Did you know that with intelligent office space planning, any business can build a unique brand and a great work atmosphere?
What is the one thing (aside from the massive chain of offices, the big branding and loads of money) that the most successful companies have?
A happy and motivated workforce.
Their employees love to work for them, going that extra mile to produce great work for their employers. Talented people on the outside want to work for these companies and clients are falling over themselves to do business with them.
Whilst you can point to their ideas, products and the way they conduct their business as drivers in their success, there is one other aspect that is so often overlooked when summing up the reasons for their accomplishments; the environment and culture of their offices.
What is office space planning?
Put simply, office space planning is an interior design method that arranges office layouts so that employees are able to work together in departmental or team groupings. This provides them with the best opportunity to create an efficient workflow and improve communication. The main aim is to increase productivity, whilst still maintaining (and often, improving) the quality of work produced. Improving an employee’s enjoyment of their workday is key to achieving these aims.
Workplace analytics plays a big role in space planning for an office. It takes into account every aspect of the environment on offer, including what the business needs to achieve and how it correlates with the set-up of the interiors, how it affects the abilities of the employees to produce great work and even takes into account what they themselves want from their ideal working environment. These analytics are then combined into an office design plan that will paint the picture of the business’ ideal office.
The Benefits of Office Space Planning:
Redefining The Office Space:
Faced with the need to refurbish their office interiors, many businesses may look towards relocating to what they may see as a more suitable office space. Whilst this certainly does have its benefits, what if their current office already has everything they need? It may be in a great location or have a favourable rental rate, for example.
The great thing about office space planning is that a business does not have to move; they can redefine the space to suit their needs, giving the interiors a complete overhaul. This is why it’s important that workplace analytics are undertaken before any decision is made; they can indicate whether the current space can be used more efficiently.
People Planning:
The greatest asset of any business is the people who keep it moving towards success; so wouldn’t it make sense to include their views on what they would constitute as their ideal working environment? Creating an office design that the employees have a big say in, will suit their working styles more, and will also make them appreciative, making them feel more involved.
Planning with people is simply the best way to ensure that a business cultivates a creative, collaborative and ultimately, productive, workspace.
Potential for Future Growth:
Redefining the office space is also a great way to ascertain how much room there may be for future expansion. Workplace analysis is able to raise questions about the business, its clients and what it wants to achieve. Once these factors are known, the office layout can be planned so that the space can adapt to growth.
Attract (And Keep) Talented People:
One of the major drivers of business success is that the company has a settled workforce that is pulling together in the right direction. Unfortunately, many a company will experience high staff turnover rates, which is often down to the environment they experience at work. To put it plainly, if a talented person feels like they cannot display their abilities, they’ll grow frustrated and unhappy, often leading to stress and absenteeism, and eventually, resignation.
By people planning with their office interiors; shaping them towards nurturing skills, instead of potentially obstructing them, a business can attract talented people to the company and keep them together as it strives for success.
Less Future Cost:
Like with any managed property, the true key to its value is the amount of money it will cost in regard to its long-term maintenance. Great office space planning will make concessions for most things that would otherwise cost extra with a ‘fixed’ design. Cost is a major reason why multiple businesses don’t expand or improve their interiors to suit their employees’ working practices. By using space planning to create a long-term strategy, the need to expand or to introduce new technologies (for example) can be easily introduced into the office, without any future overhaul needed, bringing down future costs.
Improve Your Office Interiors With Oaktree Interiors:
If you’re looking to improve the effectiveness of your office environment, why not get in touch with the office design experts here at Oaktree Interiors? Our office space planning is integrated as the first stage of the work process we undertake, meaning that there are no additional costs when we design and build your ideal office interiors.
For further information on the office design work we have produced, please feel free to browse around our case studies section in which we have broken down each project, giving you an insight into how we created each office design, complete with high-resolution imagery.
To get in touch with us to learn more about our service, give us a call at 0345 21 86955 or send an e-mail to us at hello@oaktreeoffice.com