Offices where employees spend more time in meetings are often empty. Secondly, employees take whatever they need with them on their desks when they move from one office to another due to a project. These are signs of poorly designed offices.
When designing an open office plan and especially when purchasing office furniture, care should always be taken to create usable spaces for the desired efficiency.
How can you optimize an open office layout?
If you want to optimize your office layout so that employees are productive, you need to address the following points.
Research, Observation
Research and observation is one of the best ways to determine how your current office layout is affecting employee productivity. You can monitor your employees for a few days and observe how certain areas of the office are being used. If there is no meeting space in the office, your employees may be meeting in the cafeteria, which is an indication that the office layout is poor.
Teams, Productivity
The best way to track your employees’ movements is to determine how far they walk from one place to another in the office. It’s helpful to co-locate teams or departments that work together in an open office to increase collaboration. Additionally, office equipment like printers and fax machines should be placed within easy reach for everyone who uses them.
Use Natural Light
Natural light boosts employee morale, mood, productivity and creativity. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that every employee has access to natural light in the office. Not just top executives, all employees need an office with natural lighting. Design your office to provide access to natural light for all your employees, and the feedback will be positive.
Acoustic Optimization
The biggest challenge in office layout is the increasing noise levels. In offices where acoustics have not been taken into account, it is obvious that noise can distract your employees and affect their productivity. Therefore, it is good to keep noisy areas together and separate these areas from quieter ones. In addition, sound barriers can be used to surround noisy office equipment in the office. To optimize acoustics, carpets, ceiling tiles and partition wall systems should be designed to help absorb noise.
Wiring
Cords from landline phones and workstation computers can make an office look messy and disorganized. These cords can be dangerous to employees, especially if they crisscross walking areas. All wiring should be designed to be centrally located to avoid posing a hazard to employees.
Cluster Partitions
Also known as cluster workstations or circular core stations, office layouts allow an organization to maximize floor space and provide employees with a larger work area. When designing an office layout, there are a variety of workstation design options to help you make efficient use of the space you have.
Ergonomics
Ergonomics is not just about preventing employees from suffering from back pain. Since it helps improve the mood and health of employees, you should have furniture in your office that supports ergonomics, thus leading to positive productivity.
Adapting to human nature in the office
Most people tend to sit in the same spot or nearby in a social area that they frequent. You will need this space in an office as well, as it will give you some autonomy and control.
Trends may come and go, but it is a fact that everyone needs personal space in the workplace. It has been observed that employees are more productive when they have a personal workspace. If employees do not have their own personal workspace, it is important to address this. However, employees tend to be defensive when told to move from a closed office to an open office. Therefore, for a successful office remodel, managers who want to make the change will need to make some compromises.
In open office plans, each employee should have their own space. This space may include a personal desk, chair, shelving, or a closet. If an employee knows they will have their own space and equipment, you are less likely to get a negative reaction when you tell them they need to move to an open office. However, good communication and clarity of reasons for this decision can help reduce or eliminate negative reactions.
Space and Cultural Norms
Use physical space and cultural norms to create flexibility. Company culture plays a huge role in determining acceptable and unacceptable work practices. Many offices have unwritten signs that define personal spaces. Closing the door in a private office and wearing a headset in an open office often signify boundaries that define these spaces.
When you move your employees to an open office plan, will they have the dedicated personal time and space they need?
Does the office encourage personal phone calls or even allow private conversations with other employees?
Does every employee understand and accept these unwritten rules and expectations?
Every employee knows that it is difficult to always meet the needs of an employer and to predict whether the workflow will change in the future. Every job has its own requirements and every job requires employees with unique skills. We cannot find a one-size-fits-all solution in our workplaces. However; employers should not be content with cubicles, large group tables, comfortable chairs, large meeting rooms and soundproof, acoustic areas, but should also provide different work areas.
All of this helps employees have the freedom to choose where they can work best. People who are allowed to work in different areas when they want and are not forced to work in one area are more productive.
If you want to build resilience in your workplace, you should focus on three things:
- Consider how your employees nonverbally communicate the ‘Do Not Disturb’ signal.
- Ensure your employees can continue their work across different workspaces and have the freedom to do so throughout the workday.
- When giving your employees the option to work remotely, give them flexible working options as long as they can meet the requirements of their role.
Open office plans, when done right, give your employees the freedom to choose how they want to work. They also help create a work environment where employees can brainstorm organically. When open office plans take into consideration the culture of the organization, the needs of your employees, and the nature of the work being done by your employees, they will lead to positive productivity.