How Office Furniture Design Leads to Better Business

If you run a business, you’re concerned with keeping your employees as focused, efficient, and productive as possible.  The design of your office space can play a bigger in role in this than you may realize. Old design approaches had rows of cubicles, with workers all toiling away at their desks. When employees spend day after day in a maze of little cubicles, it’s easy to become demoralized. It also leads to wasting time looking for co workers, trying to find a meeting room, or being distracted by the people chatting in the adjacent cubicle.

Modern office design trends aim to open things up, for the benefit of employees and management alike. Workers will be happier with a more vibrant, open workplace, and management will be more pleased with more productive employees. Here are some tips on how to design a more effective workplace.

It’s not all about the desk

Workers today don’t need to be chained to their desk all the time. It’s not healthy for the human body to be seated in the same position for eight hours a day – our bodies were made to move. Variety also makes people feel better about their day, reducing the tedium that can set in from spending a full day at your desk. You can use an assortment of different spaces in your office, designed for different purposes.

Open up the cubicles

Cubicles are depressing, and can really make employees feel like a rat in a maze. It’s hard to be inspired and creative when you’re sitting in one of a hundred identical grey cubicles. The artificial lighting in these cube farms also dampens people’s mood and fosters a negative attitude. If you make the move to an open workspace, it creates a more vibrant environment with greater natural light, which increases employee satisfaction and may help your recruiting efforts, too.

Reduce interruptions

Another downside to cubicles is that there are almost always interruptions and distractions.  Either a co worker is stopping by your cubicle to chat, or they’re having an impromptu meeting in the cubicle next to you. Having a flexible office design means people can pick their own environment for the task at hand. When they need to collaborate, they do. When they need some uninterrupted heads-down time, they can move to a quiet zone and work hassle free.

Provide spaces for collaboration

Many companies have a shortage of conference rooms, because most of the floor space is allocated to cubicles. When people can’t find an open meeting room, they end up chatting in their cubicles, which disturbs everyone around them. When you open up your office space by dismantling cubicles, there’s more room for people to work together. Employees can choose to work in a quiet zone or a collaboration zone, whichever they need at the time.

Create special purpose spaces

Cubicles are identical, and generally each person is carefully allocated the exact same items – a small filing cabinet, a white board, or whatever the company standard is. If you want anything special, such as a flip chart or extra computer, it’s difficult to arrange. You can solve this by providing special purpose spaces, such as presentation rooms with audio visual equipment, or brainstorming areas with walls of whiteboards.

Make room for socializing

When employees are allowed to interact informally, they bond with each other, and tend to feel more supportive of each other and shared company goals. They’re also more likely to share ideas and help each other solve problems. When you offer social spaces such as a dining room, employee lounge, or even a game room, it helps foster these important employee interactions.

Does proper office furniture design lead to better business? Absolutely; people work better in modern-looking spaces. Companies are willing to do a lot these days to please their personnel. Famous enterprises like Amazon and Google have already started providing their people with a different work space. Relaxation room, vibrant office colours, lounge areas, interactive games during breaks, and advanced technology for them to work with are several important aspects that boost productivity.

Creating a cool office space doesn’t just boost morale; it helps your company look innovative too, so you might want to have that aspect in mind the next time you think of implementing dull cubicles in your company.

10 top tips for creating the perfect office space

No one likes working in cramped and claustrophobic conditions, and in fact these can be quite dangerous, so space optimisation is key to creating the perfect office environment.

Here are 10 top tips to bear in mind when designing your new office space:

1. Maximise storage

Despite most offices now switching from paper to digital files, we’ll bet you still have a load of paperwork, books and other materials, don’t you? Don’t let this pile high and litter your desk. Instead, install handy wall storage. This will keep your items safe and organised while giving you some space to breathe (and work!)

2. Clear walkways

Avoid an employee legal dispute by making your business premises a safe place to work. To do this keep walkways clean, clear and free from tripping hazards. Provide storage lockers for the staff to put their bags and coats in, supply shelving to store paperwork, and ensure no wires stretch across walkways.

3. What’s to hand?

The way your desk is laid out can mean the difference between having back pain or not. Some simple moves, so that items are close to hand, can make a huge difference.

Your computer monitor should always be in the centre of your desk and level with your eye line. This should be an arm’s length away from you with the screen slightly tilted towards you. Any other frequently used items should be within easy reach so no stretching is required.

4. Hang boards where you can see them

This is a simple one – place whiteboards and noticeboards where they will be seen. In an ideal world you shouldn’t have to get out of your seat to view them.

5. Create a welcome space

First impressions count. Don’t leave your clients hanging around by the door; instead provide them with a welcoming reception or seating area. Comfy chairs, some reading material and the offer of a beverage will make that wait fly by.

6. Freshen up

Your office can be well-laid out and spacious, but if it is stuffy or the wrong temperature, productivity can take a tumble. Make sure there is ample airflow by opening windows or fitting an air con system, and make sure to have heating for the winter!

7. Give yourself space

Do you have great spatial awareness? Well, sadly not everyone does. That is where recommended spatial plans come in handy. Each employee should have 150cm of space behind their desk. This provides plenty of room for a chair and to move comfortably without having to squeeze past colleagues.

8. Keep wires tidy

With computers, printers and other electronics you are bound to have dozens of wires stretching around the room. Keep these tidy using cable accessories in order to avoid wear and tear or accidents. Or if you’re feeling flash you could even fork out on wireless options.

9. Colour motivation

Did you know that the colour of your office can affect the way your employees work? Well, the Colour Affects System states that different colours influence people in different ways. For example, yellow is inspiring, green is calming and blue improves open-mindedness.

So do you want your staff to feel stimulated in order to boost work speed or would you prefer them to be relaxed and ensure that a job is well done when time is not necessarily a factor? Think about the colours you use in your office carefully; they have a greater effect than you think.

10. Declutter

Before you make the big move to your new office space, get sorting! A major declutter will highlight any items you can do without that are currently taking up space and collecting dust. Clutter can undermine motivation and productivity and you don’t want that do you?!

It’s not the end of the world if you can’t throw things away though, commercial removal companies can help you carefully pack and move everything to minimise disruption. 

If you are looking fro more ways to create your perfect working environment why not give us a call for a free consultation.

0121 232 8702

www.hi-design.biz

Top 10 workplace trends in office furniture

1. Businesses emphasise collaboration.
Workplaces are becoming flatter, with less hierarchy and more emphasis on working together. As a result, office furniture is being designed for more casual collaboration such as modular desks which can be arranged and re-arranged in a number of different configurations.

2. Everyone is expected to get their hands dirty.
CEOs no longer rely on a secretary for their grunt work. Executives are more hands on, answering emails and checking their tablets. As a result, executive chairs are now being designed with tuck-away tablets for CEOs to work on their iPads and smartphones.

3. You’re always working.
Whether you are on a break, eating lunch, or waiting in reception, you need to be able to answer a call, check your email, or browse the internet. As a result, comfortable seating options with arm rests are designed for even the breakroom.

4. Workplaces are more creative.
In the old days, companies and organisations were focused on efficiency. With so many businesses working on intellectual property, workplaces are now designed to encourage creativity. That means office furniture is becoming more colourful with more artistic options.

5. Everyone is using lots of different kinds of technology.
In the past, you might have had just a computer on your desk. Now, you’re liable to be using a computer, a tablet and a smartphone, sometimes all at the same time. Many office desks are now designed with two table-top grommets to keep all your tech wires organised and out of the way.

6. Companies are trying to be more spontaneous.
Businesses no longer need just a set of office chairs for a group meeting. They need seating that can be configured on the fly for an ad hoc group of employees from different departments working on a project. That means office furniture needs to be more versatile having more than one purpose, like chairs that have a swivel tablet for meetings that can be stowed when not in use making the chair a great option in other settings too.

7. Each worker is more important.
Companies today are smaller, meaning each individual employee is more important. Today’s managers work harder to prevent employees from leaving, and one way they do this is by offering a comfortable work environment. As a result, office chairs for the everyday employee are now more comfortable with things like moulded form soft seating and stand-up desks that are ergonomically designed .

8. Everyone’s working longer hours.
The days of 9-to-5 with an hour for lunch and three breaks are in the past. Today, chairs need to be designed with ergonomics in mind to allow workers to sit in them for long periods of time. That means office chairs are being designed for more than eight hours of use per day and come with as many as 16 different ergonomic configurations for unparalleled customisation.

9. Companies want to show they value the environment.
Companies are working to show that they care about the environment regardless of what industry they are in. Furniture with low chemical emissions made from recyclable material is one way to show this corporate value. As a result, office furniture that is 'eco-friendly' is becoming popular with workplaces that want to demonstrate their commitment to the environment.

10. More people are working from home.
With an increasing number of companies allowing employees to work from remote locations, more people are working from their home office, which means there is a greater need for office furniture designed for home use, many times to fit smaller spaces. There are now more options than ever to design a home office that is stylish, yet efficient and comfortable.