The goal of any workplace is to make the work environment as productive as possible. The way the office is laid out is critical to productivity. When you are considering purchasing office furniture, always keep productivity in mind. Worker productivity needs have changed dramatically over the years. Separate offices were the norm at one point because they conferred a sense of privacy and allowed employees to work in private. Offices gave way to cubicles over time so that companies could accommodate more workers in smaller spaces. Today, collaboration and communication are fundamental to creating productive work environments. The way you design your office can enhance or hamper your team’s ability to get work done.
Short cubicles are becoming popular choices. These cubicles have the advantage of providing a private workspace while still allowing users to collaborate with colleagues easily. These cubicles don’t have to line up side by side and cover the entire floor space of the office like more traditional cubicles did. Instead, the cubicles can be arranged in small pods or line the edges of walls, depending on your company’s needs and the work environment you want to create.
Short cubicles by Steelcase, Knoll and Herman Miller are popular for other reasons. They are often the office furniture of choice for call centers. They allow management to oversee the workers and look out for problems. Workers can simply raise their hands if they need support or assistance on a call. Short cubicles also work well when managers need to address a large team on a regular basis. Often, managers need to provide workers with updates and changes that team members need to know about to perform their jobs. Instead of calling workers away from their desks, they can simply speak to the group. This is much quicker than gathering the team in a conference room which may be extremely difficult if the group is large.
Short cubicles are also useful for training purposes. Often, learners need to access their computers during the training to understand and practice computer applications. The learners can sit at their desks and trainers can address the group as a whole so they can have access to their technology and practice new skills immediately.
Alternating private space and large collaborative areas is key to creating a productive work area. Collaboration is critical in many modern industries. People need to be able to connect with each other quickly. Sometimes, impromptu meetings are necessary. It is important to have office furniture that is conducive to this kind of collaboration.
Shorter or glass walled cubicles encourage rather than prevent communication. Office furniture like open-space conference tables makes it easy for teams to get together and spread out the materials they need to have a productive meeting.
Another advantage to office furniture like shorter cubicles is that it can be quickly reconfigured to accommodate changing needs. Often, modern teams change rapidly. Workers need to move to new spaces or may temporarily relocate to a different space for a specific project. Your office furniture needs to accommodate these types of changes so that team movement and changes in size are simple to accommodate. Offices tend to change character quickly when teams change so you should create a space that is tailored to make changes.
Despite the importance of collaboration in the work environment, every office needs private spaces for a variety of reasons. Managers need to provide employees with feedback and support. People need to meet about delicate issues and they need a quiet space with complete privacy. Employees and managers need a space to make private calls or discuss confidential information. In other cases, a group needs to meet and has concerns about disturbing the larger office group. It’s important to have small offices or conference rooms that are set up to meet these needs. Sometimes, it’s necessary to have technology in the room. You’ll need office furniture like desks and chairs that make using technology simple for everyone. In other cases, you make need a large conference table to accommodate a large group. You’ll need to evaluate the special circumstances in your office environment to decide how much private meeting space you need and what office furniture is necessary.
