No matter what type of business you run, your premises and workspaces are critical to your success. After all, your offices are where the crux of your commercial activities take place, which is why a bad design can have a negative impact on every aspect of your operations. To learn more, take a look at these five ways bad office design is bad for business:
Limited Access to Resources
If your office is cramped or poorly laid out, you won’t be able to situate resources where they really need to be. As a result, productivity levels will drop if staff can’t access the equipment they need when they need it. At worst, you may end up operating without the right range of resources, in a bid to free up space. At best, your teams will be less productive than they could be, which will have a significant impact on your bottom line.
Reduced Efficiency
When offices are badly designed, they don’t facilitate optimal workflows. As a result, company efficiency is reduced, and profits are negatively impacted. Reduced efficiency can arise because of a lack of access to resources but it can also come about because of staff doesn’t have adequate workspaces.
If employees are situated too close together in an open-plan office, for example, the exposure to noise can affect their efficiency and the quality of their work. Alternatively, if staff are forced to walk across a large site simply to interact with a colleague on their team, it’s clear that the use of space is reducing their efficiency and making it harder to collaborate.
Poor Impression
If you plan on inviting clients or potential investors to your premises, it’s vital you have an effective office design in place. Both the exterior and the interior of your commercial buildings have a major impact on your brand. As a result, poorly designed offices could affect the way potential financiers and clients think about your company. Unfortunately, many businesses lose custom simply because of their premises, particularly if their setup affects their performance. To avoid this happening to your organization, you’ll want to ensure you have a functional and aesthetically pleasing office design, as well as a carefully planned exterior design to enhance your premises.
Low Employee Morale
Your surroundings have a significant impact on your mood and behavior, which is why a bad office design can affect employee morale. When staff aren’t inspired or motivated, they are unable to perform at their best. If you’re not using your office space to boost productivity, you’re missing out on increased turnover and profit.
Furthermore, a badly designed or underequipped office signifies that staff well-being isn’t a top priority. This, in itself, can damage employee loyalty and affect the way staff think about you as an employer. Conversely, providing staff with a productive and supportive working environment reinforces how much value you place on them and can, therefore, optimize outputs and cultivate a happy workforce.
Lack of Privacy
Although collaboration is a crucial element of success, they are times when privacy is required. If employees want to talk to supervisors about a confidential matter, for example, a quiet room, away from other staff members, is essential. Alternatively, if you’re conducting interviews with potential new hires or meeting with service providers, you’ll need a certain degree of privacy that a standard open-plan office simply doesn’t offer.
With a better design, however, you can incorporate quiet areas into any office design to improve the functionality and extend your resources. This gives staff access to the space and resources they need, while still reducing the total amount of space required to run your business.
Redesigning Your Office Space
Whether you’re moving into new premises or you simply want to make the most of the space you have available, redesigning your offices can transform your company’s performance. With expert advice from structural, civil, and hydraulic engineers, like pbacivil.com.au, you can redefine your commercial space and maximize functionality. By doing so, you’ll create a workspace that meets the needs of your company and facilitates business growth.
Once you’ve got the structure of your offices finalized, you’ll be able to focus on the interior design and décor, as well as the frontage of the property. With hard and soft landscaping, for example, you can transform the exterior of your property and the land which surrounds it. Similarly, interior design and new décor can elevate your workspaces, give staff the practical support and emotional lift they need, and enhance your company’s commercial success.
