When it is time to refurbish your current workspace, you need to make sure you receive the maximum return on your investment. That is why you and your designer should be on the same page. The following steps will get the fit-out process rolling.
Select Your Internal Office Project Team
When planning to make a refurbishment, you need to select the staff members that will make this dream a reality. Staff members should include a level-headed project leader and a team that is comprised of employees from all the key departments. Make sure everyone is aware of the budget for the renovation.
Conduct the Needed Research
Research is needed to check and see what works in your workspace and what does not fit. Think about your aspirations and limitations. What is your company’s long-term strategy? Is the current technology hampered or is it assisting you?
When you finally sit down with a design company, you need to go over and analyse the workflows, workspace, costs, benefits, and employee opinions and moods.
Take a Building Survey
If your current office is not right in terms of spatial needs, you need to plan a space that will carry you through for the next 10 years and beyond. When you talk to a designer, you want to review how your work activities can be corroborated with your office’s design.
Select a Fit-Out Specialist
If you have not already done so, you need to select a designer or fit-out specialist. Have the designer evaluate your work area so you can decide on the architectural, electrical, and mechanical options that are right for you. Expert insight will help you look at the pros and cons of any proposed design.
Plan a Fit-Out That Is Minimally Disruptive
If you wish to refurbish your current offices, you need to consider contractor activity. Work closely with your design partner so the refurbishment is facilitated with minimal disruption. During the process, you also want to keep office members informed about the progress of the renovation.
Take a Proactive Stance
When reviewing your refurbishment plans with your fit-out specialist, you might be tempted to take a back seat in the process. You do not want to do this, however, as you need to be proactive. Be sure you ask the necessary questions and make the required suggestions.
Consider the Design
When you are in the process of considering a design, ask yourself if the whole work team needs to work in the office space. Some companies are now embracing open floor plans and hot desking, which add to the agility of a design space.
Review the Social Aspects
Ask if teamwork or collaboration would be improved if employees can socialise in quality breakout spaces. Café-type tea points or informal meeting spots can supply just the right amount of comfort without compromising your brand.
Work with Your Design Firm to Prepare and Plan the Proposed Design
Design firms such as Saracen Interiors can fully assist you in your preparation and planning, especially if you are reimagining a space that you currently occupy. Using the support of this kind of firm can help with such tasks as space planning, workplace assessment, furniture auditing, and concept design.
Settle on a Plan
With respect to space planning, working with a designer can help you plan a space where you can grow and save costs, resources, and time. If you have little idea about addressing certain issues in a workspace, then you can use your designer’s expertise to review your current layout and your future business plan. Using a professional design service can help you more easily find a design plan that best supports your business’s needs.
Audit the Furnishings
It is, after all, difficult to imagine or envision a new office space without having some type of basic concept with respect to the design. You also have to look at the furniture you are currently using. Conduct an audit of your existing furniture and review it from the perspective of aesthetics and functionality.
Create an Agile Working Environment
If you wish to achieve an agile working environment, you need to include the right technology to create a working environment that garners the full cooperation of your staff. The ideal environment should allow employees to work cohesively on relevant tasks, thereby improving teamwork, enhancing communication, and making the workplace culture more collaborative. Suitable and available technologies should allow employees to work when and where they will experience the most efficiency – whether it is at home, on the go, or at a customer’s premises.
Enliven the Workspace
When working environments feature fit-outs that provide flexibility, the workplace atmosphere becomes livelier and the overall culture improves. Efficiency increases and teams work more closely together. As a result, tasks are performed with more propriety.
Think about Choosing an Open Design
An open design plan in offices today has a significant impact on business. Remote working, along with the proper technology, permits constant access. In turn, work is no longer governed by place and time. As a result, people are able to work to their maximum potential, whether they are working inside or outside the office. The ability to move desks enables specific groups to work closely for established periods of time.
Enhance Your Bottom Line
The office design you choose should encourage and support all types of work activities. When a single open plan is used, you may find that you have a competitive advantage. Regardless of the plan you finally select, the objective is to increase your bottom line, encourage productivity, and enhance your bottom line.
Consider the Overall Well-Being of Your Workforce
According to the World Green Building Council, evidence supports the premise that the design of an office affects the wellness of workers. Wellness, in and of itself, is defined as a state of being that promotes health, comfort, and happiness. Therefore, the design you choose for your office must take your workers’ overall wellness in consideration. As a result, you need to consider the following.
Use the Right Technology
Collaboration and communication can raise the level of productivity by up to 25%. So, allowing employees to work when and where they want also contributes to their state of happiness. Making communication more accessible reduces the stress that can disrupt workflow.
Enforce Collaboration
Collaboration spaces are also important as they encourage support and employee interaction. In fact, one survey found that people who work in a team are more confident, productive, and creative. In addition, incidental meetings, when encouraged in an office design, enhance creativity. Natural lighting arrangements have also proven to increase worker happiness and productivity.
