was a functional design riddle that we PR practitioners knew we couldn’t crack alone.
Enter Andrew Fritz, operations consultant extraordinaire. With a background in agency operations and an eye for design, Andrew helped us gather input from the entire team on what everyone wanted to see in the updated space to do their best work, and then worked tirelessly to crack the code on a reimagined office for 2024 and beyond. Read on for an interview with Andrew about the process and newly reimagined space.
The team has been in this space for 10 years and has grown significantly during that time, especially during the work-from-home pandemic years. Between that and the changing work styles in recent years (hello, more video calls!), what was important to keep in mind during this refresh?
As we are all well-aware, the in-office experience has shifted more dramatically in the past four years than any other time. It was so enlightening to be a part of the process with the BP team, learning how they prefer to work, and how that could be translated into the space. Since the agency grew exponentially throughout the pandemic, there was not a precedent for how the entire team of today had worked together in a physical space pre-pandemic. With BP’s long history of a hybrid work schedule, the focus was not on ‘getting people back in the office’ but on making the space a flexible place to connect and collaborate. The first thing we added to the docket was new technology in our core conference rooms to make virtual meetings with clients and colleagues more seamless. We also added a new-to-BP hoteling system for our desks that allows the space to be scalable for potentially more new hires in the years to come, allow private offices for our clients when they are in-office, which also serves as a ‘who’s coming into the office when’ touchstone for the agency.
We embrace our core values – collaborative, connected, invested, flexible and transparent – in all that we do. We also have a commitment to environmental sustainability and wanted to ensure the space was welcoming and inclusive for all employees, clients and visitors. How did these values come through in the office update to help us serve our clients and colleagues best?
At a time when many companies are downsizing or doing away with their physical offices, ‘Invested’ comes to the forefront. The decision to not only keep the physical space, but to renovate and reinvent shows how these core values drive the company. ‘Connected’ and ‘Collaborative’ work better when we’re all together in one space. Virtual meetings have their benefits, however, there is no substitute for person-to-person collaboration to stay connected to our team and clients. When polling the team on what features they would like included in the revamp, it was crucial to make sure the entire space was flexible. Double-occupancy hoteling suites can pivot into a four-person meeting room with the swivel of a monitor, and common area seating turns into pre-meeting huddles and places to enjoy lunch with colleagues. Two adjacent conference rooms now include double doors on a shared wall that can be opened to create one large gathering space – meaning the whole team can once again gather in one space for all-staff meetings.
Early in the process, we also engaged with the Minnesota Neurodivergent Education Advocacy and Therapy Services (MnNEAT) to conduct an audit of the space and review initial plans with all needs in mind. We included their invaluable ideas and recommendations in further planning as much as possible.
And with sustainability top of mind, we were able to keep and repurpose 80 percent of the office’s existing furnishings in the design refresh. Of the 20 percent that we said farewell to, 100 percent of those furnishings were re-homed or donated to Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity ReStore – keeping them in use and out of a landfill. New furnishings were purchased with sustainability best practices in mind and from the agency’s socially responsible purchasing guide whenever possible.
Now that the team has settled into the new space and experienced how hoteling works, how has the feedback been from employees and clients that are coming into the office?
We’ve had a really great response from everyone! People are really enjoying the bright, clean space, and are especially chuffed with the new Teams room conferencing technology; so much so that we are adding the technology to our other conference rooms. We’ve opened up a dialogue with the team through an online form for feedback, and will be addressing any concerns or brilliant ideas as they come up. Next up, we’ll be tackling our outdoor patio area to make sure it receives the same special treatment that our interior space has.
You’ve come to know our team pretty well through this process. Learn anything surprising about how we work or the PR world in general?
Comparing my experience at Bellmont Partners with other agency work I’ve done, I can say how impressed I am with the ‘all-hands-on-deck’ mentality within the company. While everyone has their role and specialty, there is absolutely no ego, and everyone jumps at the opportunity to help make great work for their clients. Also, it’s the highest consumption of sparkling water I’ve seen…is there a PRSA award for that?
We’ll get started on our award entry for “Most Hydrated Agency Team.” In the meantime, Andrew, thank you for taking the time to chat and for your months of hard work to bring this vision to life!
For those reading, we’re excited to welcome visitors into our updated space. Please drop us a line if you’d like to see the improvements firsthand and catch up over coffee (or sparkling water).