Working Hard or Hardly Working: Simple Office Design Tips outlines 7 tips for improving office design to boost efficiency, productivity, and employee satisfaction. The tips include investing in ergonomic furniture to reduce sick days and stimulate productivity, letting in natural light to improve mood and tasks, creating open floor plans and breakout spaces to foster interaction and new ideas, keeping common areas clean and organized, allowing personalization, and branding the space to reflect the company culture. With most employees spending over 8 hours per day at work, good office design can significantly impact their work and well-being.

1. Working Hard or Hardly Working:
Simple Office Design Tips

2. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American
employee (age 25-54) spends about 8.8 hours a day working or
performing work-related activities. That’s over a third of your day!
With so much time spent at the office, investing in good workspace
design is more important than ever. Here are some simple design tips to
help your small business improve efficiency, productivity, and comfort.

3. 1 Invest in ergonomic furniture.
Spending more upfront on ergonomic furniture will
save you in the long-term. Good furniture:
Stimulates
productivity
Reduces the
number of sick
days
(caused by lower back pain and general discomfort)
Improves
worker
satisfaction

4. Splurge on:
Movable
computer
monitor arms
Adjustable
desks
Chairs that conform
to your shape and
promote good posture

5. 2 Let there be light
Natural light has an immense impact
on mood, health, and productivity. It
offers a wider color spectrum, allowing
workers to notice finer details and
perform basic tasks better.
Natural light also reduces
headaches, migraines, and eye
fatigue brought on by looking at
a computer screen for hours.

6. To increase natural light, consider
creating a more open floor plan by:
Investing in community desks
instead of cubicles and more
closed off workstations
Knocking down
interior walls
Using glass walls
for private offices
and conference rooms

7. 3 Create buzz
Open plans also cultivate
office buzz.
Buzz, or background noise, is created by the various conversations happening all at
once. This background noise builds a sense of privacy that encourages everyone to
talk, interact, and come up with new ideas freely, adding more to the buzz.

8. Forget one desk per person 4
Thanks to wireless
technology, workers don’t
need to stay chained to a
desk all day.
Create breakout spaces that give workers a
change of scenery and a communal area for
impromptu meetings. Establishing alternate
work spaces also saves you money on desks.

9. Keep it clean 5
An unkempt office breeds
disorganization, saps energy, and
reflects poorly on you. Take a few
minutes every day to declutter your
stacks of documents, file your folders,
and organize your office debris.
Above all, make sure you have plenty
of storage, whether it’s built-in
drawers, wall-mounted shelves, or
mobile racks.

10. Let your employees choose 6
Allow workers to bring in:
Photos
Personal
Pets items
It costs you nothing but garners a world of benefits, brightening up your
office while giving your employees the opportunity to act more naturally.

11. Brand your space 7
Set your office apart from the rest with branding that aligns
with your business. This includes:
Your logo
A unique
color palette
Iconic
objects
Record
C ompany
Company
culture

12. For furniture and professional workspace planning,
visit San Diego Office & Modular Design
www.sd-office.com
Resources:
http://www.bls.gov/tus/charts/
http://mashable.com/2011/08/01/office-design-tips
http://www.inc.com/ss/jessica-stillman/10-office-design-tips-foster-creativity
http://www.allbusiness.com/8-office-decorating-tips/15617190.html
http://epiclaunch.com/10-tips-for-setting-up-your-small-business%E2%80%99s-office/