How to Create a Productive Office Design Layout for Your Small Business

Whether you’re getting a new office up and running or are trying to optimize your current one, putting together a design plan is vital if you want your office to be productive. Great office designs have many benefits and will keep your team on track to keep doing good work.

If you’re trying to develop an office design layout that looks great and improves productivity, look no further. Below are seven tips that will help you create an office design that stands the test of time.

1. Hide Things That Aren’t Used Everyday

You want to do everything you can to reduce mental clutter in a workspace. The more items you have that occupy your workers’ minds, the less productive they’re going to be.

Figure out what office objects are lying around the office that doesn’t serve any use. Anything that doesn’t have regular use is nothing but clutter. Either put it in storage or get rid of it.

Reducing clutter also means cleaning up and removing items people leave lying around. If you want to keep your office space clean, set a schedule to clean it every week, or hire a cleaning company to help.

2. Maximize Your Natural Light

It’s hard for many people to work effectively when they’re stuck in a room with no windows and nothing but artificial light. People are much more responsive to natural lighting in their offices.

You can improve the impact of natural lighting by making strategic use of mirrors and other reflective surfaces. By placing these objects in places that reflect light, you can make a room feel like it’s larger than it actually is.

If you can’t use natural light everywhere, make sure you get office lights that don’t increase fatigue for your employees. Cooler lights can help reduce fatigue, and warmer lights can help people stay calm during the day.

3. Use Ergonomic Workspaces

We have become a lot more health-conscious in society these days. The issues with sitting down all day have been discovered as a result of that trend.

Make sure you provide ergonomic working conditions for your employees to help their health and focus during the day. The first place to start is with stand-up desks. These desks have motors that move the desk up and down, so people can work while standing during the day.

It’s also smart to figure out the optimal amount of space a person should be in front of the monitor. Staring at a screen that’s too close for a long time can hurt your eyes. Keeping your monitor at a reasonable distance can help prevent some of the eye strain you experience.

4. Choose Your Colors Wisely

There is careful thought given to the color companies use for their brands. This is because people respond differently to the colors you chose.

You can use the same reasoning for your office space. Pick colors that are calm and inviting for spaces where people need to do deep work.

The opposite is true for meeting spaces. You can use more vibrant colors in these spaces to promote a more dynamic and exciting atmosphere.

5. Add a Few Plants

Even if you never head out into nature, you’re still going to feel something when you experience it. Connecting with nature helps people remain calm and reduce stress.

Encourage your employees to bring plants into their office and take care of them. Studies have shown that plants can increase productivity in the office.

Plants also help clean up the air around the office. They absorb a lot of the dust that flies around in the office. Your team will breathe fresher air when you have plants taking care of things.

6. Control Your Noise Levels

Noise is one of the biggest problems in a busy office. It stops people from focusing on their work. This can result in a significant drop in job satisfaction.

One thing to be careful about is an open office plan. While they have gotten popular in recent years, there are a lot of complaints about noise with these designs. You can hear people talking, no matter where you are in the office.

If you have private offices for your team, try to add insulation or noise-canceling foam to your walls. Doing this will stop noise from bleeding through the walls and distracting your employees.

If noise is a problem you can’t get rid of, try purchasing noise-canceling durable headphones for your team. If someone needs to focus, they can put on their headphones and tune everything out.

7. Hire a Design Company

If you’ve never designed an office space before, you might be overwhelmed with all your options. You can’t just throw together an office space and expect it to work. It requires careful planning and good design knowledge to make things work.

If you’re in this situation, it might pay to work with an interior design company that works with office spaces. They have designers on staff who can work with you to design the perfect office layout.

A renovation company doesn’t only build from scratch, either. A business like The One Interior will work with you to redesign your current space to turn it into something more useful.

Plan Your Office Design Layout Carefully

Putting together a great office design layout isn’t as simple as picking out some furniture and placing it wherever seems best. There is a lot of organization to do if you want to maximize the productivity of the team. Use the tips above to get your office designed the right way.

Once you maximize the productivity of your workspace, you can start working on other ways to improve the efficiency of your team. Keep reading our blog to find our latest tips for getting the most from your employees.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.