In today’s modern world, the rote cubicle setup found in your parents’ office is a thing of the past. Office environments in 2020 have to be designed for various tasks and responsibilities for the staff within them, with assigned spaces becoming less and less important while dynamic, results-driven practices are all the rage – an overall theme known as ctivities-based working.
At New Life Office, we have numerous office furniture items that will help you achieve an activities-based workplace, from office desks and cubicles to dedicated workstations and many other items. Let’s go over some of the basic tenets of activity-based workplaces, including their defining qualities and the “touchdown spaces” often call for within the office.
Activity-Based Workplace Basics
As we noted above, activity-based work is a format that allows employees the choice of their work setting based on their comfort level, the work they’re performing and other factors. Instead of simply completing everything at the same desk space, employees in activities-based workplaces often move around throughout the day, using various settings within the space to accomplish tasks.
Activity-based workplaces are becoming more and more popular as today’s workplace focuses on on-demand services. Assigned spaces in offices are going unused for longer and longer periods as companies look to maximize productivity in natural ways.
Defining Characteristics
There are four defining qualities of a given activities-based workplace:
- Versatile design: Several space types will be present within one office, from a quiet focus area to a larger conference room for meetings and group brainstorming sessions and everything in between.
- Cues: Activities-based workplaces will have obvious cues for certain spaces or areas. Study areas will be quiet, both from a noise and design standpoint, while public areas will be more vibrant and have open layouts.
- Reinforcement: As employees become familiar with the activities-based workplace, both they and managers reinforce the value by utilizing spaces in their optimal manners.
- Learning: Through each of the above, employees and managers alike are able to learn more about efficient processes and how to engineer the workplace.
Touchdown Spaces
One particular space that’s vital for any activities-based workplace is the touchdown space, generally an informal location where multiple team members work collaboratively. Touchdown spaces will generally feature open floor plans and the ability to house several employees and their laptops, plus potentially modular workstations for specific assignments. These spaces can be used when needed, then left when employees need to move to other areas of the workplace to complete other projects.
For more on activities-based working and how to set up your workplace to fit this model, or for information on any of our office furniture for sale, speak to the staff at New Life Office today.