When do your best ideas come to you? Likely in your most relaxed moments. But how can this be integrated into your day-to-day work? How can workplaces be designed to provide employees with well-being and promote their creativity? We have put together a few answers.
Designing flexible workplaces
Changes in the world of work are pushing more and more companies to opt for a flexible working environment. Modern office concepts include open areas for communication, zones for concentrated and creative work, and quiet areas for relaxation. Different departments are thus able to work together flexibly. The ultimate goal is to boost the creativity of the employees.
A self-determined workplace promotes creativity
According to company representatives, the best way to promote creativity is to allow employees to decide for themselves where they want to perform their tasks. With digitization and technological progress, work is now also possible outside of the classic office, either at home or while traveling. This work flexibility is particularly popular with Generation Y.
Offices — spaces for living and working
Spatial design elements ensure that people feel at ease and can remain healthy and motivated as they work. This increases creativity. The work environment design should form a complete unit, which can be achieved through the use of coordinated colors and materials. Various spatial elements such as ceiling, furnishings, walls, pictures, floor coverings, and accessories must be considered as a whole during planning, in order to create a harmonious spatial concept. (1)
Acoustics, air-conditioning, lighting, and wiring
In addition to spatial design elements in an office, an important role is also played by the acoustics, the air-conditioning, the lighting, and the wiring of technical components. It should ideally be possible to alter the rooms quickly and easily to suit user requirements. Natural elements in rooms such as water and plants make the room more comfortable and have a positive effect on well-being. A view of nature helps to maintain a link to the outside world, while closeness to nature can also serve as a source of inspiration for new ideas. (2)
Technical solutions in the background
The requirements for modern workplaces pose a challenge: On the one hand, the workplaces need to meet very strict technical requirements, and on the other, design and taste must remain in the foreground. A smart technical implementation is possible with high-tech office furniture that can be integrated harmoniously into a neutral spatial concept thanks to its simple design. This brings about a perfect interplay between attractive appearance and cutting-edge technical integration.
Coworking spaces — meeting point for creative thinkers
Progress is never achieved in a gray, standardized workplace. Only places where the brightest minds feel at home and valued are able to shape the future. Coworking spaces adapt to suit the work as rigid workplaces leave no space for new ideas and approaches. Sharing ideas with other creative thinkers promotes creativity. The productivity-boosting premises can easily be rented. As a designer of the modern world of work, Design Offices, for example, has made its name with its coworking concept. The flexible spaces that are tailored to meet various challenges provide an inspiring work atmosphere for freelancers and project workers in particular. (3)
Varied workplace configuration
Configuring the workplace to promote health and creativity in the company is a highly complex undertaking, as each employee needs to be considered as an individual. Workplaces should not be furnished on the basis of a catch-all approach. Instead, the specific requirements need to be taken into account as well as employee’s specific tasks. A sustainable and thus health- and creativity-promoting workplace configuration is thus an important investment in the future. (4)
Tips on workplace configuration:
- No catch-all solutions: Take into account the individual requirements and needs as well as the particular tasks.
- Avoid monotony: Good ideas mostly come into being unexpectedly and after a change of location. It therefore makes sense to design different zones with different functions.
- Guarantee privacy: Employees should be free to change the design of their workplace where possible. Stand-up walls or workstation dividers provide some seclusion in group or open-plan offices.
- Keep comfort in mind: Create a comfortable work atmosphere where employees feel at home.
- Promote health: Design and furnish workplaces in accordance with ergonomic quality guidelines.5
- Technical furnishing: office furniture with integrated technology.
Cf.:
1 Mensch & Büro, Juni 2016, Nr. 3
2 www.business-wissen.de/artikel/kreativitaet-der-mitarbeiter-am-arbeitsplatz-buero
3 www.designoffices.de/new-work/design-offices-methode
4 www.buero-forum.de/uploads/media/10_Kreativ_Gesundh_08.pdf
5 www.hcc-magazin.com/arbeitsplatzgestaltung-kreativitaet-und-produktivitaet-steigern/9989/2