11 Key actions for a more productive office

Flexible work practices have dramatically changed the physical workplace’s size and role. How do you create a productive office when you have a hybrid workforce and less space? What can be improved to adapt your facilities to the new ways of working and make the most out of them? What is now the best office layout for productivity?

As experts in workplace experience and flexible work, we have gathered insights and data to define the most significant aspects of tailoring the office space to modern teams and work practices. From using relevant data analysis to making the right choices for your workspace configuration and redefining the office purpose, we give you the keys to enhancing an effective work environment. Here is how to design an office space that benefits you as much as it makes your employees engage, collaborate, innovate, and thrive.

What are today’s companies’ main challenges regarding office space?

Adapting to the new role of the office

Employees no longer go to the office for the same purpose as before the COVID-19 crisis. The office’s role has evolved as flexible work arrangements are adopted and developed. It is now where team members mostly meet, collaborate, and socialize with colleagues. Although there are still some moments when your staff needs to do some concentration work and quiet spaces, the primary motivation to be on-site is to interact in person. So, the question is, how do you reshape your office space to fulfill this new role?

Keeping employees connected and in sync with their jobs and the workplace

Another challenge with flexible work schedules is maintaining a strong workplace connection and culture. Remote work increases the risk of disconnection and isolation. Employees who don’t come on-site regularly may feel less connected with their colleagues and less attached to their jobs and the company. Your goal is, therefore, to understand what could make them come to the office more often and implement initiatives that reinforce your corporate culture, the sense of belonging, and team bonding. Your office design plays a key role in this aspect.

Adapting the office space to the needs of a flexible workforce

Depending on the hybrid work policy you decide to implement for your organization, your staff may work asynchronously. This implies that your facilities meet the requirements for such a work configuration. It has to enable your team members to work together, whether they are all on-site at the same time or not. For most businesses, this wasn’t a question before, as everyone was coming on-site daily at fixed hours. Therefore, this is a massive change and a new challenge to match your workforce’s needs and maintain focus, satisfaction, and productivity.

Finding the right balance between downsizing the office and fostering a positive workplace experience

The big question of this article is how to build a productive office with less space. Many companies have realized that paying rent for an unused and occupied space makes little sense. However, downsizing the office should not lead to frustration among your team members. You must find the balance between not wasting money on unused square footage and not reducing it too much so that your staff lacks space to work effectively. Our hybrid office calculator helps you determine the ideal workspaces/employees ratio per your flexible work policy.

💜 Discover our hybrid office calculator and find out your ideal balance!

How do you create the best office layout for productivity?

1. Redefine the purpose of the office and make it clear

The fact that people don’t work on the same tasks in the office as at home is a significant aspect to remember. As Rob Sadow, an expert on employee experience, highlighted in the Epoch webinar series, nothing is more frustrating for them than being required to come on-site to do what they can from home. For this reason, redefining the purpose of the physical workspace is critical to making it more valuable and practical. Remote work is great for individual and focused work, while the office is “the place to be” for collective work and social interactions. However, your facilities might need some design adjustments to fulfill this role while remaining flexible for people who prefer to work on concentration tasks on-site.

2. Team up with innovative technology

Smart office technology is a core pillar of productive offices. These tools, from AI-enabled solutions to automation systems and workspace booking software, play a massive role in transforming your workplace into a productivity hub. Not only does tech help develop a supportive setting for your teams, but it also makes it easier for them to schedule on-site work and make the most out of the office space. For example, a meeting room booker like a deskbird allows them to select the space they need according to the resources available in each room.

3. Use data to measure how connected employees are and make relevant changes

Like technology, data is a cornerstone of developing an effective work environment. Collecting information about office occupancy, employee attendance, resource usage, engagement, performance, employees working patterns, and so on is essential. It enables you to understand your staff better and design a layout that matches their needs. Data also helps you determine how connected your workers are and what to improve to foster this connection to colleagues, their jobs, and the company. The more bonds you create, the more involved your workforce and the more productive the workspace becomes.

4. Elevate employee experience on-site with a people-centric approach

Positive employee experience has become a trendy topic in HR for good reasons. This aspect is crucial to boost productivity and to make people come to the office. When trying to foster a productive work environment, you need to ask yourself and your staff the following types of questions: 

• What do workers need and want to see in the physical workplace?
• What would make them come to the office more often?
• Why do they prefer working from home?
• How can the office setup foster more engagement, collaboration, and productivity?
• Etc.

💥 Discover how deskbird helps you boost hybrid work productivity and maximize efficiency

5. Create an office layout that answers your team’s needs

Collaboration, mentorship, and social interactions.

These are the three pillar roles of the modern office space. We won’t say it enough. They are why your hybrid teams come on-site and why productivity thrives. You must readjust your office layout to these purposes and provide your employees with different workspaces and seating options according to their tasks. Quiet zones, collaborative areas, meeting spaces, huddle rooms… The modern workspace is diverse and versatile. It adapts to people’s needs instead of the other way around. Don’t forget to ensure everybody can access the workspace they want by using a desk booking solution like deskbird.

6. Make your physical work environment flexible and adjustable

One key solution to making your office more productive while having less space and being willing to answer employees' expectations is to apply flexibility to your workspaces. You must create functional spaces by working with modular furniture and mobile components and investing in ergonomic equipment. Flexibility should apply to everything in your workplace so that your office setup doesn’t limit your staff's work but allows them to tackle their tasks in an ideal setting.

7. Invest in ergonomic furniture and equipment

Sitting on an uncomfortable chair all day can ruin employees’ focus and productivity. Consider your workspace's ergonomy when creating a better work setup for your workforce. Height of screens, adjustable desks and chairs, ergonomic mouse… All these can prevent musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and help your team members stay focused and effective. Check out our article about ergonomic practices to learn more!

8. Consider the environmental aspects of your office and their impact on productivity

Your office layout has a massive impact on productivity. It’s not just about providing the proper lighting and painting your walls in any colors. If you want to make your office more productive, you must consider environmental aspects more thoroughly. Biophilic office design, for example, is well known for increasing employee well-being and cognitive abilities thanks to the introduction of plants, natural light and colors, raw materials, etc. However, your workspace's air quality, temperature, and noise levels also matter considerably. Together, all these elements create an atmosphere that leads to deeper concentration, more creativity, less stress, and higher productivity.

🌿Read our article about the impact of office layout on productivity!

9. Implement a clean desk policy

Decluttering and cleaning the workstations after using them helps maintain hygiene and respect between employees. However, working in a tidy and clean space is also a matter of productivity. If you’ve set up a desk-sharing system in your office, creating a clean desk policy is necessary to keep everyone on the same page and preserve a productive workspace.

10. Create opportunities for your team members to recharge

Getting some fresh air outside or taking a coffee break is always a good idea when our brains are about to explode. Your office must offer ways for your employees to recharge when needed. Some ideas include creating a fitness corner, having an outdoor area with nature, or building a game room. Breaks are a key component of an effective work environment. They are essential to allow the brain to pause and reset to focus again and complete the next tasks effectively.

11. Assess if the company’s objectives are met regularly

Lastly, you need to check how your implemented changes have impacted your employees’ performance. Regularly, you should assess if the company’s objectives are achieved and compare the results with the previous period. Are the goals reached in less time since you’ve arranged those huddle rooms where team members can quickly meet and update each other when needed? These kinds of questions are crucial to determine if you have managed to build a more productive workspace or not yet. Here again, data is your best ally

How does deskbird help you create a more productive office?

deskbird empowers your employees to use the office in a productive way

It is great to have a people-centric office layout ready to welcome your staff and help them thrive. However, these efforts can fall into pieces if your coworkers lack the tools to make the most of this amazing work environment. They no longer have to be stressed and frustrated about not getting the workspace they need when coming to the office or losing time looking for their next meeting room. The deskbird app enables them to book the workspaces they want. According to the resources they require, they can select and reserve the perfect desk, a meeting room, or a huddle space to tackle their day in optimal conditions!

deskbird enables you to collect data to make your office more productive

We’ve highlighted the importance of working with data when transforming your office to make it more productive. When using the deskbird app, you get detailed office analytics reports about your occupancy and use. This information is crucial to understand what is happening in your workplace and make data-based adjustments to enable greater employee experience, higher engagement, and better productivity.

👋 Discover how to harness the power of workplace analytics!

deskbird helps you boost your workplace experience

Enhancing greater workplace and employee experience is a fundamental aspect of the deskbird app. To succeed in doing so, we develop user-friendly and people-centric features that support your hybrid workforce and allow them to make the most of the office. From an interactive floor plan to find their colleagues easily to the hybrid policy feature to keep everyone aligned and the week planning tool to facilitate team collaboration, all our functionalities are designed to make your workplace experience take off.

deskbird integrates into all your tools for more efficiency and higher productivity

Integrations help massively make your workspace more productive. You ensure maximum efficiency by integrating deskbird into your digital infrastructure like HRIS, Slack, or your team calendars and doing more with less. It is the purpose of this article, isn’t it? Well, this is also a way to achieve this goal. deskbird integrates into all your systems. Your staff only needs to open one tool to get all the resources and information they need about the office space to work productively with their team when coming on-site.

We hope the insights and tips of this article help you better understand how to create a more productive office in the modern world of work. Remember that designing the best office layout for productivity may vary significantly from one organization to another. Including your staff in the process plays a significant role in building a work setting where they thrive and perform at their best. Technology is also a big player in this process and significantly influences how the office will look tomorrow.

Request a free demo of the deskbird app to discover more in detail how our tool can foster a more productive work environment for your hybrid team, even in a smaller office!