Office space recommendations over the past few years have focused on the same few trends: Open concept, comforting yet professional, and ergonomic furniture. While these trends are still true going into 2022, we hadn’t seen any significant changes for a relatively long time.

This past year we’ve seen a new concept join that list, Flexibility and Adaptability.

While flexibility has always been preferred in an office space, the current work climate has made it an absolute necessity opposed to a nice addition.

What does workspace flexibility mean?

Workspace flexibility refers to a workspace that’s able to adapt to your needs on a given day. It’s able to accommodate a large range of employees and allows everyone to do their job, regardless of what that may be.

A flexible workspace allows you to host a large meeting for your whole team one day, then a quiet and efficient environment a day later. Employees are able to have videocalls, face-to-face interactions, send emails, or do paperwork all in one relatively small place.

Flexibility allows you to quickly transition from one need to the next without sacrificing your productivity or having too much wasted space. You may have heard of the concept as “flexispace,” a versatile arrangement of your traditional office that can accommodate the needs of any worker.

In an era where so many people work from home (often only for part of the week), this is a massive advantage.

What does a flexible office look like?

Flexible office spaces are generally centered around shared workspaces and activity-based workspaces. You’ll see the following concepts:

• Open Concepts: Physical barriers have their benefits, but really hurt the versatility of a space. An open space allows you to accommodate a large group of people, while also allowing safe distances when necessary.
• Quiet Areas: An open concept without planning can lead to disrupting noise. Every efficient office space includes noise-restricting areas to offset the sounds of meetings and conversation. These will also help your more reserved workers feel more comfortable.
• Meeting Destinations: Some things need to stay private, and designated areas for meetings can’t be entirely phased out.
• Use of Resources: Everyone needs amenities, and providing efficient access to these has a drastic impact on your office.
• Flexible Equipment: Benching, seating, computers, and other workplace elements need to be dynamic and adjustable, allowing for a worker of any department or body type to be comfortable and productive.
• Fewer Designated Workspaces: If an employee is only working in the office once a week, there’s a good chance they don’t need a reserved location. Multiple workers can make use of the same area on different days or different times of day, opening up plenty of new space for other activities when needed.

Creating a flexible office

You don’t need to move offices to improve your workspace’s flexibility. Creating community areas and removing designated workspaces for people who now work from home is an easy way to start.

Some basic reorganization can go a long way, and explaining the intentions to employees can help them realize the benefits by themselves.

The specifics of creating a flexible office space depend greatly on your industry, floorplan, and company size. If you’re inexperienced rearranging offices, we’d recommend using a team of office redesign experts who’ve created flexible offices before.

Our family-owned company has been redesigning office spaces for over 20 years, and would be happy to help you out.

Flexible Products

Another way of improving your office’s flexibility is by using optimal products. Some of our favorites can be seen below.

Zenbooth – See Online

This office phone booth can be set up in your office, providing an optimal quiet area for small meetings or video calls. Available for 1 person, 2 people, or up to 4 people. Includes a powered height-adjustable desk and LED lighting.

Flip Top Nesting Tables – See Online

Featuring a quick response top-flip lever and locking casters, these tables are designed so they may be nested together for easy storage.

They have a professional appeal and sturdy build, helping you increase your workspace when needed.

Available in a wide variety of sizes and finishes.

Stand up Workstations – See Online

A classic ergonomic option, allowing users to sit or stand as needed throughout the day.

This option is also relatively easy to move, and provides a wide range of options for storage, size, and style.

HAT Benching System – See Online

This is our go-to Benching System for a lot of our redesigns. This system is sturdy, ergonomic, and perfect for an open office environment.

The versatile shields provide a nice middle ground between privacy and an open feel, and the system can be aligned in a variety of ways to fit well in your particular layout.

This is just a small cross section of the products that can help you achieve a more flexible office space. For more options, give us a call at (408) 753-9187. Tell us what you’re looking for, and we’ll take it from there.

Wishing you all great success in 2022!

The post 2022 Office Trends: Flexibility appeared first on Bay Area Office Solutions.

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!

The post Planning an Office Redesign? What to Know in 2023 appeared first on Bay Area Office Solutions.