Office design flaws affecting productivity

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The overseas workplace is far more trusting of staff and permissive of alternative ways of working, such as desk sharing and working from home. As a result, overseas businesses are managing to cut-down on square meters without impacting on productivity.

One of the ways that workplaces are being optimised is by reducing office space to around 12m² per person. This is achieved by placing the majority of employees (including top executives) in bench style seating arrangements where six to eight employees sit opposite each other at one long bench or desk. In South Africa, the standard is slightly higher at around 15m² per person.

'Activity-based working'

Around the world, 'activity-based working' offers a version of workplace optimisation and space saving by freeing up most employees to work from home or moving across different locations during the day, both in and out the office.

This is transforming offices into a communal space that provides a variety of settings to work in. Though this may be a futuristic picture painted in management articles from Silicon Valley, to a certain extent it has already started in South Africa, but will certainly hit opposition from some conservative companies.

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South African workplaces are attempting similar space savings while keeping most employees at the office, making productivity increases challenging. One positive is that local workplaces are starting to include alternative work settings in open plan, such as phone booths, quiet rooms and library areas to make working in these environments more enjoyable. These have been global standards for some time but we are slowly starting to see clients understand the need for these areas.

Most businesses internationally are focusing their budgets on client-facing areas, such as boardrooms and reception areas, and most staff areas are fitted with basic carpets and paint. The same is true for South Africa.

We also see a number of offices being stripped of the benefits that helped make the working environment more enjoyable such as lunch rooms, meeting rooms, art, office greenery, good coffee and the daily paper. Not only do these benefits make work more enjoyable but they also foster a sense of community and closer relationships.

Friendship between colleagues is one of the most powerful drivers in high performance organisations. People make friends at work, they become a part of a team, and don't want to let their friends down. Having a space where people can build these strong relationships is critical to business success, for both relaxation and meetings.

Paragon Interiors surveyed over 600 staff in 12 different corporates to see what effect the design of their current offices had on other organisational aspects. The results showed that around a third of staff felt that their workplace was having a negative impact on important organisational aspects such as corporate image, employee stress levels and productivity.

This highlights the importance of companies realising that their workplace is not just another cost to cut but a resource that can have an impact on a number of other business objectives.

Overall, the office environment is changing. Although office space is generally decreasing, smaller offices can still be productive if designed well and ifworkplace policies evolve to allow greater freedom at work. One thing that shouldn't change however is that offices should always be a place where people enjoy going to, where they feel comfortable and productive and where they are able to connect with colleagues and the corporate culture.