Tag: Office Space

How To Design Your Office Space

Two focuses of my blog are Business/Entrepreneurship and Workplace Discussions. You office space is critical as it’s where your operations are conducted. It thus must be appealing and functional for your staff. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Design Your Office Space.

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Moving into a new office is always exciting. Whether you’ve upsized because your business is growing, you’ve found a better location, or you’re transitioning from being a remote working company to a place where everyone can work together, you’ll need to ensure you really get the layout of your new office just right.

A well-designed and laid-out office can be a great productive space for your employees. It can be somewhere they look forward to going each day and a place where they can feel at ease and as creative as possible. With the wrong layout, people will be uncomfortable and much less productive. They might even be unsafe. With that in mind, here are some ideas to help you design your office space for the best results.

Photo by Pixabay

Open Up The Space

An open floor plan is a great way to make the most of any size room. If this requires tearing down cubicle walls or otherwise restructuring the office, then do it. An open workplace design not only makes better use of the available space, which in certain situations can even give the impression of more room, but also provides more opportunities for staff to work together.

As a result, you’ll be able to foster a more productive staff whose members are more comfortable sharing ideas and working together. Plus, just because you have an open plan office, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any privacy – you can install special office pods that will give you meeting rooms or somewhere to take a break when you need one. The best thing to do is to speak to makers of office pods for some advice about what’s going to work best for you.

Use Good Quality Furniture

Office furniture gets a lot of use – people are sitting on those chairs and using those desks for at least eight hours a day, so they will wear out eventually. To save yourself money and to ensure your team is as comfortable as possible, the best thing you can do is really invest in good quality furniture.

For some, this might feel like a waste of money, especially when you can certainly get office furniture for a reduced price if you shop around. However, poor quality furniture costs more overall because you have to replace it more often, and if it’s uncomfortable, it can make your team less productive. Spend as much as your budget will allow on your office furniture, and it will pay you back.

Be Organized

It’s tempting to fill a little office with every amenity imaginable, but if you’re really strapped for square footage, simplicity is key. Avoid an overcrowded appearance by making use of available storage space to stow away unnecessary items. In order to keep things neat and serve as a showcase for prized possessions, innovative shelving and storage systems can be put in place; you don’t have to settle for plain old cabinets.

In order to prevent the chaos that might ensue when a large group of people are confined to a limited area, it’s important to establish ground rules about keeping things tidy and ensuring everything is put away. When this happens, you’ll have a much more pleasant space to work in.

Updating Your Office Space: A Guide For Business Owners

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Organizational/Management Discussions. Office space in any business or organization is critical. One of the keys to your business is optimizing and updating your office space. The following contributed post is entitled, Updating Your Office Space: A Guide For Business Owners.

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Image credit.

If you run an office space as a business owner, you’ll know that keeping your space safe, stylish and up to date is a challenge. Not only are updates to your space costly, but they are time consuming, and often create a disruption to the workflow of the office. But of course, with great power comes great responsibility, and if you want to be a responsible business owner, keeping your space user-friendly and up to date is essential.

How Often Should The Space Be Updated?

If your original office space was well-built and well-designed, you should not need to update it often. With proper maintenance, cleaning and care, the building may only need refurbishments every fifteen to twenty years. This also depends on the business. If you run a café or restaurant with a lot of footfall, these refurbishments should happen more frequently, as the general wear and tear of the place will increase.

What Should Be Prioritized?

As with most things, safety should be the number one priority. If you feel your space needs multiple changes to be made, take it one step at a time. The core safety of the building, its structure and safety exits should come first. Installing fire-safe MCM panels on the outside of your building and ensuring that fire exits are safe and well-signposted are essentials for your building.

After safety is taken care of, the next priority should be your office’s usability for its employees. Offices should be spaces that encourage collaboration, concentration and productivity. This means that the layout of the office should be designed for employees to have both peace and quiet, and spaces to collaborate.

Finally, there are the finishing touches. To make your office a standout space which your employees love to spend time in, add colour, nature and a few easy perks. These are simple additions which transform your office from a mundane place of work to a chic locale.

Some ideas for these design finishing touches are:

● Houseplants. These are fantastic additions to any room with natural light. They are inexpensive and beautiful, and amazingly, they help purify the air in your office.
● A good quality coffee machine. Seriously. Although a coffee machine is a slightly expensive addition, your employees will be thrilled with this addition. Coffee goes a long way, particularly in stressful times when extra energy reserves are needed.
● Chill-out spaces. If your office is not in a city centre, and is not surrounded by cool hangouts for your employees to kick back in on their breaks, create one in your own space. This can be as simple as a few bean bag chairs and a Playstation for everyone to enjoy their downtime.

Outsourcing Your Updates

If you are concerned about updating your office space, contact a contractor who can talk you through the process and ensure the work is being done safely and legally. If you need help with design, contact an office designer for a quote, or use the internet for office design inspiration!