Office design is a critical factor when it comes to the success of any business. The aesthetics, comfort and functionality of your office space affects the happiness of your employees, as well as other important behaviours such as innovation, creativity, collaboration and problem-solving.
Your staff will mostly likely spend all of their working week in the office, so you want it to be a comfortable, low-stress and positive environment that fosters a strong team spirit.
It is so important that you get your office design right. Here’s what could happen when you have a poorly designed office.
1. It’s more difficult to focus
Whilst open plan offices certainly have many benefits, if full consideration isn’t given to the space, they can be detrimental when it comes to your employees being focused and productive.
Conversations between colleagues, people talking on the phone and generally excess noise levels can be distracting and break concentration.
Provide your staff with a well-designed workspace that allows them maximum privacy whilst allowing them to communicate and collaborate with colleagues when required. Your staff will then be able to work to their full potential.
2. Desks and workspaces become disorganised and chaotic
When desks are messy and disorganised, not only does it look unprofessional but your staff are likely to waste valuable time looking for items they need.
That’s why it’s so important to have an organised office with well-designed storage and facilities that allow everything your teams need to be right on hand.
3. Your staff could suffer from aches and pains
Whether it’s poor desk setup, monitors that are too low or uncomfortable chairs, a lack of consideration of office ergonomics can have a negative physical impact on your employees. Spending hours sat with poor posture at an unsuitable workstation can cause back ache, eye strain, headaches, wrist strain and other types of discomfort.
In turn, this can lead to absences from work, incur additional costs and cause a decline in office productivity levels, comfort and morale.
4. Sickness can become a problem
Poor heating, air-conditioning or ventilation are not just uncomfortable for your employees, but they can also increase the risk of contracting illnesses such as coughs, colds, the flu and other viruses. This then leads employees taking more time off work.
Additionally, research has shown that living a sedentary lifestyle and working in an office can worsen illness and disease.
That’s why it’s so important to include ergonomically-designed furniture in your office and provide ample opportunities for your employees to move around throughout the day.
5. There’s nowhere to socialise
Many offices lack space for staff to take a break, relax and come back to their desks feeling energised, refreshed and ready to tackle even the most challenging of tasks. A decent break space can also help build team cohesiveness and morale.
That’s why we always consider the needs of the whole employee when designing office spaces, when they are working and when they are resting.
6. No one will want to be in the office
If your office is uninspiring, uncomfortable, disorganised and lacking facilities, it won’t be an enjoyable or healthy place to work for anyone. This can lead to an unhappy, stressed and anxious workforce, high levels of absence from work, and a high staff turnover which could spell disaster for your business.
Get your office design wrong and you could harm your business and reduce your profits. Get it right, and your employees will be productive, innovative and content so business can thrive.
For advice on how to get it right first time, contact Flow today. We will work with you to make your office an environment that works for everybody.