Your employees will be spending much of their time in your office space. This is why it is important that you get it right when you design your office space. You want your employees to feel comfortable and safe in their work environment. But you also need to keep in mind the needs of work when you’re laying out your workspace. Here are some tips on how you can make sure your office layout benefits everyone in the office.
Do an Assessment
Before you do anything drastic, it is best if you have an idea of exactly what your team needs. For example, some of your people may need office workpods that some London offices use. These ensure that workers do not experience any disturbances while they are working on something. But not everyone needs to work like that. There are some work environments that need a boisterous back-and-forth so that they can become creative and productive.
Determine which people or departments need quiet, while others need more open spaces. From there, you can divide an office so that everyone gets what they need from their workspace.
Catering to Comfort
This is where you sit down with your people and ask them what would make them feel comfortable. You will have many different personalities working in a limited environment. There are bound to be clashes, but good office design can help reduce that. One of the general comfort concerns you have to address is which of your people are extroverts and introverts. Extroverts are simple enough to handle, but introverts are a bit more difficult. Open office layouts will put undue stress on them, and it could affect their work.
Besides that, you might also want to ask about what people think are comfortable noise levels. Some prefer complete quiet while others prefer a noisier atmosphere. These two sides will definitely have problems with each other. Arranging the layout, so there is a notably quieter area for those who want quiet or providing them with a separate office is a good idea.
Physical comfort is also a concern. You’ll want good lighting so that people don’t strain their eyes and comfortable seats so that your employees don’t hurt too much when they sit all day.
Address Security Concerns
Another part of your layout that you have to recognize is of employee security. For one, you don’t want offices that are too private. You’ll want to keep an eye on all employees so that you know nothing wrong is happening. An enclosed space is fine if it has some transparency so that people outside can look in. This prevents harassment and other negative incidents from happening.
Sketch an Initial Layout and Get Feedback
Before you start moving furniture around, do an initial sketch, and ask feedback from it. The initial layout gives people an idea of what you are aiming for and allows them to give their own ideas. Plus, it gives you a solid visual of the results. This may reveal some flaws in your plan that you can change before making everything permanent.
Designing an office is a difficult balancing act. The tips above should be a big help in ensuring that you do it right. Your employees will be sure to appreciate the results of your efforts.
