In a highly competitive business environment like the Bay Area, any advantage you can get could be the difference between success and failure as a business.
Creating a perfect office has a lot of great advantages for your business or organization. Not only can a proper layout improve comfort and productivity, but you can also impress potential clients and improve your retention.
If you’re planning an office redesign or moving into a new location, you’ll realize how challenging this process can be. In order to get the most out of your work space, we’d recommend you look at reputable office space designers like Office Solutions, who know all the best tactics for maximizing your efficiency and creating a beautiful design, while also being able to supply and install all the furniture. This means you won’t have to work with multiple companies just to make your vision come to life, they’re an all in one service.
Office Redesign Tips 2023
If you’re already in the process of your office redesign and want to see it through, keep the following tips in mind.
Define Your Budget and Objectives
Don’t go crazy with brand new, modern office furniture if it isn’t in your budget, and don’t start purchasing furniture until you have a full inventory of what you need to get.
Understanding the scale of the project is important before you begin the purchasing phase. This will not only help you save money when buying from B2B office furniture suppliers, but it will also ensure you don’t need to cheap out on furniture or decor that you initially overlook. Having a complete plan prior to beginning is always the best.
You’ll also want to ensure that you understand what your goals are in order to have a successful office redesign. The following are some examples to get you thinking:
- Improve productivity
- Allow for company growth
- Make better use of space
- Improve employee retention
- Impress potential clients
- Stimulate employee creativity
- Encourage interaction and teamwork
- Enhance employee well-being
- Lower operating cost
- Replace outdated supplies
When you have a solid plan and subsequent project management, you’re much more likely to succeed.
Prioritize Comfort
“Comfortable Furniture” shouldn’t be an oxymoron. Assuming you work full time, you’ll spend roughly 2000 hours in your office each year. Having comfortable furniture, whether it be at a cubicle or break room, is incredibly important for employee satisfaction, retention, and your own needs.
Ergonomic office furniture comes in modern designs and is helpful here, along with anything that is adjustable, like height adjustable tables. These allow employees and visitors to use them however they want.
Find Reputable Office Partners
Along with buying furniture, you’ll likely need someone to help with delivery, installation, electrical, and removal of past furniture if you’re redesigning without moving your office.
Some companies can handle all these aspects, which will make the process much smoother for you. Finding reputable companies like Bay Area Office Solutions can remove stress and help manage your project.
Technological Requirements Come Before Design!
If you’re not an experienced designer, this is maybe the most important thing to remember: Do not sacrifice technological needs for design.
Now days almost every industry is reliant on the internet to some degree, and making sure everyone has access to their required technology is vital and all-too-often overlooked.
When assigning where certain departments will be located, make sure more technology-dependent people have the most access to outlets, and ideally make sure that everyone has their own outlets. Also remember locations of phone systems, wifi hotspots, printers, and other necessary tools.
Ask for Employee Needs / Recommendations
Allowing your employees some voice in the office redesign process can help improve productivity, satisfaction, and retention. A Harvard Business study found higher levels of innovation, job performance, and satisfaction when more choices were given to employees.
This includes choices such as height adjustable furniture and location of office. When you’re planning your office, ask your employees what they would like to see, and how you could make the office a better place for them. It will be important to mention that you’ll try to accommodate everyone’s needs, but can’t make any guarantees.
Not only can this improve their performance, but they might have some really good ideas that you didn’t think of! You can make this an open forum, or restrict potential responses through a survey with bulleted options, asking which amenities they’d like, which design elements they prefer, and where they’d prefer to sit.
Lighting is Key
Using natural light is a key facet of modern design, but lighting design goes beyond that. In places where natural light isn’t possible, you’ll need to get an optimal replacement.
A dark, gloomy environment not only hurts productivity, it can also impact mood and well-being. Check your office for places with the least light, and find a substitute that fits in your design.
Allow for Relaxation
Having a relaxation space away from the work environment can help increase satisfaction and help people be more productive at their desks.
When people spend all their breaks at their desks, they are less likely to associate their desks with being a place solely for work, and can hurt productivity.
Relaxation places should be useful for social interactions and people who need a quiet environment over lunch.
Make Use of All Your Space, But Have a Growth Plan
Maximizing your office space is important to almost everyone redesigning their office, but you can’t crowd it so much that there’s no room for expansion.
You know your expected growth rate and industry, so don’t forget about where you can add new people in the future.
At the same time, don’t leave too much open space for new workers. When those spots are unfilled, your office can appear vacant and off putting.
Make it Your Own
When it comes to design, you should always make it your own. A cookie cutter office won’t impress anyone. This can be done with decor, color, or other elements.
Make an office space that is an extension of what you do, and fits into your company’s culture.
Office Solutions Can Redesign Your Office
If you need help redesigning your office, we can help. We’ve been in the industry for over 20 years, providing Bay Area businesses with the highest quality new and used furniture. Contact us today to learn more about our office redesigning and how we can help make the process easier for you!