Physical Office Space

Here at Cosmic Foundry, we’re big fans of using greenery to spruce up the working environment – just take a look at our previous post. Seven benefits of having plants in the office, to find out how living plants could change your workspace, too.

But there’s more to creating a natural-feeling environment than just plants; it’s important that employees can open the windows to bring in the fresh air, and that the office has as much natural light as possible. Natural light is a great stress reducer; in a worldwide study undertaken to record the impact of daylight in healthcare buildings, it was found that exposure to bright morning light was shown to reduce agitation among elderly patients with dementia – and it’s likely workers experience a similar reduction in stress, too.

Architecture firm Gensler recommends that organizations provide workspaces that enable employees to work in each of the four different "work modes" it has identified:

Gensler’s report suggests people are more easily able to collaborate in a range of different workspaces that they are able to concentrate – so HR professionals and facilities managers should make an effort to carve out quiet spaces where staff can carry out 'deep work' and/or enter 'flow state.

“The workplace in any of its past and current iterations—open office, cubicle farms, warrens of private offices—has never been adept at supporting the delicate balance of intense focus and rich collaboration required by knowledge workers who aim to thrive,” says the report.

read more here: https://www.gensler.com/uploads/document/306/file/Focus_in_the_Workplace_10_01_2012.pdf



The average British worker takes only a 34-minute lunch break, and more than half of workers skip their lunch break altogether, according to a 2017 poll. The same poll found HR professionals to be the most guilty of skipping their break – with 70% admitting to regularly failing to take lunch – and that office employees eat lunch ‘al desko’ an average of four times a week.

Staff will be more likely to take a refreshing break – and therefore be more energized and ready for a productive afternoon – if you create an attractive space in which to eat, relax and talk to their colleagues.

You might even want to provide activities such as a games console, table football, or pool table as a way of encouraging employees to switch off from work during their breaks.

Advances in communications and technology mean, for many office-based workers, there are few valid reasons why they cannot work flexibly or remotely, at least part-time.

Many people are finding that working flexibly – either by working at home, or shifting their hours – helps them to better fit in family demands, as well as reducing time spent commuting and associated stress. Escaping the office to work in a quieter location from time-to-time is also important for staff whose roles include a need to concentrate on deep work (which can be tricky in a busy open-plan office – as discussed above). Those who need to work collaboratively can still do so remotely thanks to apps such as Skype and Slack.

We've already begun to reap the benefits of supporting flexible working. Some may find that, by encouraging workers to work away from the office, they can cut down on the amount of office space they need to rent. Organizations can also expect staff to be happier, more engaged, more productive and less stressed when given the option to work flexibly. Flexible working can also be a useful part of your employer brand, too

We embrace the concept from author and futurist Jacob Morgan, writing for Forbes in 2015. “In software, you iterate, make changes, upgrade, and evolve,” he writes. “The physical space needs to be thought of in the same way.”

While we may not have the budget for a full redesign every year, Morgan’s approach is still valid. We constantly asses how our workplace operates now for employees, and make small tweaks. Did they improve the employee experience, or make matters worse? Keep testing and trying small changes, and they eventually add up to significant provement to our physical environment.