The way that you design your office space is absolutely crucial to the success of your business. Your office is the first impression of your business that your clients see. It is also where the majority of your employees will be working and fostering their ideas to better your business overall. The importance of investing in a proper office space is crucial to the success of your personnel, vendors, and clients.
Think Swedish
Having spent a great deal of time working in Sweden, I can attest that their office culture is sublime. Even a law firm in Sweden was pleasant to spend my days in! This is important to understand, because the nature of what I was working on was not pleasant. It was the openness of the office and the overall décor that made my workday more pleasant. The Swedish are famous for designing sustainable workspaces that are known to produce innovation while creating a corporate culture that is still comfortable to work in. This is why Sweden has one of the happiest worker rates in the world. This high rate is attributed to the organised and pleasant office design that is commonplace around their country.
When shopping for a commercial agent in London, you should be asking them if they have any exposure to how the Swedish design office spaces. This way, you can get a glimpse of how that culture could be translated into your ideal office space in the most cost efficient way possible.
In order to find out more about the Swedish style of office design, it is wise to consult Internet blog or industry office design experts. Some of the main attributes of Swedish office design include open and spacious office spaces, no cubicles, bright offices, many windows, and glass doors that can be shut for focus. Studies have shown that these features of an office greatly enhance the quality of employees’ workdays and their overall productivity ratio.
How to Successfully Design Your Ideal Office Space
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When you are designing your prospective office space, you should be thinking of five factors to include: Feng Shui, your relevant industry, safety standards, furniture selection, and personnel organisation.
Feng Shui is an aspect of office design that is often overlooked. Even in residential interior design, the practice of Feng Shui has been proven to improve energy and promote positive changes in one’s life. In an office, Feng Shui can have a major impact on the energy of the space and the creative work that employees are able to compile while there. There are many resources on the Internet about how to apply Feng Shui to your business, and there are even professionals that can help you with the interior design that will promote the most positive workspace for your personnel. Any commercial agent will either be able to guide you in the right direction for this, or be able to refer you to a trusted colleague to take care of this aspect of your décor for you.
Knowing your industry is crucial to designing your office space. For example, if you are an architecture firm, then you should have an area where plans can be printed and analysed by your staff. If you own a technology company, you should have incubator rooms that foster software development teams in collaborating. A commercial agent should know your target industry, and perhaps even have prior clients that can serve as inspiration for designing your space. The commercial agent should be aware that by seeing a live version of their designs, you will be able to make informed decisions pertaining to office design with ease.
Safety standards are imperative when designing your office space. This will save you from potential lawsuits later on. In Sweden, for example, the desks cannot be placed too close together for safety purposes. This is a great way to make your employees feel more comfortable in their workspace while simultaneously being observant of safety standards.
When designing your office space, furniture selection is one of the most important decisions that you will make. The furniture is where your personnel and clients will spend many hours, so it is wise to invest in this aspect of your business. Having the right furniture will create an overall spectacular image that will give a great first impression to your clients. Your furniture will also create a wonderful environment for your staff to enjoy every day.
In addition to your furniture, it is important to consider where to place your personnel. The placement of your personnel will encourage a positive atmosphere in your office. For example, in Sweden, there is less of a divide between managers and average personnel. This fosters an environment of positive collaboration, with less fear than seen in offices in other parts of the world. The energy in a Swedish office is wonderful due to how the staff is placed. For example, in Sweden, you will see a boss in the centre of the office and then an average employee with the corner office. This creates an interesting variation on the traditional office hierarchy, which fosters corporate creativity in a wonderful way.
Knowing the Right Questions to Ask
When you are searching for the right commercial agent, you must be aware of the proper questions to ask in order to make sure that you are hiring the correct agency. For example, you really need to find an agent that has experience with your specific industry. An agent who handles law firms and accounting firms may not be the best fit for a literary agency or artist’s office.
Additionally, you should look into the agent’s prior feedback with clients. Client feedback is a great resource, as are Internet reviews. Consulting this information will be a great asset to your search. If you apply these tips, you will be able to find a wonderful commercial agent that will design you a great space that makes your business have the energy to truly thrive.
