Three Ways to Create Privacy in An Open Office Setting

The open office floor plan has been increasing in the workforce, but it certainly isn’t without its flaws. It does encourage more social interaction, it looks less like a corporate atmosphere, and everything is automatically more accessible. The key downside to an open office, however, is that when employees want or need privacy, it is hard to get.

Privacy is essential for when employees need to work and have complete focus on it. Employees find it hard to work when it is easy for them to see people walking around and hear them talking, among other things that can be distracting in the office. But here are several ways that you can attempt to provide privacy inside an open office floor plan.

Have Dedicated Quiet Spaces

Open offices can still be welcome in your company, but that also doesn’t mean that employees cannot have a place to go to work in peace and quiet. Creating a dedicated room or space outside the open office can give your employees another place to work in which they can focus on work without worrying about ongoing distractions.

That isn’t to say that these quiet spaces can be comfortable, either. For office system furniture Singapore, you can choose cozy chairs and ergonomic desks so that employees can continue working without any issues. If you do not have an additional room for this quiet space, use storage units and/or bookcases to separate this space from the rest of your office.

Add Elements of Nature

Along with new office furniture, plants and other greenery can also help to break up workspaces inside an open office. Plants can work to divide sections of the room so they can establish boundaries between two areas, but they definitely won’t get in the way when one employee needs to talk to another.

Studies have suggested that adding plants and other elements of nature in the workplace can significantly reduce tiredness and stress. As your employees are indoors for most of their day, they don’t often have the chance to go outside and enjoy the benefits that trees and fresh air provide. Other elements of nature outside of plants include stone, wood, and water. Yes, you can even incorporate water in your office in the form of waterfalls and small fountains; all employees once in a while are bound to stop to listen to the pleasant flow of water.

Color-Coordinate Sections of Your Workspace

You can also consider making sections of your workspace different colors in terms of new furniture and walls. Being exposed to a different-colored room can encourage more creativity and a deeper train of thought for many employees. Colors can also affect a person’s mood as well, so if you are looking for a room that can be calming, for example, you’ll likely want to go with blue or green. For a room that feels comforting and simple, a great color choice would be brown. There are plenty of other color meanings for rooms, but if you’re aiming for a room to help employees stay focused, you’d be limited to colors like blue, green, brown, gray, and off-white respectively.
Conclusion

Open offices are known to be sociable workplaces with the trade-off being that there is little room for privacy. To curb this flaw, there are many things that you can add to your office space to better accommodate employees who want to work without distractions. This includes color-coordinating your office and adding authentic nature to it. While remodeling your office, consider ordering comfortable and ergonomic furniture to maintain employee morale.