An open plan office removes all those cubicles and separate spaces that used to define the working environment, instead valuing shared spaces and a lack of physical boundaries. It's a move that more and more businesses are making, and that's no coincidence. If you're thinking of having your office renovated, here are just five compelling reasons to go open plan.
1. Reduce Your Costs
Your office should be designed to engender productivity and satisfaction among your employees, but cost is always going to be the bottom line. Thanks to their cool modern appeal, many people assume that open plan offices are expensive, but that's not the case at all. In fact, you're likely to find yourself saving money. For a start, open plan offices generally require far less in the way of construction, with fewer walls getting in the way. There will be no cubicles to purchase, and it's generally easier to buy one large item instead of several smaller ones; for example, picking up one large desk for your accounting team instead of several separate desks could save you a bundle.
2. Feel Flexible
The traditional office is quite static, so they generally cope poorly with rapid changes in staff numbers. If your business is growing, you're naturally going to have to think about taking on more staff sometime in the future. While traditional layouts limit you by the number of separate spaces available, an open plan office allows a far greater degree of flexibility. That's also advantageous if you ever need to lose a few people – even a couple of empty desks or cubicles can look out of place and cast a negative impression of your business.
3. Foster a Sense of Community
Research has shown that happy employees are 12% more productive, and one of the best ways to increase happiness is by making your team feel like they are part of a community. After all, humans are social animals, and it's nicer to feel surrounding by other people than by walls. An open plan office increases that sense of community by removing the boundaries between people. An added advantage is that you make a space feel less hierarchical and less divided by separate departments. Going open plan creates a more egalitarian environment in which people are likely to feel a shared sense of purpose.
4. Nurture Collaboration
They say that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and that certainly tends to be true when you're dealing with an office full of people. Getting people to communicate is important to avoid any crossed wires, but it's even more important to get people collaborating. You'll find that your team function much better when they able to collaborate easily on new ideas, and they might just bring fresh new ideas that never occurred to you. An open plan office usually nurtures such collaboration since communication is facilitated. It's also a lot easier to work together when space is flexible instead of fixed.
5. Enhance Your Style
Finally, open plan offices are just cooler than closed plan offices. That's partly because they are in vogue, with fashionable and influential companies such as Google spearheading the move towards open plan working. However, it's not just a matter of trend. Open offices are brighter and more inviting since more natural light is allowed to flow through from outside. You'll also find yourself able to incorporate larger pieces of artwork, and it's easier to create a distinctive sense of style when your space isn't broken up into lots of smaller separate areas. It might not sound like an important concern, but it's always nicer to work somewhere that looks better, and a more attractive office is going to impress any visitors.
For more information or assistance, contact companies like Randstar Building Services.
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