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Good Office Design Can Encourage Collaboration among Workers

Posted on 10. Sep, 2009 by Ryan A in Collaboration Biz

The prevailing design aesthetic of office spaces, being pioneered by companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter, are proving that an open and cubicle free work environment promotes efficiency, increases group work productivity, and improves employee morale.

Facebook’s New Office:

You won’t find any cubicles in Facebook’s new 150,000 square-foot office in Palo Alto, California. The interior is wide open, with a warehouse look. The design firm Studio o+a consulted employees to find out their expectations about the work environment and what they desired their space to look like. This led to many different designs across departments, based on their individual needs and tastes. Many of the walls were left blank, in order to encourage employees to further customize their space.  The overall feel is casual and relaxed, with plenty of areas to unwind away from a computer.

Inside Twitter’s Office:

Twitter’s office, located in San Francisco, California, is also very open and casual. Desks populate the edges of the open space, with a few closed offices and meeting rooms built in the center.

The above photos are courtesy of Caroline.

The Legendary Googleplex:

Google, one of the original leaders in progressive office culture and design, has an incredibly unique office space. It is no secret that the working days are long. However, Google’s office design helps keep their employees motivated and productive. (Not to mention the food!)

Office design plays a huge role in the level of collaboration and productivity of a company’s employees. While digital solutions to increase teamwork and improve transparency are definitely a necessary step, business leaders should not overlook the importance of creating a work environment that supports collaboration and is designed to improve productivity. Studies completed by Bosti Associates, a research-based analysis firm, found that the workplace environment, including air quality, lighting and acoustics, aesthetics and ergonomics, significantly impacts employee satisfaction and retention rates. Is there still a place for closed offices and cubicles to exist in the workplace? Or, are those designs relics of previous generations?

What do you think?

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Tags: Collaboration, office space