It's all in the Design

The layout and conditions of an office space not only affect employee morale, but they also impact efficiency — and ultimately profit. Are you skimping on overhead by cramming your employees into tight spaces and stacking boxes of files to the ceiling?

Easy access to equipment and resources prevents interruption of work flow, thereby improving concentration, shortening timelines, and creating a sense of timely accomplishment. Likewise, conditions such as temperature and lighting contribute to worker's comfort level, and subsequently to their ability to focus on the task at hand.

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While there are several factors that go into creating your ideal office environment, for many the need to facilitate ongoing employee communication is critical. This entails decisions regarding the optimal configuration of desks and shared resources such as equipment or conference tables, and the placement of barriers that separate them.

Fewer barriers result in a better flowing space — both literally and visually. Once coworkers can actually see and hear each other, their perception changes. They view themselves and others as accessible and therefore open to the exchange of information, ideas, and creative, collaborative problem solving. This helps to eliminate the need to gather in those scarcely available conference rooms.

What's more, in an open office setting, employees are more likely to engage in the organized planning of projects, carefully coordinating each person's tasks with the effect of streamlining production processes.

As an added bonus, a lack of visual or auditory boundaries between employees lends to their developing a social bond through impromptu discussion. Simply put, coworkers who enjoy and respect each other as valuable players make a unified team. And, if you're still worried about keeping overhead low, keep in mind that open spaces enable groups of people to share equipment and resources.

Although an open office environment is extremely beneficial in promoting team member communication, there are moments when an employee simply requires some alone time to concentrate on complicated tasks. Your open workspace needs to be adaptable to the different requirements of each individual within a working group.

Customized workspaces not only adjust to the current needs of an individual, but they are also flexible enough to accommodate each individual's changing needs. Products such as detachable or adjustable cubicle walls enable the worker to balance their need for privacy with moments spent engaging in brainstorming sessions with nearby colleagues.

Other Design Considerations

The design and placement of physical storage can also be customized based on the employee's most frequently performed tasks, and with consideration to other employees who need secondary access. As a worker's responsibilities change over time, adjustable office equipment can be repositioned to meet emerging needs.

Adjustable ergonomic seating also plays a major role in your workers' ability to focus for long stretches of time, without needless distractions like backaches, neck pain, or sore shoulders.

After all, isn't it time you stop asking your employees to adapt to the limitations of their workspace, and start making the space adapt to their needs? You want them to do the best job possible, so why not remove all obstacles in their path? Reorganizing your office may seem like a big commitment, but you'll see a return on your investment in the form of a big boost to your bottom line.

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