If you’re a business owner, a consistent pressing matter in your mind might be how to increase your employee’s productivity? How can you provide a better workplace that maximises the output and focus of your team, but at the same time makes them feel at ease, relaxed and helps them unwind when needed.
We have gathered five different office design trends that can maximise focus, help your employees feel relaxed and hop off the “working from home” bandwagon that came into fruition due to the pandemic.
1. Open space with natural light
An open work space equipped with various windows can drastically improve employee focus and productivity. There’s an ongoing debate by professionals to determine if a partitioned or open plan workspace is better for communication and productivity.
Various studies are filled with contradictions and at times with enough evidence for both layouts to argue against the other, leading the study to remain inconclusive. However, many of these studies solely focused on the layout itself and dismissed an important variable: the human factor.
Employees are not machines and many variables may affect their productivity, whether personal or environmental. There’s very little we can do to impact their output when personal reasons affect their focus or impair them from delivering what they’ve been tasked to do. However, the right environment and office layout may make all the difference. Whilst an open space may increase team communication, distraction levels may also arise, given the high levels of visibility they have with other co-workers or highly transited hallways.
In the same study, researchers found that employees allocated to a desk with a nearby window reported higher levels of focus, work satisfaction and productivity. They argued that sitting away from their coworkers and having an alternate field of vision made them feel at ease within the work environment.
2. Green workspaces
We all need to break away from the routine, the monotonous actions of our daily tasks and connect with what’s outside our windows. Though you can’t promise daily field trips to a national park or monthly vacations to a country where greenery can’t be missed, you can allocate nature in your office. How can this be beneficial for your employees? Green office spaces improve your employees satisfaction in the workspace.
But what does this mean, exactly? Let’s explore it.
First we must understand the keyword, in this case: green workspace. A green workspace is the desire for a connection to nature the human species feels. Conditions such as lighting, partitioned desks and the office colour scheme can dramatically affect the employee’s work satisfaction by making the individual feel a lack of connection to reality and nature.
There’s a common misconception that a green workspace entails adding a few pots with plants or an office cactus. Where in reality, it is a combination of different factors that come into play. Interior designers must analyse which colour scheme can spark creativity, what lighting intensity can maximise focus and where to allocate interior greenery without it being perceived as unnatural.
The aim is to make the employees feel more relaxed, at ease and satisfied when engaging in their office work. Greenery might be just the effective touch your commercial space needs.
3. The smart office
Equipping your employees with the right technology empowers them to execute their tasks independently and collaboratively. Designing a smart office is more than just the addition of a smart TV and wifi and “AirPlay”. Having the latest technological advancements in your office can help your team deliver results quicker, and certainly, more efficiently. An interior designer in Dubai, along with a fit out company can help you work out the best layout and make what you envision into a reality.
But how can technology revolutionise a regular office space? Let’s start with the concept, “internet of things” (IoT). This refers to interrelated computing devices, mechanical, digital machines and objects. Devices, objects and machines communicate independently with each other without the need of human interference. For instance, let’s suppose your marketing team enters the main conference room and the lights turn by simply using motion sensors. These same lights will remain on, so long as your team stays in the room. However, once the team vacates, the lights will shut off after failing to detect movement. As a consequence, you will reduce energy consumption, making your company more sustainable.
But that is just one simple example, now that we comprehend the basis of the concept, let’s jump into how this addition improves your employees’ productivity. It’s not about automating the office and adding concierge holograms and robots. It is about providing the employees the tools that they need to make them feel comfortable and welcomed in their own workspace. For example, you could use a desk that automatically adjusts to the level of the employee’s elbows, allowing the individual to adopt a suitable posture that will not impact their vertebrate in the long run.
4. Collaborative spaces
Collaborative offices are designed to increase employee interaction and communication. Also referred to as open-plan offices, the emphasis is on encouraging collaboration and keeping people from becoming isolated in their own individual spaces.
Designing offices in this style emerged in the belief that collaborative spaces boost efficiency and productivity. As such, this modern style has grown in demand and popularity quickly. Companies and enterprises looking to reap the benefits of creating these spaces for collaborative work have adapted this. Google, Facebook, or Amazon among them.
In the past, the place for collaboration was the meeting room where planning, strategizing, and discussing took place. In a collaborative workspace, there are more options and venues available than the traditional conference room.
Collaborative offices feature fluid and democratic layouts, placing a team in close proximity to each other. There are fewer walls dividing people and groups apart. Fewer does not mean none, though. The design still takes privacy and individual working spaces into account.
5. Colours and finishes
Did you know that predominant colours in working spaces such as white, grey, and beige reduce employee productivity and creativity? To top it off, it’s not just the quality of work that’s affected, but also the mood of the people constantly surrounded by them.
Colour is a powerful tool for not only shaping but improving the overall mood and atmosphere in an office. That is because it plays a role in human psychology and emotions to a considerable extent. As we spend a large portion of our day at work, this becomes even more important.
When designing an office, consider how to incorporate office colour psychology principles into the design. A pop of colour can be added to bring some energy to an office that needs a little zing. And there are plenty of hues to choose from. For example, blue promotes well being and efficiency, yellow inspires increased levels of creativity, and green creates a calming and harmonious office environment.
Remember: the concept of colour goes beyond paint. There are many ways to incorporate it. Instead of painting the walls, bring in colour with furniture and accessories. A brightly patterned rug, an accent chair, or a statement wall can instantly transform a workspace and liven it up.
Conclusion
There are various office designs that can positively affect the productivity, focus and general work satisfaction of your team. However, you can also synthesise all previously discussed designs to bring a better and more effective work experience for your employees.
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