Forget Tough Mudder. Collaboratively designing your office refurbishment is the absolute best in team bonding!

Office furniture, check. Wall colour, check. Flooring, check. Opinions of your co-workers?

Uh-oh. That’s not so easy to get right.

Somebody will always be hankering after a nice, quiet corner office while others (usually the boys) will yearn for a beer-on-tap, levitating desk type environment that’s the latest buzzword on cool. You can’t please all of your precious peeps, all of the time … but you can definitely optimise the dream office design so that everyone’s pretty chuffed with the results.

Here are five questions you should ask to get everyone on board with your dream office design.

#1: Where do you do your best work?

Everyone has a go-to spot in the office where they can escape from the chaos, dig in and get great work done. It might be their assigned desk, but it could just as easily be a conference room with a white board, a kitchen with a Nespresso machine or, ahem, the local pub.

If you’re an office full of nomads, then you might want to take away assigned desks and focus on hot desks and touchdown stations. They say that sitting is the new smoking, so it’s a good idea to factor in some standing desks as well.

#2. How helpful is it to be close to your coworkers?

Chatty types find that the buzz of people working around them stimulates their creative juices better than the office with its cubicle wall. Quiet lovers need sound-soaking private spaces where they can work without others interrupting their chi. There’s no war between these two extremes – it’s perfectly possible to design work areas for all personalities (cue the cheer from introverts!)

Speaking to your colleagues will give you a good idea of where to stop the pendulum swinging between a fully collaborative office and one that gives you a bit of privacy to study up on your animal GIFs. Use their feedback to create the right mix of stand-up tables, break-out room, libraries, outdoor spaces, nooks and crannies to achieve calm, tranquillity and focus.

#3: What’s your biggest workplace hassle?

You’re not afraid of the truth … so pop on your detective badge and figure out what it is about your current office that gets on people’s goat. Maybe there isn’t enough natural light, maybe there’s no space to relieve tension, or maybe your pinchy-clippy things are going missing all the bloomin’ time.

Make a note of everything, even if irritations seem unrelated to your office’s interior design. A savvy commercial office fit out team can fix of bunch of behind-the-scenes frustrations with a smarter layout for your office.

#4: What does your dream office design look like?

Who hasn’t shut their eyes and imagined their dream workplace? You might not be able to recreate a beach in Bali, but you’ll be surprised at what a London office fit out company can do to make each itty bitty corner into someone’s idea of heaven!

Whether you want a botanical sanctuary full of trees and plants to oxygenate the space (heavenly!), huge windows to maximise light, a freezer stocked with organic ice-pops, a place to put your feet up for an afternoon siesta, or a mighty fine hipster ship of swings and beanbags, we’re on it. Take a look at the office we designed above, complete with comfy sofas, a fully stocked bar ….. and a horse in reception?! Also, check out our Pinterest to see what’s possible.

#5: What do you want your office space to say about you?

Eight thousand hours – if you have an office job, that’s the minimum amount of time you’ll spend sitting at a desk over the next five years. So it’s especially important the space is somewhere you really want to be.

There’s an awesome statistic that 90 percent of what we perceive about our world, we absorb visually.
This means is that your co-workers will be much happier if the office includes colours, textures, light, views and graphics that speak to them on a personal level. We promise that it will leave everyone feeling relaxed, re-energized, and perhaps a little more Zen.

All for one, and one for all!

It’s easy to get carried away with glossy images when you’re designing a new office, but ultimately, it’s about creating a space that touches the hearts and spirits of your tribe. Listen to your colleagues, put them first, and your dream office design will become a reality.

Ready to get started? Click here and get a free consultation with our office refurb wizard, David.