The role of interior office design in increasing job performance and satisfaction is well understood by top companies and high performance teams. High-quality office design has the ability to transform the way we live and work and plays a major role in improving employee productivity, moral, retention and health.
The most common complaints about today’s poorly designed offices include lack of space, inadequate lighting, too few quiet areas, uncomfortable workstations and bad layout and ergonomics and design for communication and performance.
According to the Gensler U.S. Workplace Report, design and research added value calculates that U.S. companies could generate as much as $330 billion a year in added revenue if they would provide high-performing work settings.
Mission Blue Design Transforms Offices for a More Dynamic Work Force
The following considerations are crucial to smart, sustainable design:
-Productivity
Organizational effectiveness today means using space more wisely. This means cutting costs and designing for flexibility to enable space to change as work groups and projects evolve. Wise use of space also means creating the right context for concentration, learning, communication, and collaboration—the building blocks of productivity.
-Privacy not isolation
A growing trend is to break down the hierarchical space. Executives are no longer confined to executive suites located on a different floor; they move right into the center of the office space and integrate with the rest of the workforce encouraging creativity and teamwork. Employees feel more connected with other employees and management; and proximity makes them more effective during the day.
-Information and Communications Technology
Rapid development of communications and information technology requires a workplace designed for maximum communications capability and flexibility. The link between workstations and data/com networks is critical. Advances in office furniture products and system enhancements that keep pace with changing technology are critical to the high productive and competitive office. Office design that ensures maximum operational and systems flexibility is critical to interfacing with new technologies.
-Flexibility
Office furniture and site design that is easy to erect, dismantle, and move is crucial to accommodate quickly changing needs such as technology advances, staff members that are added or positions that are removed. Expansion and contraction of work spaces are crucial to teams and projects as workers are able to move easily as critical needs are assessed.
-Health
Prevention of occupational injuries and illnesses and the elimination of exposure to hazardous materials (e.g., volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde, and lead and asbestos in older buildings) is key to long-term employee health. Providing good indoor air quality and adequate ventilation, ergonomic work places to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) and excellent lighting are crucial factors in maintaining high productivity and employee moral. For example, the primary function of light in the office is to support work. The ultimate criteria for a successful office lighting solutions is to facilitate productivity and user satisfaction. No matter how esthetically pleasing or how well it conforms to a set of quantitative values, if a lighting design does not support the work, it has failed.
-Sustainability
In the past two decades organizations, work practices, and the workforce have changed dramatically. Technological advances, demographic shifts, and continual demands for innovation have created pressures for the workplace to catch up with the necessary efficiency required to remain competitive. Workplace quality affects job satisfaction and makes a company more competitive. Companies can easily save money and the environment by utilizing LEED standards for energy efficiency, health and well-being and excellent design for employee moral and retention.
