Back to Business: Designing an Open Plan Office

Open plan offices are once again back in fashion and it’s important that you do what you can to make them vibrant, productive and, above all, pleasant places to work. How you design your open plan office says a lot about your company – about how it approaches its work and how it perceives its employees. For that reason alone, it’s worth putting in the time and effort to get it right.

Here at Mogo Direct, we have year's of experience supplying office furniture and fittings to businesses across the UK for their open plan offices. These are some hints and tips on how to make the most of the space available to you.

Furniture

Of course, a major consideration will be how your team is arranged around your open plan office. By using wave-shaped desks you can optimise the space in your open plan office, whilst providing plenty of desk room for your team’s equipment, stationery, and personal items. If your office runs a clear-desk policy, you may prefer desks with attached pedestals to store paperwork and equipment overnight.

Dividers

While your office may be open plan, you sometimes need to place dividers between your employees. This could be for several reasons, including to protect staff against airborne germs when working in close proximity, or for added privacy between desks, particularly if your business deals with sensitive data. At Mogo Direct we supply both clear plastic dividers to solve the first problem and foam-padded fabric dividers to deal with the second.

Break Out Areas

With an open plan office, it’s important to differentiate between your employees’ work space and rest space. Break out areas are great places for your team to take five, whether for a short tea break, an informal 1-to-1 meeting, or a designated lunch. Make sure your break out areas are furnished for comfort. Whether you favour soft, multi-coloured stools or luxuriant leather sofas and armchairs make it somewhere your staff can genuinely take a break.

Board Rooms and Meeting Rooms

Some open plan offices have designated areas for meetings, sometimes cordoned off with baffles for better sound absorption. These areas rarely include computers or telephones, so don’t need the same desk and seating set-up as the rest of the room. Specialist board room tables work better and have the benefit of being easy to move or rearrange depending on the number of attendees.

However you choose to fit out your open plan office, Mogo Direct has all the office furniture and accessories you need to complete the job. Visit our online store today to view our office furniture, and order online to benefit from fast delivery times across the UK.