Work environments designed for team collaboration — offices with open floor plans rather than walled-off spaces — remain the dominant trend for companies worldwide. And with good reason. According to a new Steelcase study, 90 percent of workers say collaboration is essential to generating new and better ideas.
The challenge is how to design the open office in ways that help people strike the right balance between collaboration and solo work. How to help workers filter out the distractions of the open plan when they need privacy — time alone to rest, think, regroup or write.
Gensler Research Institute recently surveyed 6,000 office workers for its 2019 U.S. Workplace Survey. The results show that 77 percent “consider the ideal work environment to fall somewhere between totally open and totally private.” The best workplaces, then, the study said, “are designed to accommodate both individual and focus work, along with ample open spaces that can be used for more social, collaborative, work projects.”
Scroll down for ways to help employees find that balance by giving them more control over where and how they work.
Freestanding nook: The new Lagunitas Focus Nook, which expands the versatile Lagunitas Collection, provides a private, touchdown workspace for seated desk work. This freestanding solo space, with its high screens made from our signature Lagunitas knit or fabric, limits distractions for workers needing to focus in an open office context. Integrated wire management and power modules support technology for heads-down work. Add a single Focus Nook to a lounge space, as shown here, or position a row of them adjacent to a collaboration space.
Work haven: Lounge seating is perfect for solo spaces within an open floor plan. The SW_1 Lounge, shown here with matching ottoman, offers workers a comfortable, supportive spot to catch their breath, prepare for the next meeting or ponder future projects. Other options for creating a personal retreat within an open office include Hosu Lounge Seating and the Massaud Work Lounge with swivel tablet and storage ottoman. The SW_1 Lounge and Massaud Work Lounge chair bases are customizable with the Coalesse Color program.
In an era of collaboration and open floor plans, companies need to accommodate employees’ periodic need for privacy or time away from the group. Whether that means time to focus on work or time to simply rest and rejuvenate, the solutions featured above — including the new Lagunitas Focus Nook — can create the right setting.
For more Focus and Rejuvenation concepts, see the following:
