08 Oct Design Your Office From Scratch

Where to Start When Redesigning Your Workspace

Carson Tate of Fast Company writes, “Steve Jobs designed the Pixar building with the bathrooms in the center. Fisher-Price has a dedicated space, the Cave, where designers, engineers, and marketers meet to build prototypes of toys from foam, cardboard, glue, and acrylic paint. And Google allows its software engineers, the core of its intellectual capital, to design their own desks and write on the walls.

Why do these companies spend significant time and resources on designing and configuring physical space?

They each understand how space impacts communication, innovation, and productivity.

Jobs realized that when you design your workplace around chance encounters, big, bold ideas happen. Fisher-Price knows that space dedicated to innovation is essential if it wants to continuously produce blockbuster toys with staying power. And Google operates under the assumption that when we design our own space, we access the intersection of our personal intellect and personal productivity.”

Google, Fisher-Price, and Pixar are all amazing trend setters when it comes to office design. A key thing to keep in-mind when designing your own space is that the best design for your company is based on your employees and not Palo Alto trends.

Observe Your workforce before you make any major decisions.

The entire point of building an inspiring workplace is to fuel the creativity of your workforce, so let them be a part of the design. Notice how your team likes to work. While some people would love to lounge on comfortable couches, some go to the common areas for brainstorming, and others explore their creativity in quiet, solitary spaces. Open spaces, common, third space rooms, conference rooms, quiet rooms – mix it all up and keep it all in.

Don’t just include the management team.

Get together with the people who will be working in the space to work out the logistics and get their input on the space redesign. This should not only include employees who will be working in the space, but also IT specialists who will be running cable and installing wireless routers, as well as the facilities management of the building.

Design Your Space Based on the Type of Work You Do

Think about your role and the core accountabilities of your position. Are you the leader of a large team who spends 90% of the day in meetings? Are you a designer in a marketing firm who spends the majority of your day discussing ideas with clients? Or are you an outside sales representative whose office is really a car? The types of work that you do inform how you design, set up, and work in your space.

Customize Your Space Based on Employee Work Styles

How do your employees prefer to work?

• Sitting?
• Standing?
• A combination?
• Quiet Rooms?
• Hot Desking?
• Brainstorming Areas?

What Organizational Tools and Office Equipment Do Your Employees Prefer?

• Filing cabinets or open baskets and containers?
• Individual cabinets or central station?
• Electronic task management tools or whiteboards?
• Stationary Desktop or movable laptop?
• Central Area for Printers/Scanners?

Good designs that reflect the employees that work there create a sense of ownership and happiness among the workforce, which will invariably increase overall productivity.

Camille Preston, Ph.D. writes in Forbes, “One study found that happy employees are up to 20% more productive than unhappy employees. When it comes to salespeople, happiness has an even greater impact, raising sales by 37%.

So, happiness is linked to productivity. But what does it mean to be “happy” in the workplace?

In his book, The Truth About Employee Engagement, Patrick Lencioni boils it down to wanting to feel like who you are matter, that what you do has an impact and you’re making progress leading you and your organization forward.

Including your whole team in the new redesign can help your employees feel like they have a voice, they matter, and they are having an impact, which is a great start to your new look.

If your office space redesign is planned out carefully and designed with your employees in mind, your new office will be prove to be a huge success. If you need help or inspiration, contact us and we will be happy to give you advice and ideas on how to make your office move and redesign successful.

Let’s talk about your project. Our experienced office design-build team at RI Group is here to help you with every aspect of your project from designing your space to building and furnishing your office.

Don’t know where to start? Contact us today.

Sources:

https://yourstory.com/2016/11/design-startup-workplace/

https://www.fastcompany.com/3044158/how-to-design-a-workplace-thats-right-for-you

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/12/13/promoting-employee-happiness-benefits-everyone/#2dbe00cd581a