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Tag: Office Space Planning (page 8 of 11)

Should Workplace Design Reflect Your Branding?

How many workplaces do you know that have interior spaces that reflect their branding?

Depending on how many you will have seen the answer is probably not many. Workplaces that reflect company branding are hard to find in most business sectors unless they appreciate just how important branding is to company culture as well as perceptions from the outside.

If you business is branding then there is a good chance you already appreciate how everything present in a business from its philosophy and culture to its furniture should reflect the brand.

It also shouldn’t be forgotten, that when customers and clients arrive at your workplace, their perception of your business can be greatly influenced by what they are seeing around them for the first time.

As everyone knows first impressions are important. If an office has a nice contemporary design that reflects the branding and colours of the business, then this will make those clients and customers feel more secure about doing business with your company.

For staff too, it’s important for them to buy into company culture and the work environment should encourage this by creating a clear sense of identity. Simply spreading a few brochures on meeting and coffee tables is not enough to make those employees feel part of an organisation that is going places.

Ditch the Beach Huts And Straw Bales, Employees Prefer Better Technology!

March 13, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

When it comes to office furniture removals, there is a growing trend towards useless items like slides, and other non-essential gimmicky furniture and apparatus into storage as businesses slowly realise that staff consider them secondary to better technological facilities to make work easier.

Many businesses have decided to jump onto bandwagon with all manner of playful additions to the office to the extent that it is unusual to enter decent sized city centre office without seeing areas to play pool, table tennis or both.

While there is nothing wrong with adding these sorts of elements into offices, they shouldn’t be added at the expense of more essential office items such as technological equipment. At least if you’re a business owner who wants to keep staff happy.

A recent study found that 79% of workers view reliable technology as more important than how the office looks. The survey appears to show that typical workers would rather see investment in things that make their jobs easier so that they can be more productive.

If you are an office owner considering ping pong tables, hammocks and so on, spare a thought for what staff really want. Play and rest areas may well be a waste of money if nobody has the time while at work to use them.

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.

5 Modern Office Fads They Thought Would Never Catch On

December 20, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Back in the old days the office was somewhere most people wanted to escape from. Nowadays some employees probably find work more comfortable than home particularly with the proliferation of office entertainment and other fads. Here are some of the biggest fads they thought would never catch on…

Treadmill desks
Apparently if you sit down for the best part of 8 hours a day you are putting yourself at risk of all kinds of illnesses. The solution to this is the treadmill desk. This allows workers to get up and walk while they work so they can be on a physical as well as mental treadmill.

The office slide
Many people laughed when they saw Google’s office slide. They’re not laughing now that other big tech companies have fitted them in their office playgrounds.

Table tennis
Table tennis pool tables and other areas to play games have become common place in trendy offices around the country. What better way to unwind after a hard day staring at the computer screen?

Hot desks
These are temporary desks used by staff who like to do their work on the fly. Dated back to some time in the 1990s you still see them in offices today, although habits are changing due to the increased mobility modern technology provides.

The sleep pod
Apparently we should all be having two naps a day to perform at our optimum level. The solution to this is the office sleep pod. More likely to be found in trendy techie type companies, the pods help keeps everyone fresh so they can continue changing the world.

4 Pieces of Advice On Choosing and Installing Office Furniture

December 10, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Choosing, ordering and fitting office furniture can be a quite a challenge even for smaller businesses but there is a lot you can do to make the process as stress free as possible. The following five tips should prevent you from making some of the most common mistakes.

Don’t look simply at the price
While getting a large discount or seemingly finding office furniture at a bargain price might give you some satisfaction, this can be short-lived if shipping costs are high and the furniture isn’t of sufficient quality to survive heavy use.

Plan for when your business grows
It is easy to focus on present staff members and their needs rather than look at the future when you may be hiring new staff members. It will often be cheaper to add extra desks chairs and so on to your order rather than buy them separately later on.

Take advantage of office fit-out services
An office fit-out company can help you plan measure and use space more efficiently. They might even save you money in the long term with the experience they can bring to the table.

Don’t be afraid to ask for discounts, offers and other perks
Suppliers might be only too willing to give you a discount and you may be able to ask for samples of what you are buying to make sure your desk colour suits your overall colour scheme.

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 Working From Home Losing Its Appeal Compared To The Office

September 25, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Working from home has become boring and more stressful than working from in the office for some lucky employees. So does this mean working from home will no longer be classed as a perk?

According to research the majority of workers now say they work more productively in their offices than anywhere else. This blows away what appears to be the myth that working from home leads to better productivity.

Most bosses will probably agree and will prefer their staff to work from the office rather than home to make sure they remain motivated and free from the distractions of home.

What’s new is that two thirds of workers agree with them according to recent research.

Publicity surrounding the opening of various new state of the art offices seems to point towards offices designed around employees rather than their bosses as firms attempt to create spaces and office culture that encourages people to stay and enjoy themselves in the workplace.

Understanding how employees might become stressed due to a lack of natural light, quiet spaces to unwind and so on appears to be at the centre of new thinking in office design and architecture.

Firms are investing millions in creating the kinds of spaces their employees will feel at home in. The hope is that they will become more productive as a result.

Traditional Office Design Turned On its Head

August 21, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Swiss athletics firm, On, has turned traditional office design on its head according to architectural magazine Wallpaper with an office design that makes use of the concept of flow.

While most traditional offices have anything but flow, what On achieved with the help of an industrial design firm was to design an office space that seems to be inspired by the sports products they design and make.

Short distances between departments were scrapped in favour of a single 100 metre strip where staff are lined up at desks, cubicles and meeting spaces. This introduces a constant flow between apartments where the aim was to link everything together seamlessly.

The typical office layout will generally have closed off areas where various departments will be isolated so as to keep particular areas of expertise separate from others. Having a constant flow between spaces means that it is possible to incorporate isolated work stations but also introduce collaborative areas that flow from one end of the office to the other.

Standing meetings can be held at one end while staff can relax and take refreshment at an indoor garden incorporated at the other. Is this a more natural way to organise a natural office environment? Whatever your view it certainly makes you think about how the future of the modern office will develop.