Are you shopping for office furniture for your newly renovated office? Have you moved to a new office and you’re in the process of setting it up for the first time?
You might not realize it but most of your life is spent in the workplace. If you’re a business manager or owner, try to imagine what type of office you’d want to spend most of your life in. How about your employees? What type of environment do you want to expose them to?
Of course, your top priority is to create an environment that will encourage you and your entire team to function and perform well at work. At the same time, you also want a space that is relaxing and enjoyable for everyone.
One of the secrets to forming a working environment where people will feel great about spending most of their life is to use the right office furniture. From office tables to cafeteria furniture, here are the essentials you need to build your dream office.
Office Tables and Chairs
The open minimalist floor plan is now all the rage among homeowners, changing most of the specific types of furniture pieces you might need. But whether you’re a fan of minimalism or not, you should never forget about the basics: office tables and chairs.
While companies are shifting to less structured workplaces without tables, remember that it doesn’t work for all companies. But what are the tried and tested basics, then?
Office tables are the space where someone works at. Although not everyone needs their own designated table, all employees still require an ergonomic space for them and their particular jobs. Make sure you consider what every job position needs and the type of workspace that would be perfect to encourage productivity.
Height-adjustable standing desks let you switch back and forth between seated and standing positions throughout your workday, so it is a very good choice for the office.
When deciding on the chairs where you will be spending long hours, ergonomics and comfort are the two most important things you have to remember. Comfort is an obvious factor. Since you expect people to sit in the chairs for 40 hours per week, you might as well make the experience as pleasant and cosy as possible.
Ergonomics, on the other hand, is somewhat more complex but is probably more critical. Ergonomic means it is designed for a particular person or persons as well as the specific tasks and responsibilities they are expected to carry out. Remember that every person is different and needs different settings. Thus, try to pick chairs that meet their individual needs.
Look for chairs that feature an adjustable headrest and seat height, good seat stability and depth, and a backrest. Once you do, you can be on your way to finding the perfect chair that can accommodate and suit most of your team members.
Communal Work Desks
You will need at least a single meeting space regardless of the specific kind of office you might be running. You will be using this space regularly, whether it’s to have a staff meeting, sit down with clients, or brainstorm among coworkers.
For this reason, you might want to buy some large tables and desks for your meeting spaces. You might want to consider the importance of collaboration in your employees’ work since buying several communal work desks can help boost productivity levels and even benefit your wallet compared to purchasing endless individual desks.
Office Furniture for Living Spaces
Although taking short breaks frequently doesn’t always guarantee higher productivity, they can make a big difference to the overall happiness and sense of satisfaction of your employees.
When employees are happy, they will feel more satisfied with their job, which may reduce employee turnover. They will also become more willing to do stuff that might be beyond the description of their job.
Nurturing a culture that encourages taking regular breaks is critical to employee longevity. Giving them an area where they can do exactly just that is the best way to encourage this culture.
Set up lounge areas fitted with office furniture such as chairs, couches, bookcases, coffee tables, and maybe even a TV with some video games. Creating this kind of safe space will not only help your tired employees to rejuvenate but it will also help you form stronger relationships within the office.
Storage Spaces
More and more offices today are making the shift from rows after rows of file cabinets to paperless options, with some of them storing their files in more convenient locations such as in the cloud.
How you prefer to store things is an important factor you have to think through when buying office furniture. These days, less is more, which makes it better if you can buy more storage space that you can hide under desks to keep them out of sight.
Smartboards
If you’ve tried using a dry-erase board, chances are you already know how messy they can get and how difficult reading them can be from a distance.
Why not get a dry-erase board that functions like a giant iPad, then? This is exactly what smartboards are all about. With touchscreen technology, smartboards function like whiteboards but without the things you hate about erasers and markers.
Cafeteria Furniture
You’re not required to have an area where your workers can eat. But if you don’t have one, your workers will have no choice but to leave the office during lunch break, or worse, they might not even eat their lunch at all.
Having an area where your employees can dine is important to nurture interoffice relationships and create a more fun and relaxed work culture.
The good news is that nothing too major is required here since people will only sit here for one hour or so per day at most. These office furniture pieces are there not for comfort but for function.
There are so many things that go into prepping an amazing office space for you and your team. Be sure to choose your office furniture wisely to create a space where they will want to spend more time and encourage higher levels of productivity and strong and respectful relationships among everyone.