Turning workplaces into places that work.

Business Insights
03/01/2018

All premises are expensive, so getting the most out of every square foot matters, that is not to advocate cramming as many desks chairs and filing cabinets in as possible, rather the reverse, just ensuring that your space works for you.


Maximising usable working space, ultimately, saves you money. Poorly planned workplaces are inefficient both financially and ergonomically, and add to low staff moral and absenteeism.


There is probably as much science as creativity in effective space planning. Every property has its own nuances and every company its individual culture and working dynamics.


The basic principles of good design hold true whatever type of working space you are looking to improve, be it a cavernous warehouse, retail premises, a studio or a tiny office. Calling in the experts will ensure you get the best value and utility from the space.


The key is to look at the space as a blank canvas, easiest of course if the space is empty, either as a new build or perhaps new premises to you, that have been left empty. The more normal scenario, however, is one where your normal business activities are being carried on, and it can be difficult to see what needs to be done; you just know things could be better, and that while a fresh coat of magnolia may help, it isn’t going to be the whole answer.


The two key questions are what do you do in the space and what are you trying to achieve?


For example, the function of a warehouse is to store and move goods, so to do you need to simplify the way in which goods are stored and moved around your space? Many warehouse have grown organically without anyone taking an overall look at the space, with the end result that goods are stored almost haphazardly, wherever there happens to be a space, rather than systematically.


A designer will help you to reorganise the way in which the goods are stored to simplify your entire operation. You should identify your fastest moving items and store them nearest to the loading bay, so easiest for your pickers, or automated systems to access. Speed is such a key feature in today’s instant access and next day delivery world that operators need to be agile and be able to move swiftly. Slower moving or bulky items can be stored further away from the loading bay.


A U shaped configuration works well for many operators, Goods Inwards at one end of the U, and Goods Outwards at the other end. If such a layout will take up too much floor space, look at the benefits of installing a mezzanine floor; perhaps for your offices.


Many company offices have also grown organically, with mismatched desks fitted in wherever there is space, meaning staff need to thread their way from one end of the room to another, picking their way across trailing cables and bumping into desk edges as they go, and nowhere, apart of course from the boss’s spacious office to have a quiet word with someone.


Calling in the professionals to redesign your space means a professional who does redesign for a living taking a long cool look at your space. They will also ask the two key questions, what do you do, and what are you trying to achieve?


The designer will discuss your requirements for closed or open plan office and meeting areas and discuss the pros and cons of both, they will review any technical requirements. In the case of a warehouse what you need to move and how you do it, whereas in an office situation they will discuss the advantages of enabled furniture to do away with trailing wires and cables.


They will identify the space and storage requirements for each function and ask key questions, such as do you really need to keep paper files of everything going back since the company’s inception, or could most of it be stored on the cloud, thus freeing up valuable space from the ranks of perhaps dusty and tea stained filing cabinets?


Does everyone need his or her own desk? Often nowadays staff move around the office, laptop in hand meeting with colleagues on a sofa, round a table or for one to one meetings in a Huddle Space. A Huddle Space is an enabled space for small meetings, in a corner, off the main office anywhere for small one to one, or even up to two or three person meetings.


Having a well designed place of work that is bright and clean and allows all staff to perform their functions as easily and straightforwardly as possible, is a great contributor to staff morale and well being, and consequently, productivity.