Estimated reading time: 3 mins
The old style office is becoming obsolete. The idea of sectioning off your employees with cubicles and creating a working environment where people are isolated isn’t fashionable anymore. Employers are starting to realize that collaboration between employees is the best way to push things forward. To this end, new age offices with bean bag chairs and arcade machines everywhere are starting to pop up, especially at tech companies. However, these kinds of completely relaxed offices aren’t always the best choice either. Lots of people don’t agree that they create a productive environment, so the best thing to do is compromise. Set yourself up a traditional office, but create a collaborative working space within. If you haven’t got a clue where to start, these are the basic elements that you need to include.
Brainstorming Space
One of the best things about a collaborative working space is that your team can get in there and start bouncing ideas off each other and together, they’ll build on one another until they’ve solved whatever problem it is that they’re trying to tackle. If you don’t have a good space for them to write all of this down quickly, then they won’t be able to get any momentum going. Installing interactive whiteboards on some of the walls is perfect for this. They’ll be able to keep a note of any ideas that they come up with, but the interactive element also allows them to link it up to their laptops and start moving things around. That way, they can start off with a jumble of ideas that they’ve all thrown out there, but by the end, they’ll be able to rearrange it into a coherent business plan.
Flexibility
Flexibility is one of the key elements in a work space like this. Everybody works in their own specific way so setting up a rigid space that only has one configuration isn’t going to work for a lot of people. You need to make it an adaptable space that everybody can change to suit their needs. This will ensure that they are working as efficiently as possible. Make sure that any furniture in there can be easily moved and rearranged. Put in a projector for any presentations that might need to go on in there. Picking a large room is also important so there’s enough space for everybody to get in there for larger team meetings or work sessions.
Comfort
When people are trying to come up with fresh, new ideas, comfort is vital. People are at their most creative when they are in a relaxed and comfortable environment. Not sitting at a desk in a rigid chair. If you fill your collaborative workspace with comfy chairs and bean bags, your employees can kick back with no distractions and get inspired.
Soundproofing
A busy office can sometimes be very distracting when you’re trying to think properly. You should see your collaborative workspace as a place where people can get away from this if they need to concentrate hard on something. Try to set it as far from the busy areas as possible, and soundproof it so people can go in there and work in silence if that’s what they need.
If you nail all of these elements, your new collaborative workspace will be producing great business ideas in no time.
