Office Partitioning - Millennium Storage and Interiors Blog | Millennium Storage and Interiors

Tag: Office Partitioning (page 9 of 12)

How important Is The Office Environment To Your Staff?

With competition for the best staff heating up in some sectors, it can be a mistake for SME business owners to ignore the office environment and expect staff to sit on broken chairs and work on shabby desks.

So much so that when old office furniture was replaced, a study the British Council of Offices found that output increased by 23% which in business terms can mean the difference between success and failure.

Yet many company bosses fail to see the impact shabby offices have on staff morale. Lack of natural light, dark rooms and draughts can really begin to demotivate staff overtime particularly if they are required to spend the best part of their lives in these environments.

Worse still many staff can end up depressed and demotivated and this can end up having a knock-on effect to other members of staff. 40% of people consider the availability of natural light the most important factor when it comes to the office environment.

Lack of natural light can sometimes be compensated for with good lighting, however if that lighting is also poor then staff are twice as likely to feel depressed and three times more likely to feel that it impacts on their productivity.

How to create a positive workplace

February 10, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

It’s often surprising to see how closely some offices resemble the TV version of the office with positivity at best on a par with the staff of Wernham Hogg. While not all of this is down the design and layout of office space, positive office design can at least go some way towards reducing the negative impact of inconsiderate managers and bosses.

One thing is certain, a negative work environment is not just bad for miserable staff members, it can also spread throughout the organisation leading eventually to apathy, lack of motivation and reduced productivity.

Some simple tweaks to the design and layout can have a surprisingly positive effect on everyone in the organisation if carefully thought out.

The introduction of more attractive office furniture will be welcomed by staff members particularly if desks and chairs are looking like they have seen better days.

Another important part of designing a positive office is to introduce a sense of fun. While work time shouldn’t always be fun time, having a laugh and perhaps a game of pool or table tennis with colleagues can give some release from day-to-day monotony. We all as humans like to be rewarded for our hard work.

Lastly areas should be well lit, and there should be plenty of space to move around in. There is nothing worse than being stuck in an office day after day in a crowded room full of colleagues you may not necessarily get on well with.

Good Office Design More Important Than Office Games

November 10, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Walk into many offices belonging to trendy new businesses and you are likely to find anything from pool tables to ping pong tables and even areas to indulge in a beer or two. But, according to research, employees are more likely to be happier in their work if the office is designed right.

What many office owners mistakenly believe will help motivate their staff may be missing the mark if the research turns out to be accurate.

While having the opportunity to indulge in a game of pool during worktime might sound attractive it may actually end up having the opposite effect with some staff who may end up feeling less motivated to do their work.

What workers need to feel happy in their work is less reliant on gimmicks and more about two important things; feeling valued by an employer and an environment that helps them focus. There is even growing evidence that not all employees will want the same thing when it comes to collaborative working and casual work environments.

Rather than go down the Google route of an office designed to incorporate play and relaxation spaces, simply adding the correct furnishings, colours and lighting can make a significant difference to making the work environment a happier place.

Why Sound Acoustics Is Vital to Office Design

October 20, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Offices come in all sorts of layouts from sleek open plan, to period offices in city centres.

The challenge in both cases is to find a solution that not only creates a sense of space but also provides privacy and a quiet place to work for those employees who need it. So when designing an office layout, a delicate balancing act needs to be struck to ensure that everyone in the workplace will be happy.

Unlike visual distractions, which can simply be screened off or hidden by a simple re-arrangement of furniture and screens. Unfortunately, good acoustics will require a more complicated solution to reduce noise from phones, chatter and colleagues moving from one place to another.

All of this can become very frustrating for those who require peace and quiet to do their best work, which will in turn hinder productivity.

While the modern trend continues to lean towards the open plan spaces which have been seen as the best way to develop cooperation and creativity since the 1950s.

To improve acoustics in your office requires knowledge of how sound impacts on different surfaces and how it is absorbed by others.

This starts with the introduction of carpets, acoustic panels and acoustic screens which can help reduce noise dramatically. Then create separate spaces for collaborative work so as not to disturb those staff members who prefer to work in quiet isolation from time to time.

Is Your Office Layout Influencing Your Business Culture?

October 10, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

The more you learn about architecture and the buildings we use everyday, the more you understand just how much they can influence us.

Do you ever find yourself sitting in a room at work wondering what might be going on in the office across the corridor or do you feel excluded from management who occupy a corner office hardly anyone ever goes into?

Despite open plan offices and glass partitions now being an established part of business culture, you can still be left feeling an unwanted sense of seclusion and separation.

As a business owner, having your office laid out in this traditional manner is more likely to put people off coming to work for your organisation.

The days when people coveted the big office in the corner are now numbered as collaboration is understood to be the key to effective working.

If everyone in your office is crammed into small rooms, then it can be little wonder that conflict between staff members can begin to develop and instead of working as a team, the organisation becomes fragmented.

This can all be changed by a re-imagining of your office layout to encourage rather than discourage collaboration and a more harmonious working environment.

Is This Office In Wales The Trendiest and Happiest In The UK?

September 12, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

The Daily Post recently reported on call answering company, Moneypenny’s, new offices in Wrexham revealing a trendy new multi-million-pound office to rival that of some of the world’s biggest business HQs.

Moneypenny’s aim when designing the new 91,000sq ft building was to create a happy environment for staff. The hope is that the new offices will make going to work a pleasurable for staff in contrast to the majority of offices in the UK.

The office features a treehouse meeting room and even its own village pub, which were all introduced in consultation with staff.

In addition to a pub the offices also feature a sun terrace, a triple height atrium and a restaurant featuring free breakfasts and fruit in true ‘Google office style’. These additions are likely to give staff not only plenty of natural light to enjoy but also keep them healthy and well-fed.

The cost of the new office building came in at £15 million which was according to the company owners the same price they would have paid for a standard brick built office on the same kind of scale.

The challenge for the architects was to design something ground breaking for the same price and it looks like they have achieved it.

London Office Prices Could Fall 20%

July 26, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Following the vote to leave the UK analysts are predicting that the price of a London office could fall by 20%. This news may not be as bad as it sounds for anyone looking for an affordable office in the city.

The fall in office prices is based on the assumption that there will be less demand for leasing office space if an economic downturn happens.

Another factor is withdrawal of investment from abroad, which is already happening. Commercial property investors have suddenly become more cautious about investing in the UK when it is set leave the EU in a little more than two year’s time.

Another reason for the gloomy prediction is that some businesses will relocate abroad if they feel that their needs will be better served on the continent.

One silver lining to all of this is that offices will be cheaper to purchase therefore more money can be spent on making improvements that will add value in the longer term.

It has to be remembered that the UK economy is fundamentally strong and it has more than enough in reserve to weather any future storms if they arise. Aside from a falling pound, there is little evidence of that storm arriving just yet.

How To Improve Forklift Safety In Warehouses

July 11, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Fatal accidents involving forklift trucks have been reduced significantly thanks to better safety procedures, training and advances in technology. Unfortunately, there are still just over a handful of fatalities each year so what can be done to improve safety to reduce accidents in today’s warehouses?

Driving a forklift truck brings its own set of responsibilities that can soon be overlooked if a driver is in a hurry and cuts corners. This is why proper training to drive forklifts is a must and compulsory in organisations.

Another factor, which is often overlooked is the general condition of the vehicle. Is it inspected regularly for signs of wear and tear? Tires are of particular importance if the vehicle is driven outside on rough terrain. Just like a car poor tyre condition can be a cause of many accidents.

It is also important to select the right forklift truck for the job. If there warehouse within which the forklift is operating has narrow aisles, then a vehicle with a good turning radius is a must not only from a safety point of view but in terms of productivity as well.

It is also important to plan the layout of your storage facility to ensure that forklifts can be operated safely.

Is Office Design and Layout Male Biased?

June 23, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

The writer of an article in the FT this month seems to think so. The article Time to end male bias in office design highlights how male dominated design teams may not consider the needs of women when they plan out office interiors.

The issues raised include temperature setting inside being geared towards males of a particular size and age and even refilling paper trays. The former is the reason why a large number of women will report feeling cold at work.

Women generate 35% less body heat in relative terms than their male counterparts. This means that women require temperatures to be turned up 3 degrees centigrade higher than their male colleagues.

Having a female-friendly work environment may not be top of the agenda for certain business owners however ignoring the little things like heating may lead to disgruntled staff members which could harm performance which is not in the interests of businesses.

Even when it comes to something as simple as filling a paper tray, it seems women are often ignored as to what they can comfortably cop with. Hand grip strength is required to pull trays out of printers and here too men are likely to have the advantage with men consistently outperforming women in this area.

The only hope for women is to be included more in office design teams so that these kinds of problems don’t get overlooked or ignored.

Home Office Tips

June 7, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

According to a recent survey by the Office for National Statistics, 13.7% of the nation’s workforce work from home. That’s nearly 4 million people but how many of those individuals have an office fitted to meet their needs?

Quite often working from home means using one of the main leaving spaces such as the kitchen lounge or even the bedroom. The problem is, this can be quite uncomfortable and distracting if a person is sharing a house with family members.

This is unavoidable if the house is too small to be separated into dedicated work and living spaces, but if there is extra space then this can easily be turned into an office. It will even save money on office rental which can then be ploughed back into business growth.
Solutions include converting old stables into offices, garden rooms if the garden is big enough.

The best home offices make creative use of space which provides a clear separation from home life.  It is much better to have a small space dedicated to work than have your office incorporated into a part of a dining room or kitchen for example.

At least then you will have some kind of separation from home life. Also get yourself a dedicated office line rather than use your main house number. Constant calls from sales people can make life particularly uncomfortable when you may be relaxing after work!