Companies can significantly benefit from a collaborative workspace. For one, it allows open communication and easier collaboration between team members in an organization. Working towards shared goals is the very essence of adopting this work setup. That’s why it’s a must to determine the essential design elements for everyone to benefit from sharing bright ideas, planning innovative solutions, and implementing effective strategies.
Furthermore, a collaborative workspace boosts productivity, promotes faster problem-solving, and projects a better company culture. For these reasons, many companies implement a collaborative workspace and encourage healthy professional relationships among colleagues.
Suppose you’re looking to boost efficiency and productivity in your team. Here are a few tips for designing a collaborative workspace for your staff and attaining overall company goals:
Establish A Centralized Communication Area
Modern workplaces consist of remote and hybrid teams. And companies that adopted these work arrangements understand the importance of establishing a centralized communication channel.
As a good start to having a collaborative workspace, employers can set up a meeting or conference room where in-office and remote employees can discuss important business matters using high-tech conference speakers, a smart projector or television, and other audio-visual equipment. For seamless access, computers, projectors, and other communication equipment must be in strategic locations.
Aside from audio-visual equipment, the meeting or conference room must also be equipped with comfortable, ergonomic chairs. That way, employees can sustain long hours of deliberation, sales presentation, or other forms of collaborative business activities.
Interior design experts can help determine the essential elements of your meeting or conference room for centralized communication and collaboration. Try here to find more information about designing a collaborative workspace with the help of expert interior designers.
Implement Variations In Physical Spaces
Gone are the days when employees work in their cubicles in front of their computers without much physical interaction with colleagues. Because collaborative working is a priority for many companies nowadays, it’s crucial to implement variations in physical workspaces.
Make your workspace more relaxing and conducive for collaboration by offering a variety of seating and table options, including the installation of desk divider screens. For example, flexible seating options include rolling chairs and portable stools, allowing your employees to move them easily to encourage sharing of ideas.
However, it’d be good to note that while it’s generally encouraged to eliminate physical barriers to promote open interaction among employees, it’s equally important to have frequent reminders of the importance of abiding by health and safety protocols.
Liven Empty Office Walls
Make your empty office walls lively by decorating them with interesting textures and vibrant colors. You can hire a local artist to paint decorative art on your office walls to make these blank spaces more interesting for your employees, clients, and other stakeholders.
A collaborative workspace with such creative wall design can bring so much inspiration. It can brighten up the space, and your employees will always look forward to heading to the office, unleashing their full potential and contributions to the company.
Create Various Spaces
Creating different spaces for various purposes is one way to design a collaborative workspace for your employees. This design tactic can boost interactions and maximizes the potential of social gatherings. So, create spaces for your meeting room, corporate training, and breaks. You can also have huddle areas equipped with whiteboards for faster collaboration.
Aside from huddle rooms, employers can create break rooms or spaces that allow employees to gather and even destress during breaks. Break rooms can have vending machines for coffee and food. It can also have couches where employees can rest.
Essentially, with a more relaxed workspace, your new and long-time employees can have a chance to get to know each other. Such an opportunity can help promote confidence, create new friendships, establish good connections, and open more group decision-making and future collaborations.
Invest In Technology And Innovation
A collaborative workspace can be noisy and disruptive without technology and innovation. Fortunately, communication and collaboration software programs and apps are now available to prevent these problems. Team members can communicate and work together by using these technological advances to work on a project faster, easier, and less hassle.
You might want to get away with traditional communication and collaboration tools, like big-size calendars, physical employee boards, and sticky notes. Instead, you can invest in project management software with employee management features.
Employee self-service software is also a smart investment to drive employee satisfaction, retention, and collaboration. Your employees don’t have to bother the HR team because they can quickly find the answers online. This technology can help employees focus more on finishing projects and deliverables on time. You may also consider allowing time for your team to collaborate and build stronger bonds while escaping the seriousness of monthly meetings. You can choose from many fun team-building games, such as murder mysteries, escape rooms, or trivia.
Conclusion
Designing a collaborative workspace for your staff entails careful planning and considering your employees’ welfare. Don’t miss out on the important collaborative design details, from the office walls and decorations to furniture pieces and advanced tools and equipment. Furthermore, don’t hesitate to consult and work with an interior design professional to help convert your office into a collaborative workspace.
