The average person will spend 90,000 hours at work during their lifetime, and for many of us this means being in the office. Our comfort and well-being at work can have a huge impact on our quality of life. Here is a handy list of our top tips for choosing workplace furniture that will ensure a happy and healthy workforce.
ONE
Choose furniture that creates flow
Our surroundings affect the way we work, and a pleasant working environment will help motivate employees and increase productivity. Having the essentials at your fingertips means creativity can flow without interruption. We don’t just mean printers, staplers and files but people too! Making sure the correct employees are connected allows quick and easy communication and staff will find it much easier to bounce ideas off each other. Furniture has a large part to play in creating this flow, spacious desks with rounded edges have been shown to encourage positive emotions and creativity.
Ensuring staff have adequate storage should minimise clutter and mess, help towards keeping confidential data safe and allow staff room to brainstorm. The saying ‘Tidy desk, tidy mind’ is true for many of us and it has been proven that when working in a messy environment, the clutter and chaos can restrict your ability to focus the mind and process information. It is however important to remember that some people need to create a little mess as part of their creative processes so having larger, shared desks or workstations that staff members can use to spread out and discuss ideas can be helpful.
TWO
Choose a variety of furniture for different zones
Variety in spaces can help boost productivity. Choose different furniture for each area to define it’s purpose, for example sofas, bean bags and a large central table for a break out area will encourage staff to relax and chat. Modern and tech friendly desks for the main office will maintain a professional feel. Sitting in circles rather than back to back or facing encourages a collective mindset, circular desks could be a great feature for meeting rooms. Glass partitioning is a stylish way to maintain an open and communication-friendly environment whilst still maintaining important privacy for those staff members who need it.
THREE
Think about ergonomics
Although designing an office with lots of variety between spaces can help staff to take more regular breaks, there is no denying that a large proportion of the day will be spent sitting at a desk. Choosing furniture with an ergonomic design simply means furniture that is engineered to support the human body, preventing aches and pains and allowing for a healthier workforce. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to office chairs so it is important to provide staff with options. Providing ergonomic furniture is preventative care and although there may be a large initial investment, the long term benefits include less sick days taken by staff, happier employees and boosted morale; so don’t scrimp when it comes to comfort.
If your workplace allows it, standing desks or sit-stand desks can help staff move more, which in turn will increase productivity and relieve aches and pains. Your employees may not want to be standing all day, so making sure you choose an adjustable standing desk is key to allow for flexibility. Switching out current desks for standing ones is the best option as the entire desk area is then moved to the desired height, however there is the option of table top standing desks which is a slightly more economical way of achieving a healthier working environment. Find out more about how to improve your workplace culture.
FOUR
Choose furniture that reflects your brand and style
Investing in new office furniture is a great opportunity to better communicate your brand and can have a huge impact when customers, visitors and potential new staff members come in for meetings. Picking modern, stylish and vibrant pieces will showcase your business as a forward thinking and fun place to work. Make sure the balance between functionality and aesthetics is correct, there are some beautiful pieces of furniture out there but not all of them will be suitable for the workplace.
FIVE
Take advice from the experts
Whatever your budget, objectives and space you have to work with, at Gravity Office Interiors we can help you choose the right furniture for you and your workforce. If you’d like to know about our office design and fit out services, please get in touch.
