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Category: City Offices (page 4 of 5)

Guide To Small Office Must Haves

Improvements in IT and a revolution in the way we work in the past 50 years has led to many businesses opting for smaller offices and many even finding space at home to carry out daily tasks.

As with larger offices however there are still some essentials required to ensure the work environment is comfortable and work can be done efficiently. Here are a few essentials anyone moving into a small office should consider.

Office furniture
The standard and provision of office furniture is important not only for staff but also to create the right impression of your business. Old furniture and broken chairs will demoralise staff and could even be a potential hazard. In business presentation is important and if you want to recruit the best staff and ensure that they are loyal, then early investment in your office space is important.

Ensure utilities are reliable
The last thing you need is a faulty boiler, heating that stops working and disruptions to your energy supplies or phone lines. Having these breakdowns not only harms productivity but it can also disrupt workplace morale. Also ensure that you are on the best deal available to reduce energy costs for your business.

IT Systems
Many small businesses pay little attention to their IT systems until they breakdown. Some high profile cases of hacking should alert business owners to the importance of security and updating software and equipment regularly.

Should Workplace Design Reflect Your Branding?

March 26, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

How many workplaces do you know that have interior spaces that reflect their branding?

Depending on how many you will have seen the answer is probably not many. Workplaces that reflect company branding are hard to find in most business sectors unless they appreciate just how important branding is to company culture as well as perceptions from the outside.

If you business is branding then there is a good chance you already appreciate how everything present in a business from its philosophy and culture to its furniture should reflect the brand.

It also shouldn’t be forgotten, that when customers and clients arrive at your workplace, their perception of your business can be greatly influenced by what they are seeing around them for the first time.

As everyone knows first impressions are important. If an office has a nice contemporary design that reflects the branding and colours of the business, then this will make those clients and customers feel more secure about doing business with your company.

For staff too, it’s important for them to buy into company culture and the work environment should encourage this by creating a clear sense of identity. Simply spreading a few brochures on meeting and coffee tables is not enough to make those employees feel part of an organisation that is going places.

Ditch the Beach Huts And Straw Bales, Employees Prefer Better Technology!

March 13, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

When it comes to office furniture removals, there is a growing trend towards useless items like slides, and other non-essential gimmicky furniture and apparatus into storage as businesses slowly realise that staff consider them secondary to better technological facilities to make work easier.

Many businesses have decided to jump onto bandwagon with all manner of playful additions to the office to the extent that it is unusual to enter decent sized city centre office without seeing areas to play pool, table tennis or both.

While there is nothing wrong with adding these sorts of elements into offices, they shouldn’t be added at the expense of more essential office items such as technological equipment. At least if you’re a business owner who wants to keep staff happy.

A recent study found that 79% of workers view reliable technology as more important than how the office looks. The survey appears to show that typical workers would rather see investment in things that make their jobs easier so that they can be more productive.

If you are an office owner considering ping pong tables, hammocks and so on, spare a thought for what staff really want. Play and rest areas may well be a waste of money if nobody has the time while at work to use them.

How to create a positive workplace

February 10, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

It’s often surprising to see how closely some offices resemble the TV version of the office with positivity at best on a par with the staff of Wernham Hogg. While not all of this is down the design and layout of office space, positive office design can at least go some way towards reducing the negative impact of inconsiderate managers and bosses.

One thing is certain, a negative work environment is not just bad for miserable staff members, it can also spread throughout the organisation leading eventually to apathy, lack of motivation and reduced productivity.

Some simple tweaks to the design and layout can have a surprisingly positive effect on everyone in the organisation if carefully thought out.

The introduction of more attractive office furniture will be welcomed by staff members particularly if desks and chairs are looking like they have seen better days.

Another important part of designing a positive office is to introduce a sense of fun. While work time shouldn’t always be fun time, having a laugh and perhaps a game of pool or table tennis with colleagues can give some release from day-to-day monotony. We all as humans like to be rewarded for our hard work.

Lastly areas should be well lit, and there should be plenty of space to move around in. There is nothing worse than being stuck in an office day after day in a crowded room full of colleagues you may not necessarily get on well with.

How To Do Employee Focused Office Design In 2017

January 13, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

Office design for big businesses has come a long way in the past decade but what about smaller businesses?

Those business owners who don’t pay attention to their office layouts can risk alienation, lower productivity and an increase in sick leave among staff.

It doesn’t have to be this way, however, for those business owners stuck in the past with compartmentalised and unhealthy offices.

Creating spaces that staff will enjoy spending their time in doesn’t necessarily need to cost the earth. Simple measures such as bringing in more light, be it artificial or ideally natural can make a huge difference to productivity levels.

The same could be said for creating more mobile spaces where staff can feel comfortable moving around rather than feel that they must be seated for an entire 8 hour shift.

A common problem at this time of year is inadequate heating. Simply turning up the temperature during cold spells can make a big difference to staff morale, for a the comparatively small extra expense.

Those business owners who fail to think about their employees’ work environment could risk losing their best staff members and face a struggle to replace them.

Good Office Design More Important Than Office Games

November 10, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Walk into many offices belonging to trendy new businesses and you are likely to find anything from pool tables to ping pong tables and even areas to indulge in a beer or two. But, according to research, employees are more likely to be happier in their work if the office is designed right.

What many office owners mistakenly believe will help motivate their staff may be missing the mark if the research turns out to be accurate.

While having the opportunity to indulge in a game of pool during worktime might sound attractive it may actually end up having the opposite effect with some staff who may end up feeling less motivated to do their work.

What workers need to feel happy in their work is less reliant on gimmicks and more about two important things; feeling valued by an employer and an environment that helps them focus. There is even growing evidence that not all employees will want the same thing when it comes to collaborative working and casual work environments.

Rather than go down the Google route of an office designed to incorporate play and relaxation spaces, simply adding the correct furnishings, colours and lighting can make a significant difference to making the work environment a happier place.

Why Sound Acoustics Is Vital to Office Design

October 20, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Offices come in all sorts of layouts from sleek open plan, to period offices in city centres.

The challenge in both cases is to find a solution that not only creates a sense of space but also provides privacy and a quiet place to work for those employees who need it. So when designing an office layout, a delicate balancing act needs to be struck to ensure that everyone in the workplace will be happy.

Unlike visual distractions, which can simply be screened off or hidden by a simple re-arrangement of furniture and screens. Unfortunately, good acoustics will require a more complicated solution to reduce noise from phones, chatter and colleagues moving from one place to another.

All of this can become very frustrating for those who require peace and quiet to do their best work, which will in turn hinder productivity.

While the modern trend continues to lean towards the open plan spaces which have been seen as the best way to develop cooperation and creativity since the 1950s.

To improve acoustics in your office requires knowledge of how sound impacts on different surfaces and how it is absorbed by others.

This starts with the introduction of carpets, acoustic panels and acoustic screens which can help reduce noise dramatically. Then create separate spaces for collaborative work so as not to disturb those staff members who prefer to work in quiet isolation from time to time.

Is Your Office Layout Influencing Your Business Culture?

October 10, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

The more you learn about architecture and the buildings we use everyday, the more you understand just how much they can influence us.

Do you ever find yourself sitting in a room at work wondering what might be going on in the office across the corridor or do you feel excluded from management who occupy a corner office hardly anyone ever goes into?

Despite open plan offices and glass partitions now being an established part of business culture, you can still be left feeling an unwanted sense of seclusion and separation.

As a business owner, having your office laid out in this traditional manner is more likely to put people off coming to work for your organisation.

The days when people coveted the big office in the corner are now numbered as collaboration is understood to be the key to effective working.

If everyone in your office is crammed into small rooms, then it can be little wonder that conflict between staff members can begin to develop and instead of working as a team, the organisation becomes fragmented.

This can all be changed by a re-imagining of your office layout to encourage rather than discourage collaboration and a more harmonious working environment.

Is Working From Home Losing Its Appeal Compared To The Office

September 25, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Working from home has become boring and more stressful than working from in the office for some lucky employees. So does this mean working from home will no longer be classed as a perk?

According to research the majority of workers now say they work more productively in their offices than anywhere else. This blows away what appears to be the myth that working from home leads to better productivity.

Most bosses will probably agree and will prefer their staff to work from the office rather than home to make sure they remain motivated and free from the distractions of home.

What’s new is that two thirds of workers agree with them according to recent research.

Publicity surrounding the opening of various new state of the art offices seems to point towards offices designed around employees rather than their bosses as firms attempt to create spaces and office culture that encourages people to stay and enjoy themselves in the workplace.

Understanding how employees might become stressed due to a lack of natural light, quiet spaces to unwind and so on appears to be at the centre of new thinking in office design and architecture.

Firms are investing millions in creating the kinds of spaces their employees will feel at home in. The hope is that they will become more productive as a result.

Is This Office In Wales The Trendiest and Happiest In The UK?

September 12, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

The Daily Post recently reported on call answering company, Moneypenny’s, new offices in Wrexham revealing a trendy new multi-million-pound office to rival that of some of the world’s biggest business HQs.

Moneypenny’s aim when designing the new 91,000sq ft building was to create a happy environment for staff. The hope is that the new offices will make going to work a pleasurable for staff in contrast to the majority of offices in the UK.

The office features a treehouse meeting room and even its own village pub, which were all introduced in consultation with staff.

In addition to a pub the offices also feature a sun terrace, a triple height atrium and a restaurant featuring free breakfasts and fruit in true ‘Google office style’. These additions are likely to give staff not only plenty of natural light to enjoy but also keep them healthy and well-fed.

The cost of the new office building came in at £15 million which was according to the company owners the same price they would have paid for a standard brick built office on the same kind of scale.

The challenge for the architects was to design something ground breaking for the same price and it looks like they have achieved it.