Two of the biggest topics in the working world at the moment are returning to the office and work life balance. Since the pandemic shifted the majority of us to remote working, a large proportion of the working population wanted to carry on working from home. One of the main reasons cited for this was an improvement in work life balance, usually based around not having to commute. 

Therefore, to get people back to the office, these concerns need to be addressed or the office needs to provide more benefits to outweigh the perceived time savings that working from home brings. While work life balance used to be predominantly a time management argument, physical location is increasingly being brought into the argument. 

Here’s our advice on designing an office to encourage your team to return to the office, and to help improve work life balance for your team…

Create different areas for different tasks and working styles

Gone are the days where the open plan office is thought to be the best layout to suit everyone. Along with the health concerns around the design of open plan spaces, noise pollution is also a large factor when it comes to office annoyances. Giving your team a choice of where in the office they work, and creating spaces for different working styles, will provide more autonomy on how people complete their roles. 

Collaborative spaces can spark great ideas and enhance creativity - they also double as great high energy spaces that you can wow external visitors in. Quiet spaces can be great for heads down, focussed work and can often be an indicator to the rest of the team that the individual does not want to be disturbed. 

Create spaces for socialisation

One thing that remote working can’t replicate is the sense of community the office brings. Forget serendipitous encounters over zoom - you can’t schedule spontaneity. It’s even suggested that Microsoft designed its offices specifically to encourage spontaneous interactions. Not only does this help with work life balance - it also helps to broaden our horizons and break down generational and cultural barriers within teams.

The loneliness we all faced over the lockdown period was a big driver for some people wanting to come back to the office - and with increasing digitialisation, the office is one of the only pillars of the community left. Encouraging your team to interact will help to reduce burnout, increase smaller breaks throughout the day which inturn will increase productivity. 

Intuitive technology will make life easier

Technology became a lifeline for all businesses when the pandemic hit so the need to integrate it more intuitively in the office will help save time for hybrid workers. With a flexible workforce, where some people are working from home and others are in the office, having technology to facilitate seamless meetings will make life much easier. 

As we’re more reliant on technology than ever, our communication needs technology to be efficient. Also seamlessly bringing your laptop from home to the office, having sufficient charging ports and not being stuck to desktops will go a long way for your team. It allows them to work in the places best for the tasks they need to complete. 

Soft furnishing to increase comfort levels 

Having relaxation areas or break out spaces where your team can chill out and have down time will help with bringing in small moments of balance. As humans, we’re designed to work in bursts, not marathons, so sustaining focus all day isn’t realistic. Having the option to have shorter breaks away from the screen is a great way to keep energy levels sustained. 

Soft seating is also a great addition for welcome areas and receptions as it enhances comfort for visitors when they are waiting. 

If you have any questions around designing an office with work life balance in mind, contact us at furniture@fenns.co.uk