Making the workspace more inspiring – Crew

The majority of people know what they don’t want to see at work - lackluster, uniform spaces where ideas go to die! Employees are seeking spaces that evoke a sense of belonging and personal connection, where they are inspired to come into work each day with bespoke furniture solutions and progressive office layouts which help them to do their best work.

In fact, a recent study of global office workers found that although 77% of people have their own assigned workstations, the vast majority of employees (87%) spend between 2-4 hours every day working elsewhere. People want access to a range of settings that support different needs throughout the day — collaborative meeting spaces, private places where they can concentrate and focus, or just an escape from working in the same place during their day, whether they’re alone or with others.

Younger and older generations are both in agreement. Everyone likes informal spaces in the modern office environment and uses them regularly, but for different reasons. Informal breakout spaces tend to be used by millennials as a place for privacy where they can plug in their laptop or tablet to do focused work, while older generations use these spaces for collaboration and socialising.

The cost of office distractions

Every 3 minutes —that’s how often it is estimated that we are distracted at work. People are bombarded with distractions – phone calls, emails, social media notifications, noisy co-workers to name a few. Recent research from the University of California has found that once somebody’s attention has been breached, it can take as long as 23 minutes for the mind to return to what it was focused on.

The rise in popularity of the open plan office has contributed to these constant work disruptions and people are becoming so accustomed to these interruptions that our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. Gallup’s State of the Workplace study found that disengaged workers cost the UK economy between £45-63 billion every year!

What can also happen in the open plan environment is that workers may feel the need to be painstakingly quite if nobody else is making noise. This can be a distraction in itself and this ‘library effect’ negates all of the benefits of the open plan office which is designed to encourage collaboration and teamwork with accessibility to other working groups.

There is no single type of optimal work setting to suit all employees. Instead, it’s about balance. Achieving the right balance between working together and working in private is critical for any successful business. Companies that don’t provide workers with the types of spaces they need to manage the demands and intensity of work will find that this can have a negative impact on employee wellbeing.

Finding the right balance

With people working longer hours and getting pulled in so many different directions, it’s imperative that employers find the right balance to reap the benefits of highly engaged and highly satisfied workforce, whilst at the same time protecting people’s wellbeing and helping them feel at home in the workplace. Nearly 50% of workers report that they’ve missed time at work because of job related stress and 61% say they’ve become physically ill, which is having an impact on engagement, turnover and job performance.

People in leadership roles contend with tremendous stress in their high intensity jobs which takes a high toll mentally and physically. They’re required to manage and consume large amounts of information, man-manage their teams and make critical business decisions, quickly re-setting their minds for each new circumstance. And it’s not just managers – everyone is experiencing greater intensity in different aspects of their work.

As a leading office furniture manufacturer, Dams are constantly developing new concepts and products, incorporating intelligent design and innovative thinking to create distinctive, high-performance furniture solutions to transform the workplace so people can be healthier and happier as their work intensifies.

This is why Dams have developed the Crew table and bench solution which allows employees to quickly shift between different tasks – to gather, dine and work – all in a compact footprint that works in any breakout space, meeting room, dining area or open plan office environment.

For collaboration, work, or break times

Available in a number of sizes, shapes and wood finishes, the Crew table and bench combination provides the perfect answer for a less corporate modern office and promotes a more social aspect to the working day. The solid wood frames can be stained black, white or oak, with table tops available in a choice of laminate colour finishes for a personalised touch in any workplace.  Colour has a major impact on people’s emotions and how they act, so it can certainly be used to deliver an inspiring office.

Add the stylish finishing touches to any office, canteen, meeting room or breakout area with the fabulously chic Crew chair, stool and bench. This universal and timeless upholstered seating range features an integrated seat pad for added comfort and is set on slanted solid wood legs to deliver a combination of form, function, comfort, detail and aesthetics. Coordinate the look with the matching Crew table or have a bit of fun and mix it up a little.

With its simplicity of form, combined with modern connectivity points, Crew tables provide a more modern, intelligent approach to table solutions that provide teams with the tools they need to work together without disconnecting them from their environment, while at the same time having a space for those impromptu, informal meetings, and a place for dining and socialising.

Create a better experience

The working day is becoming less predictable and the demands for more creative furniture solutions have increased. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that businesses which offer more casual, inspiring, and more inviting workspaces, both to employees and to any visitors, are perceived as being significantly more progressive than those businesses who don’t.

We’re all spending more time connecting, collaborating and socialising with others, but we also desperately need some time alone. Companies that invest in furniture solutions to make the workspace more inviting and implement this balance will increase employee wellbeing and encourage individuals to work and interact in a manner best suited for their tasks and moods – even taking into account our short attention spans!