There are lots of factors that can impact your team as a whole, one that often gets overlooked is how you design your own office space. Whether your work from home or out of home your office space can have an impact on your small biz. Here are some of the most common office design mistakes to avoid when designing your office space at home or work.
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Building From Scratch
If you’re building an office from scratch, don’t forget to take into account things like having enough sockets, booking things like your for water hookups in plenty of time, and your floorplan.
If you’re just designing an existing office space, there are still mistakes to avoid.
Lighting Problems In Office Design
How your office design space is going to be lit is one of the first things that you need to consider. Lighting is a top concern when you’re planning your office.
Badly lit workspaces can be a headache for everyone. Lights that are too harsh can cause migraines, while lighting that is too dim can lead to eye strain.
You want to get in as much natural light as you can when designing your office. As well as mixing in some other lighting types to make the most of your layout.
Bad Layouts For Designing Your Office Space
Open floorplans can encourage collaboration and feel like part of a team. However, if the floorplan is too open, or is poorly designed, distractions become a big problem.
These distractions are a huge drain on productivity, whether you work from home or not.
To make the most of your design, consider your team’s needs before you create the open-plan office that you have in mind. This way, you can balance communal spaces for your whole team and distraction-free zones for individuals.
Not Enough Room for Office Space
If you are forced to work too closely with other people, your co-workers can quickly turn into a big source of distraction. An invasion of personal space can also lead to flared tempers, poor attitudes, and a big drop in productivity.
By making sure that your employees have enough room to stretch out and work without someone else breathing down their neck, you can create a close team that will work at peak performance.
Make sure you have plenty of room to fit in new hires too as you grow your small biz.
Otherwise, it may be time to look for a new office location.
Inadequate Break Areas
A card table, some cheap chairs, and a coffee pot might technically be a break area. However, a space like this isn’t going to do very for your employees and their morale.
The best layout for a break area doesn’t need to be lavish or too over the top. You could purchase a wash your dishes office sign for the break area.
However, break areas need to be a space where people are able to properly refuel, relax, and gather their thoughts before they go back to the rest of their workday.
Make sure you have comfortable furniture, appropriate appliances, and some recreation activities. For example, having a space for exercise or a place to nap can increase productivity for you or your staff.
Neglecting The Reception Area When Designing Your Office
Don’t forget to decorate the front of your office when you are planning your office design. Whether you have clients, vendors, potential new hires, or other important visitors coming, you want a reception area that is comfortable and welcoming.
A great reception area will make a good first impression. It can also go a long way towards helping to build relationships later on down the road too, as people will like coming to your office.
Think about how your guests will feel as they wait in line to meet with you or one of the staff members. Will it make their day more pleasant if there are pictures hanging on walls that show off what makes this company special?
Or maybe some interesting quotes give them something inspirational while also making sure not too much time has passed since last seeing someone!
Your Turn on Designing Your Office Space
Have you recently designed your office space at home or away?
Do you have quotes hanging in your office? My quote hanging is “Effort=Results” – Roger Penske.
I’d love to know if you changed any of the above to your office design or to a man cave office space. Please drop a comment so we can discuss it below.
