best home office layout for productivity

These spaces aren’t the same as conference rooms, which, due to their enclosures, are better for structured conversations. Almost all organizations benefit from the periodic collaboration and free-wheeling interactions that these spaces were meant to conduce, so having “break out spaces” sprinkled in the office will encourage this activity while not forcing it on the staff. It just needs to be used more judiciously. However, if you are constantly in sight of everyone in your office (including your bosses), you will use any means at your disposal to “hide” from them, which means more emailing, Slacking and headphone-wearing. If you are sequestered in your own space, you will crave interaction and use your free time to seek this out. This might seem counter-intuitive, but it makes sense when you think about basic human psychology. In fact, a recent Harvard study has shown that collaboration - one of the main reasons for this design in the first place - actually decreases by 70% when organizations have shifted to an open office concept. This is one of the biggest issues cited with the open office by today’s worker: they are more distracting than they are collaborative. If you are, it means you are likely hearing myriad conversations and other sounds while you try to concentrate on your screen. You are maybe sitting in an open office while reading this. On that note, the most trendy office design today is the “Open” one. These might seem obvious, but too many organizations simply go with what seems to be the most innovative route without considering how it fits with their culture. If you are a creative agency that feeds off collaboration, then an open design concept will be better. If your team’s work is mainly conducted on the phone, it makes sense to have many small spaces to allow for privacy and to keep disruptions to a minimum. In doing my research for this, one theme seemed to connect all successful workspace efforts: fit. But the ideal workspace should be greater than the some of its parts, so even if each desk is maximally productive, the overall layout and relationship between those desks can still hamper output. In case you missed it, my first blog on this topic tackled the most fundamental aspect to worker productivity: the desk.

Best home office layout for productivity