4 workspace must-haves for noise reduction

One of the major arguments going against open plan workspaces is the amount of noise that people are subjected to when working from there. This doesn't go to say that cubicles or partitions are any better, as they tend to let noise in quite easily.

Workspace noise hampers productivity; but it can also hinder collaboration When people are constantly distracted from their work, they can become deeply frustrated, making them less likely to collaborate and socialise with their co-workers. If this is the case, then modern workspaces are far from fulfilling their mission to drive collaboration and innovation. So, how can flexible workspaces enhance their design to reduce noise without compromising their openness? Here are our solutions:

Informal Meeting Areas

These can be located in various corners around a workspace and they serve as small and casual meeting rooms. It is important for these informal meeting areas to be distanced from workstations and desks in order for them to be effective.

Their purpose is to serve as an alternate in which members can host meetings with clients or alternatively with one another in a way that won’t distract or ‘get in the way of’ other members. If necessary, these areas can also have some privacy by including curtains of movable partitions that allow members to choose between an open informal meeting space or a private one.

Breakout Rooms

Designated space where members and co-workers can blow some off steam. They’re characterized by having comfortable couches, ping-pong tables, and the like. These spaces are where members can bond and forget about work for a little and focus on getting to know one another or give themselves a break.

Having breakout rooms in your workspace will contribute to less noise by encouraging members to go to these areas when they feel like they need to talk, take a break, or relax for a little. Proving a space like this is one way to make sure that members still collaborate and get to know one another without disrupting other members’ work time.

Quiet Zones

Think of these as the quiet zones in libraries. Phone and music free areas that will drive concentration and productivity. As in a library, these spaces can also be open planned and with shared desks, as long as your community is respectful of the norms.

Placing ‘no talk’, ‘do not disturb’, and ‘phones not allowed’ signs can potentially help these spaces be more successful in their purpose.

Phone Booths

We all need to take a call at some point during the day. Phone booths are a great noise reduction solution for flexible workspaces, particularly open plan ones. Phone booths provide the privacy and flexibility that members need in order to speak over the phone or have an on-line meeting.

Could relocating your office better suit your brand?

Moving office is not dissimilar to moving house. It can be stressful and filled with a long list of confusing legalities, but it also presents a wonderful opportunity to reinvent your environment and create a space that is fit for purpose and welcoming.

1. Why move?

Consolidation, lease breaks and bringing teams together under one roof, or simply looking for a cheaper rent, are the most common reasons for relocating. However, we’ve noticed another trend that is emerging among both big and small enterprises – companies are now moving their office spaces with the aim of having a place that better represents them and boosts their brand. As the office space can physically represent the type of business you run, the talent you have, and the clients you work with, it holds within it a major competitive advantage, especially if you do it right.

2. Good office design

Of course, there are the obvious benefits. Office relocation has been known to have a positive impact on streamlining working practices and patterns, improving the company’s overall workplace culture, re-energising staff, and attracting and retaining the best possible talent. However, as with moving home, relocation is not for the faint-hearted. There is a lot of detail to consider and a good office design is fundamental to this process.

Firstly, you will need to have a really good understanding of the business and its brand to work out what’s needed. Often senior management will think that it understands what the business needs and this may very well be the case in some instances, but not always.

3. The idea of change

It is worth getting staff involved and doing the necessary legwork before making any final design decisions. Staff engagement during office relocation has always been important, but be sure you don’t scare people by asking too many questions too early on. Instead, allocate team leaders who can relay the necessary information between staff and the design team that will help build up your plan, while sensitively introducing the idea of change to the workforce.

Additionally, doing a bit of investigative work in the first instance can be really useful in developing a workplace strategy. You wouldn’t move into a new home without understanding the new property or how different rooms could be used for different purposes – the same goes for your new office. Once you’ve properly explored your needs and the new location, a workplace strategy can help to outline the parameters and highlight the best opportunities for change.

4. How much space do you need?

As part of this assessment, you may find that the smallest details can actually make a big difference. You may not actually need more meetings rooms, for example. Usually on average, 10 per cent of booked meeting rooms consist of one person conducting a phone call or trying to concentrate on an individual task. Also most meeting rooms are just too big, with only a third of the seats being used in the space. As a result, a lot of businesses are now shifting to social settings, with meetings taking place in coffee-shop style spaces. The same misjudgement can also apply to the actual layout of your desks. Open-plan tends to be the norm, but people can often struggle to concentrate in open-plan environments and this can result in huge productivity loss.

5. Don’t be a copycat 

A hugely important thing to remember is that your brand is your own. One of the biggest mistakes we have seen businesses make is trying to copy what has already been done. It’s easy to become misled by the values of other businesses. Google might be renowned for having a very ‘cool’ and forward-thinking office space, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that its office design would suit your brand. Every company will have its own approach to working practices and, while it’s good to aspire to the values of a respected brand, that’s very different from actually imitating its operational and organisational culture.

10 Steps to a Successful Office Move

Step 1 - Where to start?

The reasons for moving office are many and varied but for the most part are pre-empted by a current lease expiring or a looming lease break. Moving office is a fantastic opportunity to look inwards and determine whether your current offices are fit for purpose, it can cater for any anticipated/future growth or if it is adaptable to changing work practices.

Moving office presents an opportunity for companies to consider exciting changes like:

• Working practices: investigating new ways of working
• Workplace culture: any changes will have an impact on culture, which will need to be pro-actively managed
• Brand identity: a move can be a good time to look at changes to your brand identity, with many companies opting to re-energise their corporate identity alongside a move

All of this can have a huge impact on

• Staff motivation and productivity
• Staff retention and attracting the best talent
• Improved internal communications and collaboration

Step 2 - Build your project team

Most importantly, you need to identify and designate your Senior Project Champion:

This should be a capable and senior individual who commands the authority to make decisions and will drive the project forward. A strong, senior project leader will keep everything - and everyone - on target, minimise delays and inaction, and ensure that the resulting office space closely reflects the initial brief, the company’s brand and any key objectives set out at the beginning.

The next step is to employ a robust and varied internal team to complement and support the project lead. This team of experts should consist of specialists in multiple disciplines from across the business including IT, marketing and HR. Their expertise and input when it comes to things like IT systems, branding, and staff engagement is invaluable.

A highly involved, cross-team approach incorporating a great wealth of expertise is essential when delivering the perfect office space.

Step 3 - Decide on what you want to achieve

• What kind of space do you want to create?
• What is most important to your organisation?
• How do your two answers translate into the perfect office design?

Finding answers to these questions will have the most impact on your budget, as well as any project timescales. Because of this, it is critical to be as realistic as possible with your answers.

Both your new office building and its location need to be put through their paces to ensure they deliver everything your company needs.

You can only inspect a potential workspace if you know what you need from it. This can include:

• Commute times
• Staff parking
• Public transport
• Accessibility
• Local amenities
• Rent costs
• IT/mobile coverage

Once you’ve taken all of these elements into account, you’ll be in a better, more informed position to decide whether or not any new office can meet your requirements.

You can also consult our step-by-step Office Relocation Check-list for an extensive list of preliminary checks.

Step 4 - Approach the right commercial property expert

At this stage, you’ll have formed an all-star project team led by a senior stakeholder, set your location and office building criteria and agreed on a budget. Now, it’s time to research and approach the right commercial property agent to complete your office relocation line-up. Using a reputable agent can make the process - and the lives of your project team - considerably easier.

Set aside some time to research and short-list different options.

• Ask colleagues and clients for recommendations
• Ask for references and testimonials from past clients
• Determine whether they have a good knowledge of the area you are searching in
• Do some online research
• Ensure they have a good grasp of the technical side of commercial property

Working alongside a trustworthy, highly- recommended specialist with strong technical skills, well-founded knowledge of your specified areas, and a transparent fee structure will result in a project with far fewer issues or delays.

Once you have selected an agent, they will help you to short-list available properties matching your criteria, arrange viewings and help you to negotiate the best overall package for any potential new space.

The right commercial property expert should support your project team, ensuring the project is made as effortless as possible.

Step 5 - Select your interior design partner

Once you have selected your new space, the next step is finding an interior design partner. Some partners are design and build and some like ourselves are independent to a fit-out contractor so will design an office that is most suited to you, not what is the easiest to build. Independent interior design partners will also help you to tender a fit-out partner fairly. Consider your prospective partners as an extension of your project team, a specialist capable of designing and delivering to your exacting, detailed standards. They will need to understand your brief, provide the enthusiasm to drive the project forward and possess the expertise to swiftly deal with any challenges your office move may encounter.

Don’t accept a company that cannot work to your vision, as this relationship is absolutely crucial to the success of any office relocation and fit out.Start this process by creating a list of factors and then rank them in order of importance. These could include:

• Knowledge and experience in your sector
• Strong reputation
• Green credentials and sustainability
• Financial stability
• Positive testimonials from past clients

Once your list is finalised, present it to your project team for their input before agreeing on a set of non-negotiable criteria. This will put your team in the best position to approach some firms to enquire about their previous clients. Whittle down your list to three practices, issue your brief and set aside a day for presentations from each of them. You should also look to meet the entire project team at this stage, and do not be afraid to ask the tough questions that will help you make your decision. Proposals should include conceptual ideas that meet your needs and estimated costs to achieve this, but don’t let these be the only deciding factors.

We recommend that you spend some time visiting offices that your prospective partners have designed and delivered for other clients and also some live sites that they are working on to see how they operate.

Don’t focus on minute details at this stage. Designs can easily be tweaked, but be sure that you understand the thinking behind what is presented. The overall designs should meet the brief, even if the colours in the concept don’t match the walls and floors of your ideal office.

Step 6 - Consult, collaborate, and listen

You have appointed your ideal design and build team to take on your brief. Energy and enthusiasm levels are high. Everyone is looking forward to getting their teeth into delivering the project.That’s great, and now is the time to get staff involved and to host workshops with your chosen Design & Build partner and their workplace team so they can…

• Determine how your business operates
• Gain a greater understanding of your business
• Get opinions from across the entire business about what kind of office would work best

Your chosen design and build partner will need to take the time to get to know and understand your business and your employees, and most importantly what they need from the new space.

Creating a culture of ‘no surprises’ from the beginning of the project can help reduce resistance to change, and create a positive buzz around the project.

Engage with staff in the preliminary stages, keep them informed, and present them with opportunities to be part of the process through brainstorming sessions and/or workshops.

Many design and build companies now have in house workplace strategy teams who can arrange consultative workshops with staff to gauge opinions as well as carrying out research and utilisation studies so they can make recommendations that can potentially influence the final office design.

Step 7 - Agreeing on design

Your design team will help you translate your objectives into a design that matches the vision for your business. The various studies undertaken during the workplace phase will help you understand how your staff work, how they use the space, and help you identify what sort of areas you need in your new workplace to support them. Your designer will also help you identify what colour palette, lighting and office furniture is best suited to different areas whilst also making sure it all reflects your brand. This could be by ensuring there are more informal, collaborative areas, better use of desk space, or perhaps smaller private meeting rooms.

This step is also a great opportunity to encourage your staff to work in different ways:

• Could there be more collaboration?
• Do you need to break down internal team silos?
• Does your space need better kitchen facilities?
• Are specialised activity rooms and breakout areas needed?
• What about flexible private workspaces?

By exploring these questions, your design team can work to create the perfect space.

Step 8 - Finalise the project plan

You've selected a design and build partner, consulted staff, received workplace recommendations from the experts and agreed on a final office design, so what next? It’s time to create and agree on a detailed project plan. This needs to include everything, the big and the small: from IT servers and furniture delivery to cardboard boxes. This will allow you and your team to plan when all of the many tasks need to be completed, and ensure everything happens in a timely fashion.It is important to include major milestones in this schedule such as moving IT servers or delivery and installation of new furniture.

Sticking to the plan and its deadlines takes effort from everyone on the project team so it is critical that you make sure timings are realistic, lines of communication are kept open and that you meet and check in with one another regularly. This should include regular site visits to assess progress.

Step 9 - Planning the move

So the design has been approved, your project plan is in place and the delivery team is on site building your new offices. Now it’s time to look at planning the move and working with your project team to ensure it’s a smooth transition.

There is a lot to consider, including:

• Will there be a phased move or will everyone move on the same date?
• Where will staff and different teams be located and seated within the new office (or is it a hot desking workplace)?
• How do you make sure the IT systems and internet are up and running on day one?
• Do staff need cards or keys to access the new building in advance?
• Who is ordering the coffee and tea bags?

It is also important to keep staff informed, so look into sending regular email updates, sharing progress pictures from the new office during the build and make sure all staff know everything they need to know in advance. Remember, no surprises. It may even be worthwhile arranging tours of the new space a few days/weeks in advance to get people used to and excited about the new space.

Step 10 - Move in day

The new office has been handed over on time and looks fantastic. All of the furniture has been installed. All of the IT systems and Internet are working perfectly and staff are arriving and inspecting their new workplace. What next? It is important to pro-actively manage change by having a go-to person for staff to direct questions to about the new office.

Host a welcome breakfast or lunch to ‘introduce’ the new office and look at planning sessions with staff to gather feedback on what they like/dislike about the new work environment.

It may also be worth considering hosting an office party to introduce yourself to your new neighbours and to meet other companies in the building and general vicinity.

It is worth remembering that moving office is a major change and managing this change doesn't end on move in day. We always recommend working with your partner to ensure that the office continues to work for your organisation and any tweaks are ironed out.

Agile vs Flexible Working : Is it for You?

You may think that “Agile” and “Flexible” working are interchangeable terms for the same thing. It may conjure up ideas of working from home, or swanning into the office after 10am. But what does it really mean?

Flexible Working is usually designed around an individual taking into account their out-of-work commitments. Its focus is usually around location, accounting for working hours and tends to be employee-driven. The more traditional employer may view flexible working as a liability rather than an advantage.

Agile Working, however, is based on the idea that work is an activity, not just a place.

Agile working is organisation-led and is embedded into its culture, allowing employees to work wherever and whenever best suits the task or project. An Agile office is a move away from the traditional environment where each employee is assigned a desk and a chair. In its place, the use of hot desks and collaborative spaces are used.

‘Agile working is about finding the most appropriate and effective way of working to carry out a particular task. It is working within guidelines (of the task) but without boundaries (of how you achieve it).’

Why work Agile?

An Agile working environment is more hot desks and collaboration space than fixed workstations and static meeting rooms. This range of spaces encourage free flow of ideas and communication, and can bring about a more stimulating place to work. Lending more choice and autonomy to the employee in how and where they fulfil the task at hand in turn leads to increased motivation and productivity and an improved bottom line!

Consider the real estate costs too. If your organisation already employs a “flexible working” philosophy, then how does that empty desk pay for itself whilst its owner is working from home? By shedding that territorial culture (“this is my desk, my chair”) an agile working environment may actually reduce your required square footage and save you money in the longer term.

So, is Agile Working for you?

 Clearly, some organisations may be better suited to agile working than others, but at least some level should be achievable in most. Consider these four things:

• Time: when do people work?

• Location: where do people work?

• Role: what do people do?

• People: who is employed?

If one or more of the above is not a fixed entity, then agile working could be for you. For more information on how agile working could transform your work place or to find out how Hi Design could help please contact us here.

Designing Offices for Growth

It’s very easy when you’re starting out in business to imagine it’ll just be the three of you working from hammocks in your tiny, perfect Soho loft. If you need more office space you can just stick a mezzanine in or hold meetings in the local hipster cafe, right?
However, growth inevitably brings with it additional headcount and all manner of ‘stuff’ that cannot be gotten rid of, and so office space should feature heavily in any business plan. The word flexibility is never far from earshot when it comes to talking about business and premises and office space should be no exception.

 Office Design, Growth & Flexibility

When you’re designing your office with growth in mind, it’s important to look at ways in which space can be reconfigured to accommodate differing team sizes. OK, so you may be outsourcing your IT for the foreseeable future but what if that changes? Where are you going to house your eager app developers? Perhaps you only work on small projects at the moment and never need to have more than five people in a room at any given time. When the opportunity for a huge contract lands are you going to say no because you haven’t got enough chairs to seat everybody?At the same time, if it is just you and a few other guys knocking ideas around every morning, you don’t want to be paying for a whole lot of extra office space you may or may not need in the future. This is why it’s important to have a good space plan, one which looks at the potential savings of creating more space earlier on.
Your workplace strategy should reflect your needs now and in the future. Who knows? If you design good workable space early on that you don’t need immediately, you can always rent it out to a like-minded smaller company. It’s crucial to incorporate adaptable, flexible spaces into your present office design. These spaces can be used for ad-hoc meetings or general relaxation areas for existing staff but can also be repurposed as more formal workspace when necessary or for events and presentations.

 Office Furniture

Think carefully about your office furniture too. Once you have invested all your money in your latest technology or spent a fortune on the best talent, it might be tempting to skimp on the furniture budget. But if you go for adaptable shapes (such as desks and seating that fit together in different ways) then you can ensure that however your space grows, your furniture can grow with it. Simply put, don’t buy a huge boardroom table that can only be used for one purpose and only fits in one space. A better option would be modular touchdown benches that can double as project spaces or lunch tables as well as being used to divide spaces.

 Technology & Growth

When you’re planning for growth, it’s also important to ensure your IT will support the kind of work you’re likely to be doing in the future. It’s not always possible but detaching your infrastructure will mean your workforce can be more flexible and if the space changes, the IT setup can change too. Though it’s an up-front cost, investing in mobile devices for staff will mean they – and you – can be more easily moved when the time comes. Future proofing your office design and technology needs with growth in mind is of paramount importance, so if you have growth aspirations, start planning for tomorrow today.

Why company culture should influence office design

To quote Steve Jobs: “Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it's really how it works.”

Office design and office culture are so inextricably bound up that it’s almost remarkable that an office would be designed before a business moves into it. It’s no coincidence that memorable companies also have memorable premises (think of Google and you think of Google HQ, think of Innocent and you think of Fruit Towers). An organisation’s culture does and should impact office design and its culture should manifest itself through design.

But this culture doesn’t have to mean a super-trendy tech start-up manifesto or a beards-for-all philosophy. The notion of culture encompasses everything from processes to work practices and flows and interactions between teams. The crucial thing is that how a company works is reflected in where it works. If your teams constantly communicate, work with each other and there is a constant interaction, it makes no sense to have tiny cupboards separating everyone. Similarly, if your organisation is carefully and deliberately siloed, then you don’t want a large, open-plan space where nobody can get a moment’s peace or there is no privacy. If you have a workspace that just about fits your staff and their desks but you have to leave the premises to do the work you’re renowned for, then that culture gets eroded.

Hi Design knows this and works hard to understand the culture and objectives of our clients before the design process has begun. In many cases, our workplace consultants will gain a deep understanding of your business, from its needs and goals, to its people, culture, existing systems, policies and technology. We monitor how your current space is being used as this helps us to fully understand the needs of the business and also reveals important data about how much and why a particular space is being used.

In-depth interviews with key stakeholders determine a company’s needs from the perspective of its leaders. These conversations, along with staff surveys, help build a picture of what employees want from an office and how they work. This also builds an accurate picture of future needs and overall vision, crucial for effective office design. Putting employees at the centre of workplace design means the space will inevitably work better for them.

It may seem obvious but it’s surprising how many companies don’t bear this in mind when choosing a new workplace for their staff. Of course, cost is a factor but designing a workplace based just on affordability can have enormous repercussions in the long term. We know that the work environment can affect employee wellbeing and also staff retention, we know that workplace design affects staff satisfaction and we know that staff satisfaction affects profits. Designing your workplace to reflect company culture, company vision and staff behaviour will not only make your life easier but will boost your bottom line.

What the home can teach us about office design

For many people, the home is the place where we spend most of our time. It is a place designed or chosen by us, for us, to meet our many needs. Second to the home, the workplace is the most common place for us to spend our time, but for many that space is imposed upon them, providing a one-size-fits-all location for all people to accomplish all tasks. It’s no surprise that people are starting to hit back at open-plan office design and choosing to take advantage of mobile technologies that allow them to work remotely and from home.

Whilst studies have shown that working from home can boost productivity or make employees happier, it may actually inhibit collaboration, learning and sharing of ideas. Businesses are continually battling this conundrum of productivity versus collaboration with companies like Yahoo famously banning home working in 2013 to mixed reception. Perhaps the answer to this problem is to create a working environment that encourages the productivity and happiness of being at home whilst in an office? With this in mind we look at what the home can teach us about office design.

A Space for Everything

The home is made up of a series of spaces designed for specific activities. You wouldn’t cook your dinner in the bedroom or sleep in the bathroom. Similarly, the office should be designed to accommodate quiet spaces for independent working, open spaces for interaction, break out spaces for people to take a break or have an informal meeting that doesn’t interrupt others.

Also, not everyone wants to work at a desk. How many people prefer to curl up on a sofa when working from home rather than sit at a desk or table? This ‘Activity-Based Working’ approach provides people with a variety of workspaces so they can choose the environment that best suits their task or mood, thus helping them to be more productive. And by providing choice and autonomy over their work, people will be happier, more engaged and consequently, more productive.

Let There Be Light

There are is no doubt that access to natural light in the workplace benefits not only work but also employee wellbeing. We need only look to a typical British home to understand the importance of natural light to people. We would rarely choose to have a living space in the home without access to daylight – so why should the workplace be any different?

The Heart of the Workplace

The kitchen has traditionally been viewed as the ‘heart of the home’ but now it’s increasingly being viewed as the heart of the workplace. They say people come together over food, and having a communal space to prepare and eat food encourages relationships, collaboration and serendipitous interactions. These in turn can all help to fuel ideas and innovations – a valuable commodity in the modern business world. It is also a place to work away from your primary workspace and to refuel your body and mind. It is important to remember that when you rest your mind, concentration is improved and creativity can flourish

A Softer Touch

Office design is about more than just desk space and floor plans, and we are seeing a growing trend for offices designed with a more homely feel. Break out spaces now have comfy sofas, cool rugs, cushions and soft lighting. By creating a more comfortable, ‘homey’ space at work you can replicate the benefits of being at home whilst bringing people into the office.

Financial Benefits – The Bottom Line

The two biggest cost centre’s for any businesses are people and property. Attracting the very best talent is critical to overall success and increasingly we are seeing office spaces being used as a tool to attract and retain this talent. People want to work in a nice environment with the best available tools to complete their work so investing to create a space where people want to work can reap dividends.

This can lead to greater staff retention that will not only lessen recruitment costs but may also lead to increased productivity, decreased absenteeism and the development of a reputation as a great place to work, making it easier to recruit.

There are a lot of things the home can teach us about office design but the main lesson is of choice. When people can choose their homes and surroundings they will be happier, more satisfied, and want to spend time there. And the workplace is the same. If you give people the opportunity to work in a comfortable, flexible space of their choosing, you can create a positive, productive workplace for everyone.