{"id":17262,"date":"2015-07-10T21:32:59","date_gmt":"2015-07-11T01:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/07\/make-your-office-space-work.html"},"modified":"2015-07-10T21:32:59","modified_gmt":"2015-07-11T01:32:59","slug":"make-your-office-space-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2015\/07\/make-your-office-space-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Report: Make Your Office Space Work"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dorothy Rogers-Bullis, owner of drb Business Interiors, Saratoga Springs\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
BY DOROTHY ROGERS-BULLIS<\/p>\n
According to the International Labour \nOrganization and the U.S. Bureau of Labor \nStatistics, American employees work more \nhours per year than any other industrialized \nnation in the world. So if people are going \nto spend that much time at work, it can be \nwell-worth it for companies to invest in work \nspaces to improve employees’ ergonomics, \nmorale, and efficiency.<\/p>\n
When designing a workspace, it is crucial \nthat you take the time to analyze how you and \nyour employees work, to understand the challenges \nyou face with your space, and to learn \nabout ways that other people are working.<\/p>\n
If you are interested in updating your office \nspace, but you are not sure where to begin, \nhere are a few of the top new trends.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Standing to work: With study after study \ncoming out about the health issues associated \nwith prolonged sitting, the sit-to-stand \ndesk has become a hot trend in office design. \nOffering the flexibility to perform work in \neither position, sit-to-stand desks improve \nergonomics, and the variety of vantage points \nalso sparks creativity.<\/p>\n
Sit-to-stand desks are highly appealing \nto many people in artistic roles-designers \nand writers, for example-as well as younger \nemployees who like the “cool factor.” \nWhile they aren’t for everyone, it’s a great \noption to offer employees.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Lower workstation walls: The “cubicle \nfarm” may just face extinction as divider \nwalls are getting lower and lower. Because 65 \npercent of the cost of a cubicle is in the vertical \npanels, benching-a desk system devoid \nof walls- is becoming increasingly popular. \nBenching saves money, increases collaboration, \nand allows you to fit more employees \ninto a smaller space.<\/p>\n
There are trade-offs with lower or nonexistent \nworkstation walls, however. Noise \nand lack of privacy are seen as problematic \nto some employees, while more distractible \npeople may struggle with concentration and \nproductivity.<\/p>\n
Although there are numerous advantages to \nbringing down the walls in your office space, \nthe decision should be carefully weighed.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Breakout spaces: Meetings aren’t just \nbeing held in conference rooms anymore. \nEmployees often feel that traditional business \nmeetings are too formal, too long, and generally \na waste of time. Instead, teammates are \ncoming together for shorter, impromptu t\u00c3\u00aate\u00c3 – \nt\u00c3\u00aates that last a maximum of 20-30 minutes. \nEmployees are meeting in breakout areas \nfor these quick sessions, then returning to \ntheir individual workspaces to complete \ntheir tasks.<\/p>\n
This kind of meeting style means that \nworkstations are getting smaller, but shared \nmeeting spaces are getting larger, both in \nnumber and area. Many companies are designing \ntheir offices to include several of these \nbrainstorming spaces close to employees’ \ndesks where small groups can come together, \nknee-to-knee, instead of around a large conference \ntable.<\/p>\n
Businesses are realizing that in order to \nstay ahead and become forerunners in their \nindustries, they need to encourage this sort \nof collaboration among their employees. If \nyou want to make just one change to your \ncurrent office space, this one can be relatively \ninexpensive to implement, yet high-impact for \nemployee efficiency.”<\/p>\n
These and other hot trends in office design \ncan boost productivity in the modern working \nworld, and a fresh look to your space can \ninvigorate employees. We often find that sales \nand output increase for our clients following \na redesign of their workspace.<\/p>\n
Rogers-Bullis is owner of drb Business Interiors, \nSaratoga Springs, a leading commercial furniture \nsales and office interiors design firm.<\/p>\n
Photo Courtesy of drb Business Interiors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dorothy Rogers-Bullis, owner of drb Business Interiors, Saratoga Springs BY DOROTHY ROGERS-BULLIS According to the International Labour Organization and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American employees work more hours per year than any other industrialized nation in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-17262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-reports","tag-business-reports"],"yoast_head":"\r\n
Business Report: Make Your Office Space Work - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\r\n