Microsoft Workspace Sense
Looks like Microsoft is finally realising that custom workspaces is one of the keys to increasing employee productivity. Rather than assuming that individual offices is the only – and best – way to work they are now moving to a building design that can evolve with the needs of the team.
I like this idea, whilst I have never had the luxury of a budget that stretched to a personal office (except at home) I have always tried to:
- give team members input into their office design
- created environments that could be easily rearranged to suit the needs of the team at a particular point in time. We found we rearranged our offices at least every 3 months
- provided lots of different types of space, from quiet space, to ad-hoc meeting rooms, library areas, collaborative work areas and formal conference rooms
I’ve designed 4 Offices over my 20 years and it’s probably had more impact than anything else I ever did as a manager.
In the Microsoft Office design I particularly like the Atrium and the Coffee bar, but these are expensive and grandiose and you can do a lot even in the most basic of office buildings.
