The fact that an employee-friendly office can increase productivity, creativity and satisfaction, and thus greatly reduce sick leave, is not new. But what should the perfect office look like? Opinions often differ here, but there are a few general points to perfect. In the various office types of our three Hamburg CS Business Center locations, everything is designed to provide our tenants with the greatest possible feel-good factor. In this blog post, I share with you my experiences on what makes the perfect office.
Employees who sit at a window seat with natural sunlight and a nice view are the most satisfied. Unlike our business center with great location and view, unfortunately not every office can offer this luxury. Natural sunlight provides the necessary mood boost, more concentration and an adequate supply of vitamin D. Window seats should be equipped with an anti-glare blind so that employees can decide for themselves how much daylight to allow. To ensure a sufficiently bright office even on overcast days, there should be powerful ceiling and table lighting.
People who come into an office are already mentally in work mode, more motivated and can get started right away, which is a crucial factor for good concentration and high productivity. Home office workers have a great many sources of distraction, such as family, the television, or chores that have not yet been completed. Therefore, a perfect office is a place where you work exclusively. In addition, unlike in a home office, the daily work routine and the stress associated with it fall away from you as soon as you leave the office. A great compromise, for example, is a combination of a home office and a part-time office in a business center that you use for two or three days to get the work done with the highest level of concentration.
Open-plan offices without real partitions are a nightmare for employees and are further away from the perfect office than any other type of office. Smaller team offices with visual barriers between work islands, on the other hand, are ideal for creative work and inspire teamwork. But individual offices for concentrated work are also needed. So when you offer your employees a combination of a team office, individual offices that can be used as needed, a small meeting room, a kitchenette and a temporary home office, you maximize not only the effective use of space, but also productivity and satisfaction. With this mix of teamwork, retreats and space for focused individual work, like in our business center, you’re providing a big part of what makes a perfect office.
Phone calls, echoes and a noise level that makes concentration difficult prevent pleasant and effective work. As beautiful as wood planks are, carpeting dampens sound and absorbs noise. Similarly, murals and cabinets help to soundproof the room. In larger team offices, covered partitions between the work islands help against noise. In addition, where a lot of phone calls are made, acoustic panels on the ceiling and walls are a great noise barrier. For particularly noise-sensitive employees, noise-canceling headphones are also a useful gadget for perfect offices, if necessary.
Most employers want tidy, minimalist workspaces for their employees so that they can be rotated if necessary. Employees, on the other hand, want a personal touch in the workplace. Finding the balance here is not easy, but doable. A handful of personal items on your desk can increase the feel-good factor and, in turn, employee motivation in your workplace. With changing lineups, spindles or personal rolling containers are a great way to give everyone a portable custom design option that can be set up and taken down quickly. Plenty of storage space in the form of cabinets or sideboards is not only excellent sound insulation, but also creates space for maneuvering and breathing.
Cable clutter not only looks daunting, but is also a dangerous tripping hazard. Keep things tidy with under-floor routing and cable ducts. To avoid frustration among the workforce, the Internet should be powerful and stable throughout the office. In addition, employees should be able to access the Internet with both WLAN and LAN cables.
The office tea kitchen is not only the place to get coffee, tea and lunch, but also a meeting place for small breaks, which non-smokers especially appreciate. Small coffee breaks have been shown to increase productivity, morale and the flow of information between employees. Likewise, the office kitchen as a place to have lunch together can promote team spirit and social interaction among your employees.
The perfect office is not only optimally designed and furnished from the inside, but is also in the optimal location.
The office should be very accessible to employees by public transportation. Employees who have to change trains several times on their way to the office and have a very long commute will be stressed even before they start work. This has a negative impact on both the atmosphere in the office and productivity. In addition, parking for cars & bicycles should also be provided so that employees are not limited to just one way to get there.
A perfect office always has a central location, and not only because of the optimal transport connections, but also because of the design options for the lunch break, such as a wide choice of take-out restaurants, supermarkets and bakeries for the common lunch in the office, as well as opportunities to leave the office for lunch in the restaurant or café. A relaxing walk to get your thoughts in order is equally essential, which is why a cold industrial area won’t achieve the satisfaction factor that an office in appealing surroundings offers.
The perfect office par excellence doesn’t exist, but if you implement some of my suggestions and involve your employees in the design, you can transform your offices accordingly. Alternatively, you can of course use the perfect offices of our CS Business Center in the Hamburg locations with their central locations and individualize them with a few simple steps. I would be happy to show you our individual and team offices in HafenCity, Rotherbaum and Stadthöfe to bring you closer to your perfect temporary office.
I wish you much success and stay healthy!
With warm regards
Your Christian Schmidt