A Superior Office Design Is Crucial For Your Success

By Albert Tay

Most employees spend at least forty hours per week in their workplace. An efficient office design is crucial to the amount of work that gets completed. Office design can positively or negatively affect an office's performance. There are key elements that need to be examined in any office redesign and that is the amount of needed space, company goals and the input of the worker.

Studies have shown that a well designed office has improved employee morale and overall productivity. Bad office layouts are a thing of the past. Office spaces are all different. A lot of office space is too cramped, dark and downright depressing. An office manager needs to determine what would be the best solution to the office design issues.

To begin, an office manager needs to use their observation skills. There are a few questions to ask one self. Are there any problem areas within the office? Are the areas too cramped with office equipment?

A good idea is to have the manager draw a picture of the traffic patterns within the office. Observe how employees move throughout the day. Also observe the conference rooms and workstations and see where the work is getting completed. Is there any empty space not being used?

Communication with employees is crucial to finding a design that works well. However it can also bring about employee demands that are not realistic. Work with employees to come to a compromise on the most important problems. Just remember that one office design will not please everyone. Do the best you can.

Determining office goals is a good thing to do prior to a redesign project. List four to five goals and determine which shall be addressed. An idea that has grown in importance is to move the manager to the middle of the work floor and move the workers near the windows which give them access to natural light. It has been proven that by moving the workers, it increases morale and productivity since these workers are at their desks most of the day.

After determining where the areas of concern are in a workspace, the next question is what should occur? Should a total redesign with construction take place or will just rearranging furniture and equipment suffice? Will the job be too expensive and would it be more realistic to shop around for new office space entirely?

Office design can be a tricky thing to accomplish. It is worth the time to plan and think it through. It is very important for the whole team to be involved in planning and deciding what to pursue. In the end, it will create a better work environment that promotes more productivity and increase revenue. - 30445

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