Month: February 2016
Office Pods– A New Solution to Privacy in an Open Office Space Design
Among the many office space design trends that currently exist, the open office space design has been the one popular design choice spanning several industries to encourage collaboration amongst staff and put all employees on an equal playing…or I should say, working field. But no matter how attractive the open office space design is to today’s organizations, there is always that looming need to create quiet areas or areas of privacy to handle regular business operation tasks such as making client phone calls meetings. Traditional offices closures and conference rooms have been the solutions to date, but a new solution is coming over the office space design horizon that more closely fits with the open office design concept.
Introducing office pods.
Office pods are self-contained portable sound proof enclosures created for the sole purpose of providing a quiet space or place of privacy in the midst of an open office space design.
Office pods offer several benefits:
- They offer flexibility to an office space design. Office pods are not enclosures that are fixed to a building. They are in fact portable or mobile, so like furniture, they can be placed anywhere inside or outside the office area—wherever best compliments the open office space design.
- Office pods are modular by nature, therefore can be dismantled, moved and reassembled from one office location to the next. They can even be easily extended to grow as your company grows.
- Office pods come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours, therefore can be creatively designed to complement the office space design theme of your organization.
- Office pods offer full and partial enclosure options. The full enclosure office pods, similar to an enclosed office or conference room, are ideal for business meetings, conference calls, and other operational tasks that require one’s full and uninterrupted attention. The partial enclosure office pods–sometimes referred to as office booths–offer opportunity for staff to still collaborate or find a quiet space work or relax in an open setting but with less noise interruption from surrounding office activities.
- Office pods can have a combination of clear, glazed and/or solid coloured walls to further compliment or enhance the office space design theme while still maintaining a balance between open office space design and the need to respect confidentiality.
So, if your current or future office space design is one of an open concept but you still want to allow for areas of quietness or privacy for your staff’s and overall business’ well-being, or your landlord forbids fixed reconstruction of an office space, adding office pods to your office space design could be the best solution.
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DJ Mcgauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Space Planning, Renovations and Relocation Project Management Company of Choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If a renovation or relocation of your 2,000 – 25,000 sq.ft. office space is in your plans, contact us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. We guarantee that by the end of that meeting, you will know all that would be required to make your office renovation/relocation project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected] or visit our website for more information and to complete our contact form.
References:
Urban office Interiors, Office Pods, https://www.urban-office.com/podscreens.html
OfficePod, OfficePod Lift the Lid on Dead Space, http://www.officepod.co.uk/about-officepod/
Collaboration: Why it should be subject to a Collaborative-Autonomy Work-Life Balance
Collaboration. It’s the buzzword of the 21st century… at least in the corporate world.
It is no secret that for the past five years collaboration has been the ongoing trend for companies wanting to achieve a competitive edge in the marketplace. After all, collaboration is the catalyst for innovation and creativity. But like anything else, too much collaboration could have an adverse effect on a company’s success.
Now, please do not misunderstand me –Collaboration does have its benefits. As mentioned before, collaboration, or the coming together of a group of two or more people working together through idea-sharing and thinking to achieve a common goal, provides opportunity for projects to be addressed with greater efficiency, creativity, and innovative solutions. Different strengths are brought to the table and each member of a collaborative team has opportunity to share knowledge, skill and/or learn from his or her fellow members. Collaboration also fosters a sense of unity or belonging. It allows individuals to “own” what is important to the company which can have a direct positive effect on morale among employees. However, companies that only focus on the benefits tend to miss some of the short-falls that can arise from an over indulgence of collaboration.
Despite its many benefits, collaboration is not for everyone. Organizations in general are built on people with a variety of personalities, some of which thrive working in a group setting, others of which work best alone. Forcing excessive collaboration on all employees may cause undo stress for individuals that work best focusing on a task independent of others around them.
In addition, collaboration can take up a lot of time at work and therefore interfere with work-life balance. It is estimated that at least 70% – 85% of an employee’s time during regular work hours is taken up in face to face, virtual or over the phone meetings. For some employees, this means that any tasks that need to be worked on individually or require an extreme amount of focus and concentration are done before or after work hours, at home or staying late at the office, leaving little time for social activities, rest and mental rejuvenation. This in turn could result in compromising the efficiency of a company’s operations and output both in terms of time and quality.
So what is the solution? Keep collaborating but find a balance between collaboration and autonomy for your employees in order to maximize on the benefits of both worlds.
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DJ Mcgauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Space Planning, Renovations and Relocation Project Management Company of Choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If a renovation or relocation of your 2,000 – 25,000 sq.ft. office space is in your plans, contact us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. We guarantee that by the end of that meeting, you will know all that would be required to make your office renovation/relocation project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected] or visit our website for more information and to complete our contact form.
References:
- Study.com, “What is Collaboration in the Workplace? Definition, Benefits & Examples”, http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-collaboration-in-the-workplace-definition-benefits-examples.html
- The Economist, “The Collaboration Curse”, January 23, 2016, pg 63
Happy Family Day!
DJ Mcgauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Space Planning, Renovations and Relocation Project Management Company of Choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If a renovation or relocation of your 2,000 – 25,000 sq.ft. office space is in your plans, contact us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. We guarantee that by the end of that meeting, you will know all that would be required to make your office renovation/relocation project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected] or visit our website for more information and to complete our contact form.
Happy Valentines Day from DJ McGauley & Associates Inc.
DJ Mcgauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Space Planning, Renovations and Relocation Project Management Company of Choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If a renovation or relocation of your 2,000 – 25,000 sq.ft. office space is in your plans, contact us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. We guarantee that by the end of that meeting, you will know all that would be required to make your office renovation/relocation project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected] or visit our website for more information and to complete our contact form.
Corporate Space Planning & Relocation Advice 