8 Tips For Office Design In 2018

• Don't Forget About Your Waiting Room
  If your business' clients frequently visit your premises, it is very important that your office has a waiting room that gives the right first impression.
  
  Your business' waiting room should have comfortable furniture so that your guests can relax whilst they wait. Additionally, you might also consider adding other features to make guests feel more comfortable such as a hot drinks vending machine so they can help themselves to a cup of tea or coffee whilst they wait for their meeting. You could also add in additional features such as charging ports for Smartphones and other devices.
  
  
• Increase The Amount Of Natural Light
  Whilst it is important that your workplace is well-lit and as such high quality artificial lighting is indeed important. Is it also very important that your workplace has a good amount of natural light. It offers a much wider spectrum and as such it can make it easier for people to see whilst performing their daily tasks in the office.
  
  Additionally, there have been studies which show productivity improves with natural light. As such, if your business is looking to increase productivity and increase employee wellbeing, consider adding more natural light to your workplace.

• Choose Some High Quality Office Furniture
  Office furniture is very important; not just for creating a good first impression, it's also very important for employee wellbeing and productivity.
  
  If your employees are sitting in uncomfortable chairs, the discomfort could be very distracting, leading to a reduction in productivity. Additionally, with a high quality office chair, such as an ergonomic chair the furniture could prevent long-term back, shoulder, and neck injuries. These injuries could lead to staff slowing down or even taking time off work as a result of injuries. As written in our blog “Office Furniture and Its Effects On The Productivity Produced In The Office", it's also possible “that due to such injuries, some employees may seek employment elsewhere, costing you a talented staff member with much to offer."

• Think Carefully About Your Office Layout
  Both open plan and private office spaces have their advantages and disadvantages. Open plan offices can be a fantastic space for collaboration, but they can also be very noisy work environments. On the other hand, private offices can offer employees the space they need to focus, but the distance between employees could cause some communication issues.
  
  Some businesses may find that their activities and their staff are better suited to an open plan office layout; whereas other businesses may find that their employees are more focused when they work in a private environment.
  
  If you would like to learn more information regarding the layout of your office and the Pros and Cons of both open plan offices and private offices, you may be interested in reading our blog titled, “Open Plan Vs Private Office Spaces".

• Think About Colour
  When you're designing a new office environment, choosing the colour of the workspace is very important. It might be tempting to choose colours such as white or cream, however have you considered the effect that colour could have on your employees. For example, in our blog titled “How Important Are The Colours In Your Office?", we discussed numerous different colours, such as the colour orange which is associated with self-confidence, communication and optimism.

• Make Your Workplace Tech-Friendly
  If your business is trying to attract skilled members of the younger generations (The Millennials and Generation Z); you'll need to make sure that your office environment is tech-friendly. This includes adding lots of outlets for electrical devices, perhaps even some USB ports.
  
  USB ports aren't just for charging devices such as Smartphones, a wide variety of different devices can be charged via USB. For example, during summer months employees might want to use a USB powered fan to cool down, but during the winter they might want to use USB powered heated gloves to keep their hands warm whilst working at their desk.

• Don't Forget To Add Plants
  Adding plants to your workplace can help staff feel more creative and help them feel calmer in the work environment.
  
  You could add plants with flowers that match your office colour scheme, or you could ask employees to bring in some of their favourite plants and allow them to customise their workspace.
  
  However, if you're looking for a creative way to include nature into your office environment, you might consider adding a living wall to the office.

• Create A Fantastic Breakout Area
  Break rooms can be used for a variety of different things. They can be a fantastic retreat from any work related stress; with comfortable seating and perhaps a selection of books for employees to enjoy. However, they can also be fantastic areas for employees from different departments to meet, which could potentially boost company morale and camaraderie.
  
  The breakout area could also be a fantastic place for a social gathering every Friday at the end of the work week. Giving employees from different departments an opportunity to relax together.

You can contact our team by telephone by calling 0345 21 86955. However, if you would instead prefer to contact the Oaktree Interiors team using the internet, you can do so using one of the methods below.

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