The success of a company hinges on three components: people, process and product. While every company welcomes growth, without plans in place, sudden growth can wreak havoc and place stress on people, processes and products. If you’ve recently committed to acquiring additional square footage for office workers or are reorganizing work spaces, several key factors need to be incorporated to ensure a smooth transition, a continued optimal working environment and ultimately be conducive to maximum productivity and ingenuity. Follow these basic guidelines for redesigned employee workspace.
If you’ve outsourced the design, you’ll still need to work closely with the professionals during the design process. It’s often most productive, when retooling a large space, to use two way radios to maximize effective communications. If the space I open or there are individual cubicles, fire code will dictate how wide the hallways need to be based on the number of employees. If you have elected to go with an open concept design, be sure to incorporate enclosed conference rooms and at least one enclosed office to the confidential meetings that will inevitably place as your company continues to grow.
If time allows, solicit input from employees on the aspects of the current layout they find positive and those that need improvement. There are huge values in bottom up information gathering. The individuals working in the space quit often know what is currently working and what needs fixed. Combine this input with the recommendations of the professionals you’ve engaged to develop a final plan. Enlist staff to pack up individual belongings in their respective work spaces and label boxes accordingly. The more you engage the employees in the process the easier the transition will be on moving day and long after.
If time allows, plan for a small celebration after everyone has completed their respective jobs during the moving process. This will set the tone for the new work space and the staff that will ultimately acclimate to their new surroundings. Congratulations on the growth of your company. While this could have been a stressful time, proper planning can serve to eliminate much of the strss.