It’s long been proven that there is a direct correlation between a healthy, productive culture and a company’s bottom line, and the idea that any company would dismiss its organisational culture in favour of strategy would be putting their success at risk. However, in practice, the majority of companies spend little time thinking about culture when comes to workplace design, let alone doing anything about it. Strategy always wins out.
So, why is culture so important, and especially in the workplace? The most obvious manifestation of culture in an office is its design. Today, there has been a significant shift in culture as the old bonds of time and place that once tethered people to an employer have loosened and dissolved. Workplace design is no longer just about the aesthetics, it’s the way in which it conveys and underpins the culture of the organisation.
The archetypical scene of rows of desks, chairs and meeting rooms is fading fast. Workplace design is all about settings and how people work and are managed, and the technologies that enable their work. It’s also about finding new and better ways to structure time and to design a space that will bind the happiness, success and wellbeing of individuals.
The traditional daily commute to an office to occupy fixed desk space has long been on the wane. With the rise of telecommuting, coworking spaces, globalisation and new technology, ‘flexibility’ in the workplace is key. More and more of us are, or will be, working in non-traditional ways and places, ranging from relying on adaptable furniture within the workplace and hotels, to satellite and offshore offices and, of course, home offices.
Workplace design and furniture specification is no longer just about the space available. Employees need to be able to easily switch their mode of focus – be it focusing, learning, socialising or collaborating – in order to stay fulfilled and to be productive. This in turn has led to the creation of a series of designated settings within the workplace. Typical settings include: welcome areas, a home or place to perform work, collaborative spaces, meeting areas, circulation pathways and even a work cafe – a signature space that can define a company’s culture, improve productivity and become a magnet that attracts employees.
Every organisation has its unique character in terms of strategies, culture, challenges and opportunities. However, when designing workplace space and specifying furniture, the following criteria should be considered:
Privacy – whether it’s visual, territorial or acoustic, it’s important that space is created for workers to enjoy privacy from distracting phones and coworkers, either on an individual or team basis. Soft seating has come into its own over the years for this purpose. Personal touchdown spaces, headspace and breakout furniture, that provide ergonomically sound alternatives to sitting at a desk or table, should be common features throughout offices.
Collaboration – conference and meeting rooms are no longer in favour. Instead, there is a growing trend towards glass-fronted meeting pods that avoid the need for fixed partitioning and that help continue the flow of nomadic working patterns and collaboration. Acoustically engineered, these pods offer complete privacy for users and being fully flexible, they can even be relocated to other parts of the office. Some pods boast special lighting systems to enhance wellbeing. These act to change the colour and intensity of white light in the pod in accordance with people’s natural circadian rhythms. As well as helping calm stress, they can help energise and improve concentration and alertness.
Display – to facilitate communication and collaboration, it’s important that vertical surfaces feature throughout the workplace. From meeting booths and pods, to standalone media walls that offer TV, video and online facilities, or a fixed whiteboard, a variety of technological functions should be made available.
Technology – technology and connectivity is now ubiquitous and almost integral to everything we do. Whilst it’s commonplace to find meeting tables that include discreet and integrated table-top power and data connection points, more and more soft office products that integrate such devices should become part of the specification brief.
Wellbeing – when we feel well, we work well, and given that employees are the engines that keep companies growing, adapting, improving and innovating, employee wellbeing should be a key consideration. From the latest ergonomically-designed task chairs that provide dynamic support through fluid movement and require no user adjustment, to stand-up desks that help boost health, productivity and collaboration, specifying the right furniture is vital to employee health and wellbeing.
Workplace design is no longer just about the aesthetics, and the choice of furniture is no longer just about the space available. Both are closely bound up with the culture of an organisation and the ways in which people work and interact. By creating settings to address individuals’ needs, the scene can be set for optimum performance in the workplace.