Tips for Planning your Space

Planning Your Space – Breaking It Down Before You Build It

Feeling overwhelmed about planning your entire space? Not sure where to start? The best thing you can do right now is break down your space into specific areas, defined by task, needs, interaction, and workflow. Once you've clearly defined what you actually need to do your job, deciding which furniture to purchase for your space is much easier. Here are a few discussion points which will help get you moving forward.

Zones

Think about spaces in your office where different types of work are done. For instance, areas for more independent, focused work verses areas that support collaboration. Decide how much time is spent in those activities and plan accordingly. If you see that 60% of time is spent working collaboratively, consider a space that has more space devoted to supporting that type of work. And vice-versa.

"I" Space vs. "We" Space

Define how work flows through your space. Does it make more sense for your space to follow the work that flows? For example, when employee A finishes work and passes it to employee B who movies it on to C, it might make sense to set up their workspaces in that order as well.

Public and Private

Consider the kind of internal and external client experience you want from the space. Is there a more public, shared area, likely to be adjacent to your main entry? Does it make sense to furnish this area to support meeting spaces, and move more private or individual areas to the back of the space? This would allow the external traffic to be toward the “front of house” and the internal traffic to be towards the “back of the house.”

Meeting Space

Do you need it? And, if so, what type of meetings will they be - polished presentations to internal or external customers, or work sessions? If your meets are more polished, then it makes sense to have a more formal or traditional space. If work sessions take place more often, its great to have a big table or area like a Campfire setting to collaborate together. If you're like most, do you need a space that could serve both of those needs with easy access to technology when called for? And, finally, how many people will you squeeze into the space?