Collaboration, engagement, and increased productivity are a few of the positive effects that office neighborhoods can bring into the workplace. These spaces allow employees to choose how they wish to work daily, opening space for positive encouragement and communication. During a time when team collaboration is essential in the workplace, particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic when the opportunity for teamwork was interrupted, office neighborhoods can restore interaction by providing a dynamic and flexible environment that motivates real-life connections.
What are office neighborhoods?
Office neighborhood layouts provide open-plan shared spaces for employees who need to work together by combining traditional office spaces and collaborative and flexible layouts. In these spaces, you can find private areas like quiet zones and individual rooms or more synergic areas designed for team meetings and collaboration. This motivates employees to work together, but they also have the choice to work individually when desired.
Office neighborhoods have proven to be very beneficial for companies and businesses that wish to increase employee engagement and reduce costs. Here are some of those benefits:
- Happy and involved employees
It is essential for employees to feel comfortable in their work environment to maintain a positive attitude in the workplace. A positive attitude tends to be correlated with engagement and drive for creativity and productivity. If one employee feels this way, it will soon spread to their other coworkers.
- Less office space cost
With fewer individual and permanent desks, office space can be used more wisely which helps not only reduce inventory costs but also evaluate real estate costs more efficiently.
- Productivity
By providing employees with a more efficient seating layout that makes sense with their needs or the needs of their team, they will be more efficient when getting work done. Ensuring that they have the proper equipment and office space they need to work without being interrupted pushes them towards a workspace free of distractions, therefore increasing productivity.
- Learning opportunities
Being surrounded by people that work openly and collaboratively allows for communication within similar or different departments, which provides a well-rounded learning experience for all employees.
- Employee retention
Happy employees lead to less employee churn. Allowing employees to have more flexibility in the way they choose to work generates employee satisfaction which leads to loyalty to their company.
