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Factors to Consider When Building or Finding an Office

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Factors to Consider When Building or Finding an Office

In the ever-evolving landscape of modern business, the quest for the perfect office space is a pivotal decision that can significantly influence a company’s success. Whether you’re in the process of building a new office or scouting for the ideal location, several key considerations can shape your decision-making process. In this blog post, we’ll explore crucial factors to keep in mind to create a workspace that fosters productivity, collaboration, and overall employee well-being.

Location, Accessibility, and Amenities

The location of your office is paramount. Consider accessibility for employees, clients, and suppliers. Proximity to public transportation, parking facilities, and amenities such as restaurants and cafes can contribute to the overall appeal of your office location.

Space Requirements and Future Growth

Assess your current and future space needs. Factor in the number of employees, meeting rooms, collaborative spaces, and any special requirements for your industry. A well-designed office should allow for growth without compromising functionality.

Budget Considerations

Establish a realistic budget early in the planning phase. This should cover not only construction costs but also ongoing operational expenses. Balancing quality and cost-effectiveness is crucial to creating a sustainable and financially viable workspace.

Natural Light and Ventilation

Prioritize natural light and ventilation. Well-lit spaces contribute to a positive work environment; proper ventilation ensures a healthy and comfortable atmosphere. Large windows, skylights, and open floor plans can enhance the overall ambiance.

Office Layout and Flexibility

Consider the layout of the office to promote collaboration and flexibility. Open floor plans, modular furniture, and designated collaboration zones can facilitate communication and adapt to changing work dynamics.

Technology Infrastructure

Invest in a robust technology infrastructure. Ensure that the office is equipped with high-speed internet, reliable communication systems, and adaptable technology solutions. This is crucial for seamless operations and connectivity in the digital age.

Brand Identity and Aesthetics

Your office is an extension of your brand. Incorporate your brand identity into the design, reflecting the company’s values and culture. A visually appealing and cohesive aesthetic can create a positive impression on both employees and visitors.

Employee Well-Being and Comfort

Prioritize the well-being and comfort of your employees. Ergonomic furniture, breakout areas, and wellness spaces contribute to a positive work environment. Additionally, consider factors like noise levels, temperature control with commercial air conditioning services, and amenities that enhance the overall employee experience. When developing or selecting an office space, it’s imperative to incorporate professional commercial air conditioning services to ensure a conducive and comfortable environment, promoting employee well-being and overall productivity.

Sustainability and Environmental Impact

Embrace sustainability in office design. Incorporate eco-friendly materials, energy-efficient lighting, and water-saving technologies. A commitment to environmental responsibility aligns with corporate values and reduces long-term operational costs.

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Ensure that your office design complies with local zoning laws, building codes, and accessibility standards. This avoids legal complications and creates a safe and inclusive workspace for everyone.

Security Measures

Implement robust security measures. This includes secure access control systems, surveillance cameras, and emergency response plans. Prioritizing security is essential for the safety of both employees and valuable assets.

Conclusion

Creating the perfect office space involves a comprehensive evaluation of various factors. By considering elements such as location, budget, employee well-being, and sustainability, businesses can design or choose an office that meets their immediate needs and sets the stage for future success. A thoughtfully designed workspace is not just a physical environment but a strategic asset fostering innovation, collaboration, and overall business excellence.

Tips For Choosing The Right Furniture For Your Office Building

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Office Furniture|Tips For Choosing The Right Furniture For Your Office BuildingIf you’re in charge of furnishing an office building, choosing the right furniture is essential. Not only does the furniture need to be comfortable and functional, but it also needs to be visually appealing. The following blog post will discuss tips for choosing the right furniture for your office building.

#1 Comfort Is Key

It’s essential to choose comfortable furniture for your office building. After all, your employees will spend a lot of time sitting in their chairs and using their desks. If the furniture is uncomfortable, it will lead to disgruntled employees.

To ensure comfort, test out the furniture yourself before making a purchase. For example, sit in the chairs and use the desks to see if they’re comfortable for extended periods. You should also ask your employees for input on what type of furniture they prefer.

In addition to being comfortable, the furniture should also be ergonomic. This means that it should be designed to reduce strain on the body. Look for adjustable heights and lumbar support when choosing office furniture.


#2 Choose Furniture That Matches Your Office’s Decor

The furniture in your office should match the overall decor of the space. This doesn’t mean that all your furniture has to be the same color or style, but it should all work together to create a cohesive look. For example, if your office is decorated in a modern style, then you’ll want to choose furniture that is also modern in design. Conversely, if your office has more traditional decor, you’ll want to select furniture pieces with a more classic look.

#3 Consider The Functionality Of The Furniture

When selecting furniture for your office, you’ll also need to consider its functionality. For example, if you’re looking for Reception Desks, you’ll want to ensure that they’re big enough to accommodate your needs but not so large that they take up too much space. You’ll also want to consider things like storage and ergonomics.

Some office furniture is designed for specific purposes. For example, if you need a lot of storage, you might want to look into filing cabinets or shelves. If you have a lot of employees, you might want to look into desks with built-in storage or cubicles with extra shelving.

#4 Think About Your Budget

Of course, you’ll also need to consider your budget when choosing furniture for your office. Office furniture can be quite expensive, so it’s essential to set a budget before you start shopping. Once you know how much you’re willing to spend, you can begin narrowing down your options.

There are a few ways to save money on office furniture. For example, you might consider buying used furniture or pieces that can be easily assembled. You can also look for sales or take advantage of discounts offered by furniture stores. By being mindful of your budget, you can find the perfect pieces of furniture for your office without breaking the bank.

In conclusion, there are several things to consider when choosing furniture for your office. Comfort, style, and functionality are all essential factors to keep in mind. You’ll also need to consider your budget and your office space’s overall decor. Following these tips, you can select the perfect furniture for your needs.

From Building-Centric to People-Centric Workplaces

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Workplaces|From Building-Centric to People-Centric WorkplacesFor decades, corporations put little thought into employee workspaces. The mindset of “one person, one desk,” left workers imprisoned in a sea of grey cubicles. More recently, organizations have played with open office plans and Google and Facebook-esque spaces that include beanbag chairs and basketball hoops, all in a ploy to attract and retain younger workers.

While the overall look and feel of an office space from an architectural and interior design standpoint can have its appeal, the true crux of the matter is how well the space enables and facilitates work.

Even before the pandemic required most workers to work remotely from their homes, employees were making demands for more flexible work situations and escape from the 20th-century office straitjacket. Agile working, hot-desking and the gig economy were already shifting attitudes away from the limitations of that one desk mindset.

Today, with good connectivity widely available, easy access to the internet and effective file sharing, any space can become a workplace and the pandemic proved that to all the remaining hold outs. At the same time, the pandemic also revealed the advantages and efficiencies of occasionally coming together face-to-face.

In the post-pandemic era, business leaders have an opportunity to shift the office space paradigm and give consideration to how their offices can operate in a way that enables and facilitates work. Specifically, the workplace can become a tool for organizational change. A 2019 Harvard University study revealed that organizations with a more employee-centric approach to office space see a reduction in absenteeism and staff turnover, and experience as much as a 16 percent rise in productivity.

Use these strategies to embrace 21st-century fit-for-purpose workplaces:

  1. Consider user experience. Creating a productive and innovative working environment requires understanding when, where and how people need to interact. Offer diverse work settings for the different functions people perform, along with areas to collaborate with colleagues, socialize or just take time out to think and relax. Ask yourself what behaviors you want to encourage, and then construct a setting that promotes and supports them.
  2. Create a dynamic ecosystem. Old attitudes about the office as a place where people merely put in their time must be replaced by new impressions of the office as a place where employees can up their game, give their best and deliver greater creativity and innovation. The challenge is to create workspaces that enable knowledge and information to be communicated effectively in an open and collaborative environment. This may mean bringing technological infrastructure up to speed and fit for purpose. To deliver 21st-century workplaces, there has to a joining of the dots between property, people and technology.
  3. Design workplaces to support wellbeing. Alongside employee productivity, take a holistic view toward engaging your people. For example, if people make use of the office regularly, they will value having a workspace they can personalized as opposed to relying on hot-seating arrangements that can lead to musical chairs. In a nutshell, a great workplace must be an investment in space and an investment in people in equal parts.
  4. Allow flexibility in where people choose to work. Put people in control of their work-life balance. The extent to which you empower people to make decisions about how they interact within their teams will foster a trusting employer-employee relationship and result in a boost to employee engagement. Further, this leaves you free to concentrate on the constructive management of aspects that contribute to the bottom line.
  5. Make decisions that reflect corporate values. The ubiquitous nature of social media means that society as a whole has its eye on your corporate values. Considerations such as engagement with the surrounding neighborhood, use of sustainable building materials and other socially responsible practices can meaningfully contribute to your brand’s status.

Every organization must now formulate its strategic thinking around turning placemaking into profit-making and creating new, more meaningful solutions for the workforce and the workplace. In order to deliver 21st-century workplaces, there needs to be a convergence of approaches to create workplaces that inspire employee engagement, foster creativity and increase productivity, while also improving a company’s capacity to compete and create value.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor |Chris KaneChris Kane has worked in the Corporate Real Estate sector for over thirty years, having operated as the Vice President of International Corporate Real Estate for The Walt Disney Company, before acting as Head of Corporate Real Estate at the BBC. His new book, Where Is My Office? Reimagining the Workplace for the 21st Century (Bloomsbury Business, Dec. 22, 2020) investigates innovative corporate real estate thinking in the modern workplace. Learn more at www.whereismyoffice.com.

How To Create A Productive Office

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StrategyDriven Talent Management ArticleSometimes it’s hard to stay focused when you’re at work, especially if you’re inside a stifling office space on a warm day. Of course, you’d always rather be somewhere else than at work, but what you can do is make your working environment more appealing, more fun, and a productive place to be. If you’re an office manager and you’re considering making changes to the place in order to boost productivity, then your first port of call should be to ask your staff members. Once you’ve got a good idea of what needs changing, and you’ve assessed the suggestions, you can then get to work.

Refurbish

If your office space is looking outdated and is showing signs of wear and tear, then now is the time to consider a complete refurbishment. As long as your budget permits it, gut the entire office in favor of new flooring, freshly painted walls throughout, new and improved desks and chairs, and a reworking of the oppressive overhead lights. Pile the accumulated waste into a dumpster provided by a Dumpster rental Phoenix, so that it can be disposed of responsibly. Clean out your office and strip it back to basics to rebuild an attractive and productive environment.

Encourage Socialization

When it comes to decorating, try and create communal spaces that encourage your team to talk to each other and build relationships. When designing the staffroom, opt for large long couches so that the team has to be convivial and sit next to one another. Prepare group work, and ask that small teams work together to create a final result. Praise the teams for their effort and consideration of others.

Improve Air Quality

Without proper air ventilation, it’s very easy to become unfocused, tired, and to overheat – all of which aren’t going to help your team in trying to be as productive as possible. So, install new ventilation units if the current ones are somewhat lackluster, and keep plants in every available space throughout the premises. After all, not many people object to flowers, fresh greens, and other plants that keep the air clean. Having said this, always makes sure to ask about allergies before adding foliage around the office.

Offer Tea And Coffee

If you work in an office, you’ll understand the importance of caffeinated beverages to power you through the morning. Recognize that your team work hard to achieve their targets and reach their goals, so help them along the way and offer free coffee and tea whenever they might be in need of a pick-me-up. Create an inclusive, friendly environment for your employees, and you might just find that productivity increases tenfold.

Have An Open Door Policy

Your employees need to know that they can approach you whenever they need to discuss something. So, with this in mind, consider operating an open door policy whereby you’re on hand whenever the need arises. Tell your staff that you care about their welfare, their opinion, and possible suggestions about how the office is run and how the company performs. If your team know that you’re there to offer assistance and help them, then they should feel more relaxed, understood, and willing to work hard.

Corporate offices: How to make them fit for purpose for clients

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Corporate Office|Corporate offices: How to make them fit for purpose for clientsAs we all know, offices come in all shapes and sizes. There are some huge companies that still operate in very basic facilities (or none at all) – and have absolutely no plans of adding anymore glamour to them, despite of their huge revenues.

However, there are also some much smaller companies who have invested heavily in their office space. This isn’t necessarily because they just feel the need to work out of snazzy offices, but it’s quite often related to clients. In other words, if they are regularly inviting clients for meetings, they need an office that is fit for purpose. And, fit to impress them above the competition.

So, how can you achieve this without breaking the bank? Today’s article will now investigate some of the ways you can achieve this.

Show off with digital signage

Once upon a time, companies may have left leaflets and other paper evidence of their achievements in the reception area. Suffice to say, technology has taken this over.

Now, bigger things are almost expected by clients. Digital signage solutions from Cenareo certainly falls into this category and if you can show off your business in the most visual form as soon as a client walks into reception, you’ll have done wonders for their first impressions.

Try not to lead them through the main office space

Admittedly, this next point might be somewhat out of your control. However, if your office space allows, try and have separate areas for meeting clients and the space in which the main bulk of your work occurs.

It can be really awkward for clients to tiptoe through the main office space, with all eyes seemingly on them. Not only that, but this is something that also tends to showcase all of the bad parts of your office. Whether its papers strewn all over the desks, or just general clutter, day-to-day working environments aren’t going to do your image any favors.

Provide them a working area

This will differ between industries, but there can be occasions where clients need to work from your offices.
What’s the worst thing that can happen to them in this regard? Being perched on the end of a desk, like a spare part.

As such, have a designated area for clients to work from. Ideally it will be enclosed, and offer them all of the facilities they would have as if they were working from their usual environment.

Sometimes, it’s just offering convenience

We appreciate that budgets are small, and not everyone is going to be able to afford new desk areas, or digital signage. For those of you who fall into this category, don’t discount the power of convenience. From a client’s perspective, there’s nothing worse than not having access to the regular Wi-Fi, or not being offered a hot drink on arrival. These are tiny tips, that won’t cost you much, but can make the world of difference to a client who is visiting.