A startup office space is more than a few desks and chairs. The design of a workplace directly impacts productivity, motivation, and workflow for the entire team. Not to mention, it sets the tone for visitors experiencing your company culture for the first time. As you can see, how you design your startup office space is crucial to the success of your company. We are here to help you do it right with this guide on how to design a productive startup office space.
Startup Office Space Design Tips
Your startup office is essentially a homebase for your company to launch, grow, and innovate. Therefore, it is important to ensure that your office space is designed to support your company’s goals and serve as a comfortable yet inspiring launchpad for you and your team.
Plan Design Around Your Startup Culture
Your startup’s company culture extends beyond the way you and your team interact with each other. Structuring your office space around your company culture helps to maintain the values and intentions you have set forth for your company.
For example, if your company culture is geared toward building community, setting aside a space in your office to encourage connection, such as a sitting area or separate breakroom, could be beneficial.
Make Your Startup Office Design Flexible
One of the best ways to spark new ideas and increase innovation is to allow the office design to be flexible enough to allow for change. Whether that is as simple as leaving room for desks to be repositioned or allowing your team to add to the overall character of your space by introducing art, plants, or other objects.
Think About Your Employees and Clients
The feeling that is evoked by a space can establish the mood for the workday. An office space that is geared toward productivity while maintaining a pleasant atmosphere is going to positively impact your team.
Moreover, when clients, investors, or other outside parties visit your office space, how will they feel? It is important that your space conveys not only the intentions and values of your company but also sets the tone to inform better communication and healthier relationships.
Accommodate Different Work Styles and Teams
There is no doubt that your team will work better if their needs are being met. Providing an office space that accommodates different work styles and teams ensures that you are creating the most positive work environment and, in turn, developing a more productive workflow.
A good example of this is not having assigned desks or office spaces. Many workers are more comfortable if they have an assigned desk or office space that they can come back to every day. In many cases, employers who enjoyed the concept of open seating found that employees were more likely to return to the same space every day.
Consider an Open Layout
A collaborative workspace encourages employees to bounce ideas off each other and get comfortable with their team. Open layouts support this concept by making it easy for teams to connect and collaborate.
Include Common Spaces
A community kitchen, conference rooms, and break rooms are all examples of common spaces that can be enjoyed by the entire staff. These spaces are especially important because they provide an open space for every team member to utilize and connect with people they wouldn’t typically connect with. Moreover, it gives employees an alternative to their normal workspace to clear their minds and reset.
Make Your Startup Office Eco-Friendly
With sustainability at the forefront of many people’s minds, eco-friendliness is another consideration to make when designing your startup office space. There are many ways to practice sustainability in the workplace, and, fortunately, a lot of them are easy and free to implement. Some examples of eco-friendly changes to the office include utilizing natural light instead of turning on lights, putting plants around the office, prioritizing recycling, or providing reusable dishes for staff to use instead of single-use plates and cutlery.
