Original article by BOSS Magazine
As a business owner, you need to ensure that you provide your team with a workspace where they can truly thrive. Whether you are moving into a new office space and are looking for a brand new office fit-out or you are redesigning your existing space, it’s important that you take the needs of your team into account. Understanding the day-to-day needs of your employees will help you to design an office space that not only looks great but that is functional too.
With the right office space, you can instantly boost creativity, encourage collaboration, increase productivity and promote efficiency within the workplace. Office design is often overlooked by business owners to their own detriment. While many business owners and managers will invest heavily into office equipment, improving procedures and making other changes within the company, they often don’t do the same when it comes to their office layout. However, with the right approach to your office design, you can make real changes in your business and ensure you stand head and shoulders above the competition.
Let’s take a look at some of the top office design trends when it comes to encouraging collaboration within the workplace.
Wholesale Office Fitouts
One trend that is proving to be particularly popular and impactful with regards to encouraging collaboration is the wholesale custom office fit out. Using custom furniture solutions that meet the need of your employees, you can design a custom office fit-out tailored to your requirements. With this approach, it doesn’t matter where in the building your team are as they will always be in the same familiar surroundings and have access to the same office setups.
Eliminate The Walls
If you truly want to boost collaboration in your workplace you need to break down those walls, both figuratively and literally. Modern office spaces focus on putting the team first which means fewer borders between your employees. It’s important to include collaborative spaces in your office design that encourage people to swap and share ideas throughout the day. One of the best ways to achieve this is by getting rid of the walls.
Decentralize The Space
While every business needs a leader to move the company in the right direction, it’s important to keep things as free-flowing as possible. Removing the manager’s office from the equation, not putting a seat at the head of the conference table and generally decentralizing the space will make everyone feel more equal. Subconscious constructs can often impede heavily on a team’s ability to collaborate without you even realizing it.
Focus On Aesthetics
Plain, bland boring interior wall colors and fluorescent lighting are not the best things in the world for creativity. A drab office is unlikely to inspire new ideas or get those creative juices flowing. To ensure you spark some inspiration in your team, make sure that you focus on the aesthetic of the space. Decorating with a little flair will help to encourage your employees to be more creative and to collaborate with their peers in the workplace on various projects.
Utilize Technology
Seamlessly integrating tech into your space is crucial as a modern business owner. Not only will having the right tools for the job at their fingertips encourage productivity and efficiency in the workplace but it will also allow your employees to interact with ease. Whether it’s something as simple as sharing files or brainstorming ideas or you need to host a meeting with a team on the other side of the world, having the right technology is essential to your success. As the needs of every business are completely different, it’s important that you take the time to assess the needs of your organization to ensure you find tech solutions that will meet the needs of your business.
Integrate Experiential Spaces
For employees to be able to collaborate with ease, they need a space in which to do so. Over the last number of years, more and more companies are incorporating experiential spaces into their office layouts. In these areas, employees are encouraged to get together to brainstorm ideas and throw ideas around freely. The idea here is to create a comfortable, inviting space where your team can sit back, relax and bounce ideas off each other in a stress-free environment.
Encourage Collaboration In Your Office Space Moving Forward
Collaboration is key in today’s modern business landscape. To foster more collaboration between your employees, you need to ensure that you create a space where they can feel at ease and enjoy the collaborative process. Following the tips above, you can ensure that your new office fit out not only looks great but provides your team with everything that they need to succeed in their roles moving forward.