It makes sense that employees who are happy with their working environment will work far more effectively and happily than those who are uncomfortable; thus it makes more sense to consider certain aspects of your employee’s workspace quite carefully.

Noise

If you feel that they have an issue with the amount of noise within their workplace then you need to get a proper measurement of noise levels.

Noise can be the cause of permanent hearing damage and also lead to increased levels of stress. The solutions are quite simple e.g. providing your employees with hearing protection, rotating and shifting the staff that works closely to noisy machinery and clearly marking and indicating any high noise areas to warn people of the risk.

Ventilation

Fresh air is one of the most critical (more…)

Having a professional looking office is critical if you are trying to impress your current clients and customers.  Think of the impact good office furniture has on a new client visiting your office and you will immediately appreciate the importance of office furniture. Office furniture is a part of the overall decor of your office; it plays a vital role in creating a good first impression on your visiting clients and the last thing you want to show them is that you have no pride in your office work place.

Good office furniture can be quite expensive and investing huge amount of money on office furniture can affect your office budget considerably. It provides comforts to your employees, creates a healthy work environment and helps them concentrate on their work and thus resulting in increased productivity levels. It is critical to invest to make their workplace like their home workplace, i.e. more dynamic, comfortable and productive. What you need is office furniture that caters to cost and comfort of office furniture (more…)

When the modern office replaced the “old office” the old office furniture was also replaced. Modern office furniture is designed to reflect the needs of dynamic and creative business companies.
Today companies, trying to distinguish themselves from others, often use their office environment, workspaces, technological and communication systems as key factors in distinguishing themselves from their competitors.

Modern office furniture products need to be flexible and stylish, but most importantly adjustable, comfortable and functional. To maximize performance and efficiency, today’s manufacturers are constantly designing new modern office furniture products that can keep up with our rapidly changing requirements. Innovative, well-designed, and individually-centric modern office furniture products provide all the features and benefits of costly alternatives, proving that style, grace, and features can come at an affordable value. (more…)

You would want your office space to be lively and atmospheric. The ambience and décor plays a big role in motivating your employees.  To brighten up your office space, why not try a fresh lick of paint.

To start with, try to pick a colour, when painting office walls, which reflects the spirit and core of your business. For example, if you happen to work in a traditionally conservative industry like legal or banking services, you are better off going for a neutral colour, such as light green, a shade of white or beige. (more…)

When one thinks of buying office chairs, one realises that price rather than quality has always been a major issue. What matters to most buyers is cost! People look to buy an office chair, which will offer the best deal for their limited budget. The common thinking is that once a stylish desk has been put into place, chairs need not be equally attractive and pleasing in appearance. Criteria for buying an office chair are usually simplicity of look and flexibility of usage.

t is critical to identify the best quality chair according to your needs and budget. The first thing to check is the adjustability as all chairs are different. The next thing to consider is the fabric. Budget leather chairs can make you feel uncomfortable after spending a long time sitting at a computer desk. Though good quality luxury leather chairs are usually expensive, they enhance the office set-up.

hink of the office chair as your own home mattress; you perhaps spend as much time on it if not more than your own bed. A relaxing mattress is not a luxury; it is a necessity. The same logic should apply when you buy an office chair. Importantly, office chairs should be ergonomically correct.

When going for unconventional, off-beat office space planning, one can be a bit more adventurous to find a structure that exudes a natural feel and one that is conducive to wildlife or nature lovers. You could, for example, either grow your own greenery or buy readymade.

lternative office space designs incorporate garden offices with a ‘living roof’ that also acts as a good insulator in winter as well as summer. Unlike a home office, the interior of a garden office does not need to blend with the rest of your home décor. Instead, it can be a genuine expression of what you require and demand from a pure working environment, customised just for you. In other words, it can be conservative, dramatic, quirky, artistic, minimalist, or any other type that matches your tastes and takes your fancy. A garden office lets you rethink your own working style.

lso, it may be that you cannot produce your best work while chained to a desk, and would rather prefer to work curled up on an armchair or sofa. For such people, investing in a Tablet PC makes sense. The screen rotates 180 degrees. It lays flat over the keyboard, enabling you to comfortably ‘write’ on the screen.

or those who need a different office design than the ‘usual’, Space Planning UK can help and can even reuse your existing office furniture where applicable.

Office space planners and designers often note that although most employees relish the thought of working and being part of larger groups, they also like to be isolated for certain activities which must be performed at an individual level. For certain crucial tasks that demand concentration, the employees need privacy to ensure optimum output. The design challenge lies in creating small spaces, which co-exist with bigger surroundings.

ccording to architects, small spaces will dominate the modern office environment in years to come. According to them, big space users will be reduced by mobile technology and also workers seeking flexible working hours. The trend of telecommuting will accentuate the wastefulness of large, under-utilised buildings, leading to a metamorphosis in the vision of the workplace. Offices will become more meeting centres with compact, individual ‘hotdesk’ areas.

his particular school of thought believes that offices require more intimate and collaborative spaces. Companies have realised that great things happen when you see and meet different people. However, offering no meeting places except workstations is surely an invitation to constant and unnecessary interruption, so you also need special, informal meeting zones where your staff is located.

There has to be a proper office design or plan to ensure that a balance is struck between the space allotted to individual workstations and that given to the group spaces. The balance is bound to be different for each firm, depending on the nature of its business and how employees go about their work. Also, whenever the space for a workstation is cut down, it makes sense to provide for needs in other ways.

If there is no room for a guest chair in or near any of the individual workstations, but meeting and interacting with others is part of the day-to-day job, space planning should provide a variety of other areas nearby to meet other needs such as a break-out area, meeting table or one of many other possibilities.

If there is not much room for filing space within the workstation, it is usually a good idea to keep archive files nearby. There are many such minor, albeit important things to be kept in mind, when looking to save on office workspace and if you are not careful important points can be overlooked.

This is where expert advice comes into play. Space planning professionals, such as Space Planning UK, using their practical insight and experience, can help to strike the right balance as necessary for employees to be able to work effectively in the available office space.

Most corporate entities, grappling with the higher costs of valuable office space, are looking for ways and means to cut down on the amount of square footage allotted to each employee so they can expand without having to move office or rent additional office space.

In most cases, reducing space means compressing the ‘footprint’ of individual spaces. Practically speaking, a decade ago, the typical workstation would be 8’ x 8’. As real estate costs mount and workstations compress, many offices are now down to 7’ x 7’ workstations.

Here are some useful space-saving tips that can go a long way in ensuring efficient use of precious office space:

Tip 1: Make maximum but imaginative use of space through shelves, towers, nesting pedestals and space-saving objects like tables/trays.
Tip 2: Get more through less.  By using office furniture in the right office design, you can get more people in the same or sometimes even less space.  For example, three people can comfortably work in a 10’ x 10’ space with a trio of 120º workstations.
Tip 3:  If your budget is limited and space is constrained, ensure a good use of vertical space with office accessories such as overheads bins, shelves, hanging pencil cups, etc.
Tip 4: A side table can extend your work area and help keep your main worksurface free of unnecessary clutter.
Tip 5:  A mobile pedestal can efficiently double as a visitor seat just with the addition of a seat cushion.

If you are unsure how you can best utilize your existing office furniture or want to explore the possibility of a complete office redesign using new furniture, get in touch with Space Planning UK.

Firms which expand quickly and outgrow their offices are completely focused on achieving their broader business targets and goals. This means that management may not be left with enough time to take care of office space planning, whether that involves moving to a bigger office area or optimising the existing office space.

The management may continue to postpone the vital decision-making process of office space planning because of costs or because their focus is elsewhere and this can cause resentment among office employees.

The solution to this dilemma is approaching experts who will be able to not only devise and implement ideas for office space but ensure the optimum usage of the available office space.  Ideally, the company should not be persuaded to go for all new, modern furniture but all options should be explored, such as re-using existing furniture and combining it with new furniture where needed.

In most cases, there are simple design changes and slight modifications that can be made without affecting the quality and flow of working conditions, and these can create enough room and leeway for additional employees in the existing office space.

Optimising the available space does not mean creating cramped, crowded work conditions that could prove to be counterproductive. The exercise of space planning has to place the office employees at the centre of your requirements.