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You may need a few break-ups if you want your open plan workspace to suit everyone

It's increasingly accepted that open plan offices alone do not provide the working environment that many employees need to perform well. Creating more separation across the floor could improve motivation and productivity, and significantly reduce noise level.

Making a workspace more diverse in its choice of spaces doesn’t need to be at huge expense. With the strategic use of colourful screens, or fabric covered ceiling and wall-hung tiles, it’s possible to create a range of areas without any major building work. It’s all about being flexible and creative with a room.

Helping people to feel happier and more productive in a workspace is the goal, and this can often be achieved with good design-led furniture and accessories.

From quiet corners for working away from the hubbub of the main office to relaxed spaces where people can informally meet, here are three reasons for breaking up your workspace:

1. Keep the peace

A side effect of the open plan office is the lack of privacy. Not everyone can get more demanding work done when colleagues are on the phone or having conversations. There can often be a need to provide quiet spaces for people to focus. And if work requires intensive thought, many people prefer to find somewhere they can do this without interruption.

Sound-absorbing tile ranges and high-backed seating booths can help to deflect external noise, and if positioned strategically in a corner of the office, can provide a relatively quiet space on a floor. 

One option that some employers choose to take up is specifying that quiet spaces are just that, and anyone in them is there to work, not make phone calls, talk or play music.

2. A new identity

From colour to design choices, a transformation of an open plan space is an ideal opportunity to project an organisation’s values and culture, and it can help with team identity.

For new recruits or anyone visiting an open plan office for the first time, it can be difficult to spot who is who, and what they do. Giving each team a space that readily identifies it or designating spaces for the kind of work done there, can help to give everyone a new sense of belonging.

If you’re looking for more collaboration between two or three teams you can also specify different design features to link them, or create visual ties between their areas, without requiring people to merge desk space.

3. Take a break 

It’s well reported that workplaces with welcoming, well stocked kitchens and break out areas often have happier employees. Rest and refuelling areas give people somewhere to unwind, eat and drink and relax. They can provide a break from computer screens and encourage colleagues to socialise.

Creating a look and feel for these break out spaces so that they don’t simply blend into the rest of the office, so they feel like a place of respite, will make all the difference.

The right mix of spaces within any open plan office can be the key to increased employee satisfaction and productivity. Helping people to move around and work away from their desks not only creates more opportunities for creative collaboration but can deliver the kind of improvement every employer is looking for.

With Banner you can

Achieve a more flexible workplace. For details call our furniture team on 0845 230 8133 or email 

furniture@BannerUK.com 

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