What Is Workspace Furniture?
Whether you’re thinking about form, function, or both, the right office or workspace furniture impacts employees’ attitudes, productivity, ability to collaborate, and more. Outfitting your space with modern, collaborative furniture helps to ensure that everyone will be able to work in a space that they’re comfortable in.
This begs a few key questions, which this article will answer:
● What types of office furniture and equipment does an office or workspace need?
● What is the importance of office furniture in creating effective workspaces for employees?
● How do you find the best workspace or office furniture for your company?
Let’s start with the basics.
What Items of Furniture Are Necessary in an Office?
There are at least four distinct categories or types of furniture in an office or workspace: desks, chairs, tables, and accessories.
● Desks: An office or workspace needs to have plenty of desks and workstations available so employees have a place to perform their work and store their belongings. This doesn’t mean an office needs to be a dreadful cubicle farm, though. Some companies prefer more open-concept layouts, where each employee may or may not have their own dedicated workspace.
● Chairs: Even with options like standing desks, treadmill desks, and remote workspaces, having enough seating options available for everyone helps to ensure that no one’s left standing (except by choice).
● Tables: In any workplace where collaboration matters, outfitting the space with meeting and conference tables makes it easy for employees to leverage their shared brain power within a common space.
● Accessories: This catch-all category includes a wide range of things to create a well-rounded office or workspace, such as:
● Lighting
● Partitions and privacy screens
● Storage
What Is the Importance of Furniture In Creating a Positive Work Environment?
Beyond simply giving people a place to sit, here are three main reasons why furniture is important in an office:
1. It promotes employees’ well-being. If an employee is in the office for 40 hours a week, that’s nearly a quarter of their time. As a company’s most important asset, they deserve comfortable seating and enough space to do their work. Creating a vibrant, collaborative work environment makes a sizable impact on employee morale as well as their ability to perform their best work.
2. It encourages employees to share ideas through collaboration. This point applies to conference room tables as well as furniture for relaxing in a common area. When employees feel comfortable with each other and within the space, they more easily support each other. By prioritizing collaborative furniture, companies increase productivity without compromising company culture. This brings us to the third point…
3. It complements an organization’s culture. As much as companies love to tout their culture of positivity and collaboration, it is discouraging when their work environments are stale and inflexible. Tailor the office and workspace to what employees care most about, whether that’s comfort, their ability to succeed in their work, or something else entirely. This way, company leaders deliver on their promises of a company culture that truly listens to, values, and improves the well-being of their employees.
How Do I Choose the Best Furniture for an Office or Workspace?
Choosing the right furniture for an office or workspace feels overwhelming, so we’ll conclude with a list of the most important features of workspace or office furniture to consider:
● It should serve a purpose. How do most employees spend their time? Would they benefit from individual, dedicated workspaces or a more open-concept, collaborative environment? Be sure to select furniture that will effectively serve these purposes. Another aspect of “purpose” relates to technology. For individual workspaces as well as meeting rooms and other shared spaces, you should also consider furnishings that integrate technology, whether that means a desk with a motorized lift base, an adjustable standing desk, or something similar.
● It should be flexible. Things change. When you select modular, adaptable furniture options you provide current employees with the ideal workspace without compromising the ability to change things up in the near- as well as long-term. Browse some of SMARTdesks’ workspace furniture options for active learning and collaboration.
● It should promote collaboration. A sea of cubicles is not an inspiring look, and it frankly feels soul-crushing over time. Morale and productivity are both improved by simple changes to existing furniture and office layouts. Consider incorporating collaborative furniture into the floorplan to promote the sharing of ideas and improve teams’ problem-solving power.
● It should be comfortable. Don’t underestimate the importance of posture and overall comfort on employees’ ability to feel their best and do their best work! Even a modest investment in modern, ergonomic chairs improve moods and productivity. Another consideration is the organization and storage of myriad electrical and data cables. These environments are improved by using cable and wire management solutions or raised floor systems to keep things tidy.
● It should fit the company’s vibe. Finally, office and workspace furniture should look professional, modern, and cohesive. Browse our complete product lines for spaces like conference and meeting rooms, collaborative areas, and more
Working SMARTer Doesn’t Have to Be Hard
Now that you know what you’re looking for, SMARTdesks makes it easy to go from initial concept to fully-formed reality. To get the ball rolling, browse our product lines and request more information about specific products. Or, simply schedule a free design consultation.
