Companies with modern Workplace Strategies, that provide employees with a stimulating work environment, will usually improve employee retention and productivity. The new breed of employees display higher creativity and demand an environment that is both smart and pleasant. Dynamically aligning the work environment with the organization’s work flow to generate peak performance and reduce cost is termed workplace strategies. Striking a balance between collaboration and competition in office layouts can offer your employees the best of both worlds.
Competitive Office Space – offers more areas within the office for privacy. Employees consider that they are in competition with other employees for advancement. Typical layouts include:
- traditional closed office layouts support a hierarchical structure within the workplace and imposes communication barriers. While some employees require private office space; to many closed offices inhibit teamwork.
- cubicle workspaces with 6 foot – 8 foot partitions were once thought optimum for administrative or clerical work, where concentration is needed for task oriented jobs. It is now considered out-dated as workers multi-task in the midst of distraction, in all parts of life.
- cluster or hub workspaces arrange employees around a center with dividers, like spokes on a wheel, separating each workspace. The problem with this seating arrangement can arise when employees with the same skill set are within one cluster, which offers no cross-collaboration between teams.
Collaborative Workspaces will enhance teamwork, but there are also drawbacks for office workers, like noise pollution and lack of privacy. Some features of collaborative workspaces are:
- open floor plans with no walls or low-walled workstations. Provides the flexibility to group workers based on project rather than department. This type of office layout is not as conducive to focused work which requires quiet and concentration. In many cases you will see employees wearing noise cancelling headphones to that allow better concentration. In many cases, headphones are the new walls and a signal to others that privacy is desired.
- landscaped areas are sometimes used to create privacy between open areas and establish a warm environment with enhanced privacy.
- communal spaces with comfortable seating arrangements, inductive to group collaboration and brainstorming sessions are often placed around the perimeter of building or anchored at the office extremes.
By carefully considering the different needs of your business personnel, IT workers, sales force and office administration, you can create an agile workplace strategy to provide flexibility in meeting the changing world of business. Maintaining a balance between private space and open space is the key. Contact us for more information on your workplace needs.