Studies have shown that a well-designed workspace is a simple, cost-effective way to improve your business. By bettering the design of your space you can achieve many positive outcomes including maximizing productivity, inspiring collaboration and innovation and attracting and retaining quality employees.  

Before just diving into making design changes that will improve your workspace, it is important to ask yourself some critical questions?

Is the layout of your space helping or hurting the ability of your employees to get work done?  

A great way to determine this is by taking notes or having a professional help you conduct a study of the traffic patterns of your space.  By observing how employees use their desks, conference rooms and even asking employees to track their own movement throughout the day, you will gather important data and information about the efficiency of your current layout.

Do the equipment, furnishings and space support the way your employees work?

Take a close look at your employees during the course of the work day.  Are employees using the collaborative space that you currently have or are they finding other places to collaborate that weren’t intended? Are they bringing lamps and lighting from home to relight the space and take away the harshness of fluorescent lighting?  While these things may seem small, they are very impactful in terms of the efficiency of your layout and design.  If you notice that the equipment, furnishings and design is not working for your staff, it is time to call a professional to really help you redesign your space to better support your employees.

Once you have delved deeper into the ways your employees are using your space and you have found that your space isn’t where you want it to be, a great place to start is by setting some goals for your redesign.  Every workplace has different needs in terms of design, the right team of professionals can help you determine the goals of improving your space and will make your office work for you.  For example, many business hope to achieve some of the following outcomes through the design and layout of their workspace:

• Attract top talent and increase retention
• Balancing collaboration with privacy
• Creating a space that inspires innovation
• Increasing employee comfort and engagement

These are just a few ways that you can improve upon your existing space. The ultimate goal of redesigning your workspace is to see a return on your investment. By evaluating and designing a space with certain business outcomes in mind, you will set the stage for growth and success.  Are you ready to make your space better?