Your View – Office Space

Office space. You either love yours, or loathe it. When it comes to the work environment, one thing is certain – you are all in it together.
Office space has reached a crossroads where seemingly half of businesses decide to invest in a complete office refit. Think nap pods, a funky kitchen space, chill out zones and screens.  Yet on the other hand, the digital nomads have arrived. Buffer recently released a post telling the world that they closed their office space. One of the largest companies in the world valued at $60 million now has no office.
So which theory wins out?

Will hot desking annoy people who are in the office 5 days a week? Will work quality decline without any office space at all? What about the warehouse team? Can you trust people to get the job done without the accountability of being present?
The questions to ask are simple. What is the justification of having a place of work for your business, and what is the purpose of the current working situation.

Bear in mind that Forrester Research’s US Telecommuting Forecast notes that 34 million Americans work from home, which is expected to exceed 63 million by 2016. That is around 43 percent of the U.S. workforce.  Change is coming to workplaces around you.

If you do decide to keep your office space, consider layout. A study from Steelcase showed that of the minor 11% of people who are ‘highly satisfied’ with their work environments, a huge 88 percent said this was because their workplaces allowed them to “concentrate easily, work in teams without being interrupted, choose where to work based on their tasks, and feel a sense of belonging to the company and its culture.” This might mean a move away from the open plan trends towards something that works for your business needs.

So, where do you stand on office space?

Tweet us @IncentiveHub and join the conversation with the hashtag #officespace