Summary: Office layouts have a big impact on the way that employees work with one another. It also influences how much they’ll want to come to the office and how motivated they’ll be once they get there. That makes it an important decision that could affect productivity and the quality of the work product.
Your employees will spend a lot of their lives in their work office if they work a standard 40-hour week. That means that you want to make it an inviting and ergonomic place to be. In addition, with the preference for hybrid or work-from-home models, you’ll want to give your employees a reason to want to come into the office.
Key Takeaways:
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Office layout can affect how much your employees will collaborate with one another, how motivated they are, and how much they’ll want to come into the office.
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You can prioritize having an office that is ergonomic, open, biophilic, or one that has lots of places to hide away and work.
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There are various easy and inexpensive ways to up the quality of your office. They include switching seating around, benching, having whiteboards, lots of natural light, or focusing on accommodating hybrid work.
Why Is Office Layout Important?
The layout of your office can have a large impact on productivity and how your workers interact with one another. That means that your office layout should be informed by the type of work your organization does, as well as the type of interactions you want to encourage your employees to have.
Types of Layouts
There are many different ways to lay out an office, many of which will depend on the office space itself. That being said, there are gestalts you can use to inform the way that you organize the office. Here are some popular ones to consider.
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Ergonomic. An office that’s focused on ergonomics is interested both in its employees’ comfort and in doing work as easily and efficiently as possible. If your office is ergonomic, it’s focused on ease of use and safety. That means that it should be laid out in a way that allows easy access to important items, along with ensuring safe use.
Many different companies sell ergonomic furniture, keyboards, and desks. An ergonomic office will likely make use of these, as well as having standing desks and easy access to important equipment.
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Open. If you’re going for an open office layout, then there won’t be any obvious dividers. This type of office is most useful for work that requires collaboration, as it facilitates conversations between employees, as well as makes it easy to see what other people are working on.
This type of office is often seen in tech companies and startups, where collaboration, communication, and relationship-building are encouraged. A lot of these types of offices will make use of tables or sofas rather than having cubicles or desks to encourage working together and to keep the space open and shared.
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Biophilic. Having greenery in an office is a sure way to lift people’s spirits. Remember that people spend a lot of their lives in the office. You want to make it as inviting and attractive as possible.
Having a lot of greenery also means that the office has to be well-lit by sunlight – another excellent way to make the office a place workers will want to be.
While there isn’t a specific industry that is best suited for this type of office, it’s helpful if your focus is on the environment or outdoors – it helps to remind everyone of what they’re working for. In general, though, having a lot of sunlight and plants help with both air quality and mood.
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Nooks and crannies. While this is more of a way to go if you have an unusual office space, it’s also helpful if the type of work you do involves high levels of concentration. Building private areas for employees to ensconce themselves and work encourages working alone and being highly focused.
This is most useful for solitary work, such as programming, or other individual, high-intensity work. It’s also a way to make an open, industrial area seem homey. You can build cozy areas for employees to settle in and focus on their work.
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Cellular. This is the most common type of office. While it’s also referred to as cubicles, cellular often takes it a step further by having built-in doors and windows.
It can either be done via cubicles or by giving each person their own office (which is much preferred by employees, if feasible.)
A cellular office layout gives employees a level of privacy, though it doesn’t facilitate collaboration, as everyone is ensconced in their own area. Managers are also unable to watch what their employees are doing or do a quick scan to check to see if anyone’s struggling.
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Partition. If aspects of the cellular office structure suit your workplace, but you don’t want to close everyone off from one another, having a partition structure is a compromise. It’s similar to the cellular layout in that everyone has their own desk, and there are divisions. However, partitions are much lower, which allows for communication.
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Let your employees choose. If you’re just setting up an office or reorganizing one, it’s not a bad idea to ask your employees what they’d like. Not all suggestions will be plausible, of course, but this gives employees some ownership over the space in addition to seeing what they believe would work best.
Different employees will likely prioritize different things, which means that you’ll have to find a fair way to decide what you will and won’t do. Trying to incorporate as much as possible is a good idea, but if you can’t, holding a vote is the most democratic way to go about it. It’ll also help stave off complaints or accusations of favoritism.
Tips for Making Use of Available Space
There are several different strategies available to make the most of available space. While cubicles are popular for several reasons, they’re disliked by employees. If you want to make your office somewhere where people actually want to work, here are some tips to try.
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Rotating seating. While this isn’t going to work for every employee or workplace, having unassigned seating can be a way to allow for more flexibility and creativity. This is especially useful if you don’t have enough room to give everyone a full desk, as this will allow different people to use different places as needed.
These can be done either by switching assigned seats around or by having a first come, first served policy. Though with the latter, you may end up with people selecting a seat that they prefer and end up with unspoken assigned seating.
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Benching. Instead of having individual desks, you can instead have long tables for employees to work at. This works best in either a small area, where there isn’t enough space for desks for everyone or in an industry where you want to encourage a lot of collaboration.
However, it may not work for every industry if your employees need a fair amount of equipment. That being said, almost everything is done on computers now, so as long as you have enough space for a laptop, most of your employees will have everything they need.
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Places to unwind. It’s important for employees to be able to take a break now and then. This can be in the form of break rooms – though most break rooms aren’t overly inviting – or by adding ping pong tables or couches and a vending machine. Whatever you choose, it’s good to let your employees know it’s okay to pause and reset if they need to.
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Add color. Most offices tend to be off-white with industrial gray carpeting. Remember that this is a place where your employees spend a lot of time. You want it to be somewhere that they don’t dread going or feel oppressed once they arrive.
Even if it isn’t a lot, adding pops of color can make a space much more inviting. You can do this via furniture, having the walls repainted, or even getting colorful tables and plants. Hanging paintings or pictures on the wall can make the space much more inviting as well.
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Whiteboards. Having chalkboards or whiteboards to write on can be a way to encourage employees to work together. Especially if your industry is one that requires a lot of calculations, having a place for people to write down what they’re working on will encourage working together and double-checking.
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Lots of light. Make sure that your office is well-lit. Natural light is absolutely the best, but not every office space is going to have large windows to let in sunlight. Barring that, try to replace fluorescent lights with a more natural lighting system – maybe LEDs that have a similar color temperature to sunlight.
Adding lamps and diffusing the light source can also help to make the space feel less oppressive. This is especially important in the winter, as the fact that there’s less sunlight is the cause of seasonal affective disorder. Even those who don’t suffer from seasonal depression are affected by the lack of light – and sunlight keeps people awake.
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Hybrid work. Another possibility is to lean into the idea of hybrid work. This can help you save on office space, as well as being a popular benefit. If you offset the days that people come into the office, you can make do with much less office space.
Additionally, if you put the office together with hybrid work in mind, you can build in areas that allow people who are working from home – or another office – to more easily participate in meetings and other social events.
Office Layout FAQ
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Does office layout affect productivity?
Yes, office layout can affect productivity. If the office isn’t ergonomic, it can make it difficult for people to get things done efficiently. Additionally, if the office is oppressive or ill-suited to the type of work your employees do, they’re more likely to struggle to get things done.
If your office space is ergonomic and inviting, people are much happier to be there and will be more motivated to work. That’ll up both productivity and your retention rate.
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What is the best way to design an office?
There is no one ideal way to design an office. That being said, you should consider the type of work your organization does and how you want to encourage your employees to work. It’s also a good idea to ask for employee input on the office layout, particularly if you’re just setting up an office or doing a major reorganization.
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What’s the best office layout for a small business?
While there’s no one best layout for every small business, it’s usually a good idea to encourage collaboration and camaraderie with a small team. That means that having a more open office layout facilitates working together, and conversing is likely better for a small business than a more closed layout.