Arranging a modern office space can be a huge challenge.
Once you find that perfect office for rent, the very next thing you should be tackling is how to put your office together to get the most bang for your buck. Your office design can have a huge impact on worker productivity, no matter what industry you’re in.
Commercial real estate is moving toward more open spaces rather than cubicle farms in order to take advantage of the effects of natural light on employee productivity, but there’s much more to office design than letting the sun shine in.
Here are some tips to get you started:
- Provide some private spaces. There are always going to be times that your employees need to get away from each other, whether they’re engaged in deep thought or simply need to make phone calls in the quiet.Open-air office concepts can be great, but without a few shared, but private spaces, you make it difficult for some employees to really do an amazing job.
- Flexible space is in. In the past, employees were often assigned a desk in a cubicle farm, but now that many companies can literally function with nothing but laptops, more flexible spaces are possible.If you don’t need to store pens and files in your desk, it’s feasible to create an open space where workers can collaborate or isolate themselves, depending on their current needs. This open office concept has been the secret to success for industry giants like Google for years.
- Prioritize office workers. Companies that have both field workers and office workers have long had a tradition of giving the biggest offices to employees who were rarely around. Instead of rewarding exceptional field work with a bigger office that’ll never be used, give that space to your office-based workers so they can have more room to do their jobs.You can also create more useful space by giving your workforce the option to become telecommuters who only need a laptop to do their jobs.
- Mind your plugs. It might seem like a small thing, but by bringing things like network and power outlets up to surfaces and putting them in convenient places you’ll help workers save time searching for these necessary connections. More outlets also mean more places where your employees can work and connect. Wi-Fi is also a must in a modern office space!
Commercial real estate can pose a number of challenges, especially when you’re trying to maximize your space and increase your company’s productivity. By providing both private and flexible spaces and giving priority to your in-house workers, you’ll be able to get more useable space out of your office for rent.