Implementing strategies to enable a flexible workplace can result in significant, long-term, and positive impacts. By encouraging employees to collaborate more effectively and work how they choose, flexible workspaces are paving the way to great success for businesses moving forward.
Designing a flexible workspace requires significant consideration regarding long-term business strategy, physical layout, and aesthetic design decisions that work together to improve your office’s productivity and employee experience. This article breaks down evidence from industry leaders to help you understand the benefits of a flexible workspace.
Improve and upgrade your office with these four workplace strategies:
Encourage mobility and hybrid work
Following COVID-19’s “work from home” mandate, there has been a significant increase in the number of employees who would prefer not to work in the office every day. Bloomberg reports that 39% of employees would consider quitting their job if forced to return to the office full time.
The trend that we are seeing, post-COVID-19, is that employees now prefer a combination of working at home and in the office. Similarly, we are seeing businesses that support employee mobility through workspace design are experiencing a boost in employee creativity and productivity.
Organizations that encourage hybrid work environments report significantly fewer sick days, more significant achievement, and improved employee satisfaction.
Still on the fence about promoting hybrid opportunities? Click here.
Workflow conditions that support employees
The layout of your office space should directly support the workflow of its occupants. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with most businesses; this is due to various factors, namely that most offices no longer support employees as well as they used to.
Here at DESIGN+BUILD, we believe that design directly influences human behavior. When designing a workspace, it is integral to consider how workflow can create optimal conditions for all members of your workforce. Optimized workflows can significantly improve productivity, efficiency, morale, and even the mental health of your workforce.
Incorporate activity-based work (ABW)
Activity-based working is a productivity model whereby office space is designed to accommodate particular tasks and styles of working rather than generalizing the departments of your team.
With an activity-based workspace, the office is organized to most effectively accommodate a wide range of employee personalities, working styles, and physical requirements by incorporating a range of dedicated environments.
Some potential types of environments include:
Phone booths
Shared desking for hybrid team members
Quiet rooms
Client meeting areas
Virtual collaboration and meeting areas
Community areas
Conference rooms
Essentially, employees can choose different environments to work in as they move throughout their day, depending on their needs. Enabling ABW environments results in a flexible and easily adaptable workspace for fast-changing organizations.
The power of amenities
Who doesn’t like amenities? Offering different complimentary amenities has been proven to significantly improve your ability to attract and retain talent. In addition, complimentary amenities have been shown to increase employee satisfaction and boost productivity by over 12%.
When designing a flexible workspace to improve mobility and collaboration, you must also create spaces that encourage community. Thankfully, amenities are a simple and easy way to bring employees together. Specifically, amenities with the most considerable impact on employee retention are fully stocked cafes and kitchens, comfortable lounges, and open areas with relaxation options.
It’s important to remember that the amenities you choose to offer should reflect your mission and core values. For example, you’d be surprised to see a donut stand in a health and fitness business, right?
Your experts in workplace strategy
You can bring in a team such as the workspace experts at DESIGN+BUILD to design and deliver your upgraded and flexible workspace.
Our holistic approach to workplace strategy, interior design, and project delivery ensures that your space will not only meet the demands of today but for many years to come. Contact our team today for a complimentary, no-obligation consultation.
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