Three ways to improve your open office

The open office is regarded as something that’s changed the nature of the workplace. However, it’s also seen as contributing to a negative impact on certain working styles. The open workspace has been criticised by some for its ‘disruptive’ nature, however, when it is done properly, the open office can create a more integrated way of working, enable collaboration, and foster a better office culture.

Communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing form the foundations of a business. We’ve put together a list of actions to take to ensure your open workspace is operating at optimum levels and improving your staff’s productivity.

Encouraging team working

The open workspace allows people to build a more personal connection and offers a way for staff to interact with each other in a positive, human way rather than through emails and extension numbers.

When your employees are working towards the same goal and are supported to create a collaborative culture that builds strong relationships, productivity and efficiency improves. This can come from team adjacencies and ensuring the right people are next to each other –think about who sits where, and how that can improve efficiency and communication in your business.

The concept of a team doesn’t need to stop at the people in your department or immediate vicinity, communicate with different people in the business and work with others, when possible, to help improve the quality of your team mentality in the office.

Changing the way you work

The open workplace has created a design trend where quieter areas are used to provide shelter from the main space, giving employees space to concentrate and complete focused work. The benefit of an open office is that you can adapt your working environment to the individual habits of your staff. Our Powered by People report revealed that 55% of workers said that the quality of a workspace would influence their job choice, with 64% of business leaders saying that a workplace should provide a productive and motivational space. Your workplace design needs to offer a balance of spaces available, enabling staff to change the way they work.

Workplace furniture has evolved to allow for a mixture of environments and an important part of workplace design is the correct implementation of furniture. Different types of furniture enable a more flexible working style so employees can move around the space and still work effectively.

Open workspaces, if done poorly, can be loud and disruptive, but that is not to say that cellular offices are any more productive. This is where the role of workplace culture comes in.

Workplace design has evolved to enable employees to get out from behind their desks, interact with different groups of people and have fun with their colleagues, while achieving tasks and remaining productive. These dynamic workspaces champion communication and collaboration, but still provide quiet, private spaces.

Conducting a Workplace Consultation

To help make sure the design of your workplace supports your employees to work the way that they want to, conducting a workplace consultation will help to learn the ins and outs of your business. This process will allow us to get under the skin of your business and find ways to enhance the efficiency of your workplace.
Our workplace consultancy sets out to improve the productivity your workspace and gives us the opportunity to learn who you are as a company and understand your DNA. Your office space is designed and tailored to how your people should be using the space and getting the most out of the office design and layout.