Monthly Archives : February 2014

Friday fun means a joke with a hidden message – What? Yes, of course there’s a hidden message. We’re a company trying to sell stuff!

In case you’ve been looking at your current office space and trying to decide about your newest layout, panel extenders may be on your list of options. Will they work for your space? Let’s look at a few kinds of offices and how the work station walls affect productivity.

For many offices, the work process has become much more collaborative which has translated into more low-wall cubicles and even benching systems in the workplace. Many industry experts believe the taller wall cubicles or “Dilbert cubes” are on their way out. However, low walls or no walls isn’t feasible for all workers.

Benching systems are popular in Europe;  the absence of panels allows you to cram more people into one area, which can foster creativity and collaboration but be bad for employee comfort and productivity in some cases.

Cubicles with low walls (42″ high)  allow employees to see and talk to each other while seated or standing, allowing for a lot of collaboration, team work and creativity. However, they still don’t give workers privacy (although workers do have a more clearly defined “owned” space) and acoustically offer no help at all.

Medium height cubicle walls (53″ high) is the fall back option for many offices. Employees have more privacy and can be more productive. All they have to do to reach out to a co-worker is stand up. here is still not very much acoustical privacy, however.

This brings us back to high walls, with panels 65” tall and greater. This offers the most acoustical and visual privacy. This is ideal for some workers and jobs that require some privacy, and extreme focus, but is no longer considered ideal. They can make many employees feel isolated and cut off.

A blended solution is usually the best option. Panel extenders can help you customize each cubicle or group of cubicles to provide just the right amount of privacy while still fostering teamwork and collaborative creativity.

You can even create pods of sorts, with each team having higher walls around the perimeter of their section to provide them with a sense of privacy, and lower walls between team members for ease of communication.

Panel extenders can be the answer to your new work layout. Call us and ask for advice!

The corporate world has been steadily moving away from the office model and towards a more closely knit workforce for years now, and one thing we’ve learned is that cubicles CAN work – if done right. Panel extenders can be a large part of that “rightness”.

According to Forbes,

“…even a small distance impacts employee communication and collaboration.  Once employees are 200 feet away (or more) from each other, the chances of them talking to one another is virtually zero; you might as well have employees be hundreds of miles away. The point here isn’t to say that face-to-face communication is dead, because it isn’t, and we certainly don’t want to get rid of human contact (at least most of us).  Instead organizations need to implement more flexible work environments for employees to allow them to decide how they want to work.”

Panel extenders let you keep employees close to each-other while creating a privacy shield that gives each worker a sense of their own space. Most workers are happier and more productive if they have both the option to hunker down and blaze through a pile of work and the option to pop around the side of their cubicle for some human interaction.

For workers assembled into a team, who need constant interaction to be productive, lower cubicle walls provide the ability to make eye contact and speak to each-other without yelling. For workers who work solo, panel extenders can raise the height of their walls to create an area they can work uninterrupted in – without completely removing the possibility of human interaction during working hours.

Back to the Forbes article – the new generation of cubicle workers isn’t the same as the last generation.

“Millenialls are projected to be the majority of the U.S. workforce by 2020–just a few years away.  This is a generation that is used to being connected.  Millenialls grew up with social platforms such as Facebook , Twitter, and Google and they are comfortable sharing and engaging with people and information;  it’s a part of our daily life.  This is a generation that doesn’t know what it’s like to get 200 emails a day while sitting in a cubicle. Organizations need to adapt to this employee.”

Allowing employees some measure of freedom as well as the occasional telecommuting day, work out of the office day, and so on can make cubicles more appealing for when serious work needs to get done. Panel extenders can create spaces that aren’t shunned and which work well with the idea of flex space!

Ready for another great office joke? TGIF!

“The company where I work provides four-foot-high cubicles so each employee can have some privacy.

One day a co-worker had an exasperating phone conversation with one of her teenage sons.

After hanging up, she heaved a sigh and said, “No one ever listens to me.”

Immediately, several voices from surrounding cubicles called out, “Yes, we do!””

Do you co-work? This late to rise 21st century phenom of the temporary workspace is called by urban studies theorists the “fourth place”  for today’s workers. Such locations often serve workers who for whatever reason are not fully supported in the familiar spaces of the traditional office, work from home ? telecommuting gig or casual  “coffee shop” environment.

“Some even prefer to work around other people,” said Sande Golgart, western regional vice president with flexible workspace provider Regus. “They find it inspiring, they find it more cost effective and they find that they’re able to be very productive in that environment because of technology.” Golgart goes on to stress the flexibility of co-working space, with an emphasis on how good they can be for mobile workers who occasionally need a quiet space to reboot, catch up on items and take advantage of a recharging station.

Co-workers have a keen need for both socialization and privacy. They often aren’t part of a close knit team, where constant interaction is a must – rather, they are lone wolves who nonetheless want to co-exist in a pack setting.   Coworking space is often looked upon as the ideal answer for those who need a bit of “buzz” to be motivated and inspired, but who don’t necessarily thrive on constant direct contact with other personnel

However, simply adding “noise” to the equation isn’t what is looked for – not at all. In fact, co-workers normally cite excessive background noise and chatter as one of the two top annoyances at work! While solutions such as acoustic ceiling tile and wall coverings can provide a level of noise control, desk-mounted panels add another layer of protection  – and solve the second complaint, that of privacy issues.

Polycarbonate privacy panels work perfectly to provide both noise reduction and a feeling of personal space in co-working environments. They can be added to the layout at any time, from the conceptual stage by an architect, upon leasing a space by a facilities or floor manager, or as a redesign by an interior designer or efficiency expert seeking to streamline your office.

Could privacy panels be the answer for your co-working office space?

Office jokes are among some of the funniest out there, mainly because we’ve all been there. Here is one of our favorites:

“Two office workers are talking. The woman says, “I can make the boss give me the day off.” The man replies, “And how would you do that?” The woman says, “Just wait and see.” She then hangs upside down from the ceiling. The boss comes in and says, “What are you doing?” The woman replies, “I’m a light bulb.” The boss then says, “You’ve been working so much that you’ve gone crazy. I think you need to take the day off.” The man starts to follow her and the boss says, “Where are you going?” The man says, “I’m going home, too. I can’t work in the dark.”

Of course, a well run office doesn’t make employees look for any excuse to go home! Obex panel extenders can turn each workspace into a customized area for the designated employee, making them feel at home and comfortable. Think about ways you can make your office more appealing for your workers!

Oh, and share your funniest office joke in the comments.

Cubicles have one of the worst image problems of any office workspace layout. Memes and cartoons abound promulgating the idea that cubicles are drear boxes and many offices turned to open office design. However, it turns out cubicles are better than open layouts, especially if panel extenders are implemented, and here’s why!

According to recent research in Sydney, AU, almost 50% of workers in both open floor plan offices and cubicles say noise is the main distraction that reduces their efficiency and makes coming to work a drag.  Many point to the added annoyance of “lack of sound privacy”, saying they feel simultaneously irritated that every co-worker’s business – personal and work related –  is being aired in earshot, and frustrated that they have no expectation of privacy for their own phone calls or conversations.

There’s another issue. Around 30% of these same employes are bothered and hampered by the lack of “visual privacy”. Workers trying to concentrate on projects with a tight deadline can be distracted and slowed down by the constant bustle around them. Between the visual distractions and the ever increasing issues of noise cubicles and open spaces are both unhappy places to work for many.

Open office layouts don’t offer much of a chance for improvement. Cubicles, however, can be adapted for employee privacy, comfort and productivity.

Panel extenders are the first step you should take, they help in two ways:

1. The correct panel extenders can help muffle or absorb sound, reducing the need for workers to cower in their cubicles – hunched over their desks with sound cancelling headphones or earbuds jammed in to reduce distractions.
2. Panel extenders can also cut down on the visual distractions – and allowing customization as per employee preference can help improve morale. Those who need solitude to work well can opt for cubicle height extenders that raise their walls above the level at which a coworker can easily pop their head over, while those engaged in collaborative work can go for a shorter panel to facilitate back and forth.

Is your open office layout or low walled cubicle farm not working to your advantage? Consider making the switch to a cubicle format with panel extenders to raise walls and cut down on distractions!