Open-office spaces or private offices? That has been the constant debate of companies. Good thing, I have experienced both scenarios.

So, why I need a private office? It boils down to three aspects—privacy, relaxation, and freedom. Privacy is for when we have work which needs some confidentiality. It is also relaxing since it is quieter compared to being in a shared workplace. Lastly, we have our own freedom. We are free to proceed with our tasks without worrying that we’re disturbing other people.  

Seven Reasons Why You Should Have Your Own Office

With the enthusiasm of someone who is new to having a private office, let me tell you why you should have your own office.

1. You do not have to lower your voice when having video calls. In this digital world, video calls are now a must when it comes to collaboration. It is even a more apparent setup in international companies. If you are in a shared working area, there is a strong chance that you will disturb other when doing video calls. With an office? Not at all.

2. You can rest without thinking of others. Yes, there may be a couch in some of the meeting rooms or a sofa in the reception hall. However, it might be hard to lie down or sleep in these areas while you are on break since many people are watching you. If you have an office, you can snore away without bothering anyone.

3. You can decorate your own office. Decorating your office is helpful since your work environment is a big factor in your productivity. Since you know which kinds of color to feast your eyes on and what kind of room setup to feel relaxed, you can now easily boost your work productivity.

4. There are fewer distractions in private offices. When you are in an open-office setting, you might always be bothered by people talking, individuals passing by your desk, and co-workers having a call. These kinds of distractions usually lower your concentration, hence decreasing your productivity as well.

5. You can also have a mini-stash now! Having a mini-stash such as post-its, staplers, and even a mini-fridge will lessen your hassle if you need anything. Everything is just within your reach. You also do not have to fret over these things getting lost since you are not in a common area anymore.

6. You can have your small meetings in your private office. If you do not have your office, you have to go through the hassle of reserving a room and bringing all of the materials you need for your presentation. Once you have your own office, you do not have to worry about this since everything will be readily available inside it.

7. It feels like home. This one is true. Your office is your space, and you get complete control of the way it will function. Feeling comfortable at work is important in boosting your productivity. In your private office, you will feel comfortable as if you were home.

Why the Open-Office Setting is a Bust

Let’s be honest. The concept of an open-office setting sounds exciting. It is a refreshing concept since it is so far from the traditional offices we often see. However, can they enhance the working environment? I don’t think so.

Having an open-office setting makes our work slower. You get distracted a bunch of times due to the noise of other people. In fact, according to one of the studies of the University of California, Irvine, employees which are in cubicles are 29 percent more exposed to interruptions than when in a private office. In the same research, these interrupted employees increased their rate of exhaustion by nine percent.

Some people argue that you can wear your earphones and blast your music if you do not want to hear the noise caused by the shared area. But in reality, not all individuals can work with songs ringing in their ears. It is just additional clutter in the head!

Another reason why it is not good to invest in an open-office setting is that it only promotes casual interactions, not long-term relationships. People will be more engaged to have long and personal conversations with other coworkers when they know that they are in a private setting. This practice improves work and personal relationships with others, hence making it easy to collaborate and interact with them.

“There’s some evidence that removing physical barriers and bringing people closer to one another does promote casual interactions. But there’s a roughly equal amount of evidence that because open spaces reduce privacy, they don’t foster informal exchanges and may actually inhibit them,” said Anne-Laure Fayard and John Weeks of  Harvard Business Review. “Some studies show that employees in open-plan spaces, knowing that they may be overheard or interrupted, have shorter and more-superficial discussions than they otherwise would.”

10 Tips for Designing Your Own Private Office

Designing your private space depending on your taste and functionality is essential. Tailor-fitting your workspace to your personality can increase your work productivity tenfold. Here are some words of advice I can give you on how you can improve your private working area.  

1. Maximize the Space

Take advantage of the size of your office. However, make sure that balance out the spaces and clutter to avoid a scene of chaos. One technique which can help fit all of your office junk is through the use of the vertical space. You can have tall steel cabinets with some plant designs on top so that your stuff won’t take too much space.

2. Support Mobile Workers

Now that almost all jobs involve digital work, it is important to invest in portable technological devices such as laptops, mobile phones, desktops. These will be helpful for more efficient working sessions. To support these digital devices, it is a must to equip your office with enough floor power, data access, monitor arms, and ergonomic keyboard supports.

3. Divide Your Room

There should be a clear division between areas for private work and collaboration work. Hence, it is essential to have a separation of zones. The private zone will mostly include your personal items, important documents, and own technological devices. On the other hand, the collaboration zone may have a couch for meeting spaces, some magazines and books to look at, and some electrical outlets to provide comfort to the guest.

To provide a clear demarcation of these two zones, your personal work table can serve as the barrier so that your guests will know the line.

4. Invest in Proper Lighting

The best lighting an office can have is the natural sunlight which comes from the window. However, if you do not have this privilege, make sure to contact a graphic designer so he or she can work on the lighting colors of your office. If you choose the wrong lighting, it will give you eye strain and headaches.

5. Buy a Comfortable Chair

Believe it or not, there is a strong chance that you might spend more time on your work chair than your own bed at home. If you are working this long, it is crucial to have a comfortable chair. It does not necessarily have to be stylish and big. Just make sure that it fits the form of your back and whole body. Do not underestimate the role of a good chair.

6. Get a Functional Desk

Small is cute and saves a lot of space, but it is barely functional. It is essential to invest in this kind of desk since you will store many non-digital paperwork and records, place your office materials, and conduct your daily business. Remember: it does not have to be new and super fancy. Just make sure that they come with many compartments and have a large area as a workspace.

7. Place a Few Pieces of Inspiration

Do you want to convey a little bit of swag and personality inside your office? You can do that by placing a few pieces of inspirational things there. You can start with some of your pictures with family, friends, lover, and co-workers. You can even add some of your certificates and other recognitions, such as newspaper article cutouts about your achievements, to boost your work confidence and motivate you to complete your tasks.

If you just want to laugh, maybe you can add funny memorabilia like a bobblehead character of you on your table.

8. Create a Workspace That Is Environment-Friendly

You may also want to be an advocate for the environment. Letting your customers, partners, and co-workers know that you are conscious of the effects of your actions on nature can further boost their trust in you. At the same time, this can even lower your cost in your office spending. Here are some of the practices you can try engaging in:

– Place recycling bins in convenient locations. Make sure that you have several containers so you can properly segregate all of your office trash.

– Do not throw the documents you don’t need to use anymore (unless they are confidential of course!). You can use the back pages of these files just in case you need some scratch paper or you need to print some draft documents. In addition, you may also cut these papers to small pieces and staple them together to create memo pads.

– Use energy-efficient light bulbs as your main lighting materials.

– Use toner and ink cartridge refill kits when your printer loses its ink. These will not only save you some bucks but will also cut down waste. If you see that your cartridges are non-refillable, make sure to make a call to your manufacturer. Most of these companies have cartridge programs for recycling.

9. Install a Telephone

Although we are in the era of emails and social media, installing a dedicated telephone line rather than relying on cell may help you with your business. 

10. Improve the Feng Shui of the Workplace

Some people may see this is as a bit superstitious. However, there is nothing wrong with trying, right? You can add some crystals, plants, and mirrors on a strategic place to improve the flow of positive energy in the room. If you want to take this advice seriously, you can even seek the assistance of Feng Shui expert!

Read also OSW article: How to Design a Feng2 Shui Office

The Best of Both Worlds

We need to keep in mind that what works for one will not necessarily work for others as well. Maybe some companies operate better in an open-office setting while others are more productive in having private offices. The choice will depend on the culture of the company and the nature of the jobs in it.

What companies overlook, however, is how their offices can adopt both styles.

“The goal of improving productivity is giving team members an environment in which they can accomplish as much as possible,” Bill Himmelstein, CEO of commercial real estate brokerage Tenant Advisory Group, explains. “Sometimes it’s more collaborative in nature, and other times it is [finding] some quiet space and [staying] heads down for a while. Either way, an office space should be adaptable, support the company’s culture, and serve as a place where employees and partners alike want to spend time.”

He also mentioned that it is important to ask the feedback and opinions of the employees in this matter. It is critical that everyone should have a say to avoid future complications in the workplace. You can start by asking them the following questions:

– What is the level of privacy that you need?

– What kind of environment do you prefer?

– Does the nature of your job require frequent phone and video calls, or does it require immense focus?

– Are you always working on collaborative and group projects which necessitate regular communication?

– What kind of setup do you think will mirror our company culture?

– What are the advantages and disadvantages of our current office setup?

Once the company has answered these questions, you can start finding the balance between the two office styles. If you opt to have more private offices, ensure that there are still company initiatives which will improve their collaboration and maintain the positive culture of the company. Regular check-ins and team bonding can facilitate this.

On the other hand, if you go for an open-office setting, make sure to provide conference rooms for team and department meetings. It is also crucial to set up private locations for phone calls and thinking areas.

Related Questions

What kind of jobs should have a private office? There are no specific jobs that work exclusively in a private office. However, the most common ones who have this privilege are those on the top management, jobs which require confidentiality (a.k.a. company lawyers), and the company CEO, of course. Regardless, if you work in a free-spirited company, you can inquire about having a private office.  

Is it difficult to maintain your own office? To be honest, yes, it is a bit challenging. Since you call it your own office, you are the only one who can keep it clean and orderly. It might be a little hard to give that responsibility to others, such as office janitors and cleaners, since your office houses confidential files and personal items.

When I was still a business coach to start-up founders and CEOs, I always asked for a list of priorities beforehand. I usually see the usual entries—productive employees, great outputs, and a comfortable workspace. And I ask them in return: how could you achieve these things without prioritizing a well-planned office seating?

So, how do you plan an office seating arrangement? Planning an office seating is a team effort. A good boss should integrate their employees’ inputs and opinions on their office seating. But more importantly, utilize office space to increase productivity in the workplace. Companies can plan office seating through a meeting or the use of software.

But there is more to office seating. A properly planned office isn’t just about promoting productivity. Good seating has numerous benefits, from interpersonal relationships to a comfortable work environment.

7 Steps in Planning a Good Office Seating

You may find a lot of sources telling you how to plan good office seating. But there are so many steps and materials involved that the instructions become confusing. So, for your convenience, we consolidated these into seven, easy tricks.

1. Know When You Need a Plan

You wouldn’t need an office seating plan If you’re starting with a small team. According to Ben Sheen, senior manager of workplace and facilities for Namely, you’ll need to have a seating plan once your team occupies one floor or reaches 150 members. However, it doesn’t hurt to prepare an office seating plan as early as now.

The key to properly planned office seating is planning not for the present but the future. You should design your floor plan to build continuity, improve employee experience, and promote engagement. It should also reflect solutions as your team grows past 150 members or occupies one or more floors.

2. Read About Different Floor Plans

Before you can start planning for office seating, it helps to read more about floor plans and how companies apply them. One of the most discussed floor plans is the open office floor plans versus its closed counterpart. The closed office floor plan is the usual choice for companies, but the open office floor plan is gaining traction for its benefits.

Private conference rooms and cubicles divided by high walls characterize the traditional closed office floor plan. Each cubicle lines the four walls of the floor. A closed floor plan’s benefits are increased privacy and limited distractions, which facilitate greater concentration among employees.

On the other hand, an open floor plan is the opposite of the traditional floor plan. In this setting, low walls divide the cubicles. and Bench-seating also replaces the hard walls. In addition, this open setting has more collaborative spaces and conference rooms made of glass walls.

Companies favor open floor plans for their small real estate costs. This floor plan is also flexible and promotes employee collaboration.

So, which one do you pick? Whether you need to have a closed floor plan or an open one depends on your work culture and the employees’ needs. If your employees need a space for privacy like conference rooms, then a traditional closed office floor plan is best. But, if you are looking for reduced expenses and employee collaboration, then open spaces are the way to go.  

3. Talk to Your Employees

Your employees are the ones who should benefit from the office seating, so their inputs are important in your plan. During your planning stage, you would need to talk to your employees and determine their specific operational needs: for example, their furniture and equipment. If you have a sales department, you’ll need to consider phones and extra monitors for your designer department.

Other than identifying their operational needs, it may help to know their seating requests. There may be employees who prefer to sit near windows or walls. Some employees may even request to sit near their friends or acquaintances at work.

Whether you heed these requests or not, your employees’ inputs will greatly benefit from your office floor plan design. After all, they will be the ones who will utilize this space the most.

4. Put Similar Employees in One Spot

You should design your office seating plans to improve productivity and employee collaboration. For this reason, you need to be strategic in assigning locations for each of your employees is a must. Employees who belong to the same department should be grouped while departments who work together should be seated together.

Other than sticking the same employees in one spot, you should consider grouping highly productive employees to those who might need more encouragement. Normally, companies group similarly performing employees together for productivity, but one research study begs to differ. According to this research study, highly productive employees induce a “spillover effect” on other employees.

So, if you want to increase productivity in the workplace, your seating plan should mix highly productive employees with average employees. And if you are worried about prolific employees performing less effectively than average employees, don’t be; the research study shows that it is a less likely possibility.  

Of course, the research study comes with a warning. “Toxic” employees—gossipers and mischief-makers—can influence highly productive employees and decrease company productivity. So while planning your office seating, it is important to determine these employees and avoid grouping them.

5. Work with an Office Coordinator

Planning an office seating is not a man’s job. It is important to hire a specialist to evaluate and determine any flaws in your office floor plans.

An office coordinator (or a facilities manager) is an integral part of your office seating plan. During the planning process, you’ll need to orient your office coordinator with some context about your company. Your office coordinator will need to know about your employee headcount, list of departments, foot traffic information, machinery information, and even ancillary spaces.

Once your office coordinator knows the basics, then he or she can do his or her part. However, don’t expect that your office coordinator will do the work. Working with your office coordinator is like a two-way street. Your office coordinator will consult with you to ensure he or she meets your office needs while you, the boss, will need to check in with your coordinator. A good harmonious relationship between you and the coordinator will lead to a properly designed floor plan.

6. Utilize Technology

With the age of modern technology, you can generate office plans with the help of specialized software. You can draft office floor plans with the use of a simple and common program called Microsoft Excel. Your office coordinator should be able to draw one in Excel, upload it on Adobe, and share it as a PDF file.

However, Microsoft Excel isn’t the usual program of choice for office coordinators when there are other, more sophisticated programs in the market. Office coordinators—or even you, if you have sufficient experience—could utilize facilities management software to produce a floor plan design. Using this kind of program is convenient as it does the following:

– Tracks the usage of floor square footage

– Tests furniture and equipment placements

– Views heating, electrical, and data systems

Other design programs may offer additional features such as a vast inventory of design elements or pre-designed templates. If you are interested in using these kinds of applications, it is best to know which are the best and the easiest to use.  

7. Keep Your Office Seating Plans Flexible

Once you’ve drafted your office seating plan, it is time to put it into action! You may want to put a feedback system to observe if your plan is serving its goal. If your seating plan works well to improve productivity, then that’s good. But if your seating plan is not doing so well, then maybe you’ll need to go back to the drawing board.

Nonetheless, you should keep your office seating plans open to changes. A research study posted in the Wall Street Journal revealed that productivity increases when seating arrangements are “refreshed.” It means that you, the boss, should consider shuffling your employees’ seating arrangements from time to time.

Why Office Seating is so Important for Productivity

Office seating arrangements are one of the key factors in productivity. But other than that, why should you care so much about office seating plans? Here are three reasons why:

1. It Improves Your Employees’ Relationships

Employees tend to talk to people to whom they are seated next. So, if you keep employee seating arrangements fixed, then you are missing the chance for your employees to interact with each other. Office seating plans can promulgate good interpersonal relationships among your employees, ushering in a comfortable working environment and happy employees.

But do not expect that your employees seated next to each other will get along. Your employees may exhibit behaviors that would annoy rather than engage other employees. So, being strategic about your seating arrangements is a must. For example, if one of your employees hates the sound of chewing, then don’t sit next to an employee who likes eating.

2. It Puts Your Employees at Ease

Office seating plans are not just about putting cubicles and equipment. It is all about the balance of work and entertainment in the workplace. You will need a space dedicated solely for work and a separate area for your employees’ relaxation. And these spaces should not impede each other—a challenge that company leaders and company coordinators struggle with.

But if you plan your seating arrangements wisely, then it would help promote a comfortable working environment. And in turn, that will improve your employees’ experience and keep them satisfied.

3. It Avoids Inconveniences for Your Employees

Ever heard of complaints regarding being blasted by an air-conditioning unit or badly positioned overhead lights? That’s a badly planned office seating plan for you. If you carefully scrutinize office seating plans, then your employees won’t need to deal with simple environmental inconveniences like this.

Top 5 Office Seating Plan Software

While Microsoft Excel can be a good software for designing office seating plans, there are other software packages that better suit this. Here are the top five office seating plan software for your perusal.

AutoCAD

AutoCAD is arguably one of the best office floor planning software in the market. It is a 2-D and 3-D computer-aided drafting software used to help create blueprints and architectural plans. This program can be used to create the blueprints of bridges, buildings, and, of course, office floor plans.

AutoCAD may not be specialized specifically to office floor plans, but it is considered the best software to use for it. However, the program is not for first-timers and is more suited for professional drafters. You may need a professional drafter to assist you in planning your office seating with this program.

OfficeSpace

If you want software specifically programmed for office floor plans, then you may want to consider OfficeSpace. OfficeSpace is a facility space management software. This program is actually made for companies who are relocating to another office space, but it can still be used to plan for office seating.

What does it have to offer? As its description suggests, this program helps you make smarter allocations of furniture and seating. It also lets you know how your floor space is being used and how you can use the area better. The program makes use of business intelligence for its report and analytics function.

Edraw

Edraw is all about simplicity. Edraw is an office planning software that takes pride in an easy-to-use interface and professional-looking results. The program is similar to Microsoft Apps; it has 400 office floor plan templates and 6000 objects to choose from. You can drag, drop, click, and point objects into your layout without any difficulty.

Edraw also has several customization features. For one, it gives you the option to upload your own images for your office floor plan. And once you’re done with your plan, you can export it as a PDF and share it with your employees.

Grapholite

Grapholite is the alternative of Edraw. Similar to Edraw, Grapholite is perfect for beginners. It offers a myriad of pre-designed objects, which you can drag and drop into your floor plan. It also has smart tools to assist you and has the option to export your work as a PDF.

So, what makes it different from Edraw? Although this is a web-based application, there is a mobile version available for iPad and Android. It can be quite helpful when you’re always on the go and only have access to your mobile devices.

BlueBeam

BlueBeam is another computer-aided drafting software that can help you plan for your office seating. BlueBeam is software designed for the design and construction of different infrastructures such as an office floor. But what makes it different from its counterpart, AutoCAD, is its collaboration features.

Unlike AutoCAD, BlueBeam allows users to share documents with others in real-time. You can easily edit and preview your work using easy-to-use markup tools at any time. This feature can be handy when you’re too busy to gather the opinions and comments of your employees one by one. Bluebeam can do it for you!

Related Questions  

How do I balance the requests of employees when managing office seating?

It can quickly become overwhelming for any boss to heed their employees’ requests regarding seating arrangements. Employees may prefer to sit next to their friends; however, their seating arrangement requests may not be conducive to your company goals. Some may even clash with others.

In times like this, the choice is up to you on how to deal with your employees’ requests. Because they are your employees, you know them better than any other person. Follow your instincts without forgetting logic as you draft your office seating plans.

Can an office seating plan promote employee engagement?

Office seating arrangements foster a comfortable and welcoming working environment that will satisfy any employee. But office seating arrangements alone will not improve employee engagement. The best way to foster employee engagement is by spending time with your employees.

But how? You don’t need to organize fancy picnics or excursion events for your employees, contrary to popular belief. A simple “good morning” greeting or asking how they are doing is enough. By making your employees feel that you care, you incentivize them to do better in their jobs.

What are ways to promote productivity?

Incentives are quick productivity boosters. These can be in the form of pay, bonuses, or non-monetary motivators such as “Employee of the Month” certificates. However, you are free to think of out-of-the-box incentives based on your employees’ behavior and work ethics.

But a good way to promote productivity is to keep your employees satisfied and proud of their work. Encourage your employees to participate in company meetings or ask for their inputs in certain projects. By making your employees feel included, they are further empowered and motivated to work better.