Office Design For Collaborative Spaces

In office design, creating a space that promotes and encourages collaboration can be one of the more difficult targets to achieve. In many industries, collaboration between employees is the ideal way to come up with new ideas and make the finished projects bigger and better than ever.

• Team Offices: it is time to get rid of the plush corner office that the executives in your business have come to accustomed to and turn these spaces into cozy nooks for teams to set up shop. Clever office design can block these areas off (through the use of some well-placed partitions) whilst not completely shutting the team off. This way, the team will receive a little privacy and be removed from distractions, but will still be approachable by other employees.
• Display Work: in a collaborative office design, one of the most important things to consider is how exactly your employees will be encouraged to collaborate with each other. Why not look into creative ways of having your various projects on display, such as a wall height whiteboard or blackboard or even strategically placed television screens, so that your employees can make comments and suggestions on the projects you are currently working on.
• Furniture: having a collaborative office design is one thing, but in order for it to be truly cooperative you will need to invest in some unique and clever office furniture. Why not have some spaces that don’t have any furniture at all, encouraging your employees to work on the floor with their work spread out around them for a different perspective? Or why not get rid of the traditional meeting desk set up and seat the group leader or executive in the middle of the space instead of the head of the table? You could even vary the height of your seats, giving everyone a different perspective of the work.
• Little Touches: when it comes to a collaborative office design, never underestimate what the little touches can do for your space. Why not do something unexpected that will surprise your employees and visitors, such as decking out the bathrooms in bright colours with seats and gilded mirrors? Invest in some attractive artworks that you are able to use to dress up your space, but ensure that the pieces are relevant to your business (either in the actual image or in colour composition).

Whilst coming up with a collaborative office design can seem near impossible at the best of times, all it takes is a bit of creativity and some clever techniques. By using some of the above tips and ideas, you can take your collaborative office design from a simple idea to a bigger than big reality.