Why It’s Good To Have A Versatile Office Space

Although some business owners might think that an office space is now a thing of the past, thanks to remote working, that’s not actually always the case - sometimes an office is exactly right for your business and your team.

Of course, if you do have an office where you want people to work and home working is a rarity (or not offered at all), then that office has to be exactly right. If it’s not, those who are even a little bit tempted to see what working from home is like might want to look for another job, which leaves you with a role to fill and costs to shoulder.  

By having a great office space for people so they feel comfortable and safe and they can be as productive as possible, you’ll take that temptation away, and your team will stay with you for longer. 

One thing you’ll need to consider when you’re choosing an office space, or you’re updating the one you already have, is versatility. A versatile office space really can make a huge difference to your business and the people working in it, so if you can possibly find (or make) one that can do a lot of things for you and the team, that should certainly be a priority. With that in mind, keep reading to find out more about why it’s good to have a versatile office space. 

Better Productivity 

If you employ people, it’s not just a case of giving them a job and telling them what to do - there’s so much more to it than that, assuming you want to be the kind of boss that people look up to and want to work for (which is precisely the kind of boss you should be aiming to be). You’ll need to take their productivity levels into account, among other things, and, strange as it might seem, having a versatile office space can play into that quite nicely. That’s because when a space is more versatile, it means there’s more choice, and that means people can ensure that are working in a way that makes them most comfortable and, ultimately, most productive.  

What do we mean? Well, one employee might like working at a desk with an ergonomically designed office chair; the traditional way of working, you could say. Others, however, might find they like to work on a beanbag, at a standing desk, or even at a treadmill desk. They might want to work in an open-plan office, or they might prefer a cubicle. There are so many options, and although you won’t be able to put all of these things (and the many others that exist) in place, you can still offer a few different ways to work, assuming you have a versatile enough office space to do that. When you know what your team wants and how to give it to them, they’ll be more loyal and happier in their work, ensuring they have better job satisfaction and better productivity levels as a result. 

Health And Wellbeing

Something else you’ll need to think about when you have employees in an office and why a versatile space is the best thing for you is their health and wellbeing (and yours, as it happens). Again, this is something that every good boss or manager needs to think about and work hard to achieve, and a versatile office space will help you get the results you want.  

Having the space for a dedicated break room, for example, is an excellent thing, and with a versatile office space, you can partition some of the area off to give your workers that private space. Everyone needs to take breaks regularly through the day, and if there’s a well-designed and comfortable room to go to, they’ll be more likely to take those breaks. At the very least, they won’t have lunch at their desks, which is something that needs to be avoided as much as possible. In fact, with plenty of versatile space, you might even treat people to lunch from a specialist catering firm from time to time - it’s a great way to ensure everyone’s happy and healthy, after all. 

A versatile office also means you can rearrange furniture and even walls (depending on how the room is set up, of course) to make more space or create private areas. That means you can organize morning exercise classes or yoga or perhaps an evening of movies and games. In other words, giving your employees treats and ways to ensure they’re taking care of themselves is a great way to show them you care and appreciate them, and having a versatile office space means it’s much easier to do. 

Promotes Collaboration 

One thing that you’ll want if you have a team working together in an office is good collaboration. Whether everyone’s working on separate projects, but they need some advice or assistance from their colleagues, or you’ve got teams working together to get something done, making the collaboration aspect of their work as easy as possible is vital. It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise considering the reason this blog is being written, but having a versatile office space means collaboration becomes so much easier. 

Think of it this way; if you have a workspace that can be quickly and easily arranged into different setups, it means that whoever needs to work with someone else can do so. There won’t be any need for lots of disruption, and people won’t have to try to cram around a small table with all their project folders and devices. You can ensure everyone has the right amount of space in the right place for whoever needs to work with them. And, if someone has a task they need to completely focus on, they can set up a private little room just by moving some furniture and partition walls. 

When you have a team that knows they can easily work together and get things done, that’s exactly what they’ll do. If working in a team becomes arduous because there’s not enough space or everyone’s in a different area and can’t come together, their efforts might not be quite so high, and the end result of the task they’re working on might not be as good quality as you would want. Give them versatility, and you’ll give them the chance to get stuff done quickly and efficiently. 

Get The Best Talent 

You’ll definitely have heard that offering a remote working model is the way to get the best talent. After all, you’ll be able to pick from a wider pool of applicants because you won’t have to worry about geographical restrictions. Plus, more people will apply because remote working is so popular. 

However, there’s actually something to be said for having a versatile office space for employees to use, and it could be this that actually makes the difference when it comes to attracting the best talent. Why? The reason is that if you’re not offering remote work, then the people who apply must really want to work specifically for your company. They’re not just applying for a job because they want to work from home. Those who apply won’t be deterred from sending in their resume just because the role is an in-house one, so you know you’ve got dedicated candidates to choose from. 

If you can ensure the work area is versatile, that’s going to help even more. Although they might not know it when they apply, make sure any candidate you interview is aware of how versatile the space is and what they could do in it and with it if they were to get the job. If you then offer them the role, they’ll be more likely to accept it - no employer wants to go through the process of reading resumes and cover letters, narrowing things down, interviewing people, and then have the person they’ve decided was best for the job turn it down; that’s a waste of time because you’ll have to start all over again, and it makes finding someone else even harder because they’ll have to match up to the person you hired first. Ensuring that your business is a place people want to work is therefore crucial, and although company culture and a fair salary will also come into it, a versatile office space might just tip the balance in a positive way. 

Cost-Effective 

Finally, one more great reason why it’s good to have a versatile office space is that it’s cost-effective. If you only have to pay the rent on one space, that’s clearly going to be less expensive than if you had to pay the rent on your office and also on a storage unit, on a meeting room, on gym membership, and so on. If you can include it all in one space and only have to make one payment, the money you save could go into all kinds of other things - including making your one and only office space into the very best and most versatile space it can be. 

All in all, a versatile office space is worth its weight in gold and should not be underestimated.