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Offices are often empty, with employees spending more time in meetings. A second possibility is that when employees move from one office to another as part of a project, they take with them whatever is needed on their desks. These are an indicator of poorly designed offices.
Glass Partition Wall Systems
When designing an open office plan and especially when purchasing office furniture, care should be taken to create spaces that are always available for the desired productivity.
If you want to keep employees productive by optimizing your office layout, you need to address the following points.
Research and observation is one of the best ways to determine how your current office layout affects employee productivity. You can monitor your employees for a few days and observe how certain areas of the office are used. If there is no suitable space for meetings in the office, your employees may be meeting in the cafeteria, which is an indication of poor office organization.
The best way to track the movement of your employees is to determine how far they walk from one place to another within the office. It is helpful to co-locate teams or departments working together in an open office to increase collaboration. In addition, office equipment such as printers and fax machines should be placed in a way that is easily accessible for everyone who uses them.
Natural light boosts employee morale, mood, productivity and creativity. It is therefore essential to ensure that every employee has access to natural light in the office. Not only senior executives but all employees need an office with natural lighting. Design the office so that all your employees have access to natural light and the feedback will be positive.
The biggest challenge in office layout is increased noise levels. In offices with unaccounted acoustics, it is clear that noise can distract your employees and affect their productivity. Therefore, it is good to keep noisy partitions together and separate these partitions from quieter ones. Also, sound barriers can be used to surround the noisy office equipment of the office. To optimize acoustics, carpets, ceiling tiles and partition panel systems should be designed to help absorb noise.
Cords from landline phones and computers at workstations can make the office look cluttered and disorganized. These cords can be dangerous for workers, especially if they criss-cross walking areas. All wiring must be designed in a centrally located manner to avoid creating a hazard for workers.
Office layouts, also known as cluster workstations or circular core stations, allow an organization to maximize floor space and offer its employees a larger workspace. When designing an office layout, there are various workstation design options to make efficient use of the space you have.
Ergonomics is not just about preventing workers from suffering from back pain. You should have furniture in your office that supports ergonomics, as it helps to improve the mood and health of employees, leading to positive productivity.
Most people tend to sit in or near the same place in a social space they frequent. You will also need such a space in offices and it will give you some autonomy and control.
Trends may come and go, but it's a fact that everyone needs personal space in the workplace. It is observed that employees are more productive when they have a personal workspace. If employees lack their own personal workspace, it is important to address this. However, employees tend to get defensive when told to move from a closed office to an open office. So for a successful office renovation, managers who want to make changes will need to make some compromises.
In open office plans, each employee should have their own space. This area may include a personal table, chair, shelf or a cupboard. You are less likely to get a negative reaction when you tell an employee that they need to move to an open office, knowing that they will have their own space and equipment. However, good communication and clarity of the reasons for this decision can help reduce or eliminate their negative reactions.
Use physical space and cultural norms to build resilience. Company culture plays a huge role in determining acceptable and unacceptable working methods. Many offices have unwritten signs that define personal space. Closing the door in private offices and wearing headphones in open offices are often the boundaries that define these personal spaces.
When you move your employees to an open office plan, will they have the personal time and mobility they need?
Does the office support 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 fully meet an employer's requirements and to predict whether the workflow will change in the coming days. Each job has its own requirements and each job requires employees with unique skills. We cannot find a one-size-fits-all solution in our workplaces. However, employers should not be satisfied with cubicles, large group tables, comfortable chairs, large meeting rooms and soundproof, acoustic spaces, but should also provide different workspaces.
All this helps employees to have the freedom to choose where they can best work. People who are allowed to work in a different area when they want to and do not have to work in one area are more productive.
If you want to create flexibility in the workplace, you should focus on the following three things:
Open office plans, when done right, give your employees the freedom to choose how they want to work. It also helps create a working environment where employees can develop organic brainstorming. Open office plans will lead to positive productivity when they take into account the culture of the organization, the needs of employees and the nature of the work done by your employees.
