Monthly Archives : October 2017

There’s a perception that Millennials have stormed into the office design world and demanded ping-pong tables, snack fridges, bean bag chairs and a litany of other office items once deemed too juvenile for the traditional office.

While some of those perceptions may be true, the fact is that the open office concept and the emphasis on comfort started at least 15 years ago with industry leaders like Google and Facebook.

What we find most interesting about the influence of Millennials on office spaces aren’t the stereotypes we read, but the hard facts about what’s actually changed because of their preferences.

To figure that out, we’ve combed through some research from leading business sites and found some very interesting observations.

A Renaissance of Thoughtfully Designed Furniture

In a May 2017 article in Forbes, contributor Sarah Landrum brought up an interesting dichotomy. Lucy Lyle, founder of furniture design company Perch, has started a line of thoughtfully designed office furniture that was, in part, launched specifically because of her dissatisfaction with Google’s influence over office design.

“If you want a pretty clear idea of how fast everything moves when millennials get involved, get a load of the contempt Perch founder Lucy Lyle has for Google and its decorating sensibilities,” Landrum wrote. “It feels like just last week Google was being held up as the gold standard for quirky, welcoming, happiness-improving, stuffiness-reducing, millennial-led design in the workplace.”

Rather than going for minimalist design, Perch focuses on creating beautiful pieces that function well, which is really no different than the original design for the office cubicle and the concept behind Herman Miller’s incredible office chairs.

That desire to merge anew the realms of form and function has created, Landrum said, a renaissance of office design.

“You might not be sold on standing desks just yet, but they’re probably the most visible example of this push toward ergonomically sensible and aesthetically attractive office design,” she wrote. “Turns out you can have it all.”

Movement is Making Office Life More Creative

Perhaps the biggest office news in 2017 is the forthcoming opening of Apple’s new headquarters in Cupertino. The company’s building has been likened to a spaceship; it’s a massive ring with a tree-speckled natural environment inside the ring.

One of the keys to their new headquarters and office life is the concept of movement, says Inc. contributor Jonas Altman. Rockstar Apple designer Jony Ive is behind the push for motion, carrying on an idea that he and Steve Jobs started.

“And what’s the chief emphasis for their vision? Movement. Whether it’s the quarter-mile hike to the office from the parking lot or climbing any of the four flights of stairs in the elevator-less ‘Infinite Loop’ – employees will be in perpetual motion,” Altman wrote.

What’s interesting about this setup is that it literally forces employees to think outside the box, and that decision is smart, according to research.

A team of scientists from Singapore Management University conducted a study in which they asked participants to solve word problems while sitting in a literal box. They then asked the same people to solve the same problems outside the box.

“Compared to those inside the makeshift box, those on the outside generated more correct answers, suggesting that the physical experience fostered creative thinking,” Huffington Post contributor Wray Herbert wrote.

A Few Final Observations About Modern Office Trends

It’s easy to get caught up in the most progressive, unique movements within office design. For many years, that movement was the open office concept. Its proponents hailed it as the ultimate way to encourage openness and collaboration for Millennials who value both.

As we’ve found in our own research, open office spaces aren’t the savior of productivity everyone thought they were. In fact, recent studies show that a lack of privacy leads to increased anxiety – each of us needs a certain level of autonomy to excel.

In terms of how you handle your desk spaces, consider this: Privacy screens and cubicle shields afford you the ability to modify your workplace on the fly, according to the needs of your employees.

Stop by our website to learn more about our products, which can help turn your workplace into a haven of productivity.

In case you haven’t noticed, open offices have dominated the American workplace recently.

In fact, one article from the BBC estimates that about 70% of American workplaces feature an open office concept. With that in mind, you might think it’s a little odd that we’re in the business of selling desk privacy panels and dividers.

Here’s the truth: American companies have seriously overplayed their hand when it comes to the open office movement. There’s an assumption that bringing down walls and removing private areas will promote the free flow of ideas.

In many ways, the open concept is a reflection of our society in general – the postmodern era not only brought down the rigid walls of modernism, but it also ushered out the popularity of walled cubicles and workspaces.

Open Offices Haven’t Increased Across-the-Board Productivity

Quoting a study by design firm Gensler, the BBC noted that “more than two-thirds of US employees are unhappy with noise levels at work.

“Already, workplace performance has dropped 6% since 2008, driven largely by the inability to focus,” the article read.

While the productivity decrease may have more to do with the onset of social media and fantasy sports, we do know that the overhaul of traditional workspaces doesn’t seem to be providing the results most offices hoped for.

We’re Starting to See Why Divider Panels Are Actually a Good Thing

History is like a pendulum swinging back and forth.

For a time, the pendulum of office design was madly charging away from walls and toward an open concept. That trend reached its apex around 2014 and 2015, and while it’s still the darling of office design, the pendulum is starting to swing the other way.

Take Microsoft, for example. In a 2015 article from the BBC, Pankaj Arora, a member of Microsoft’s Modern IT Innovation Group, said that there’s no question a private workspace increases productivity.

Before his team launched, they talked about the kind of office they wanted. They pondered the open concept but eventually decided against it.

“It was important to be able to hunker down and focus behind closed doors, but be in close proximity to each other so we could collaborate,” Arora told the BBC. “We never see the doors as barriers to communication, just as barriers to noise.”

Their solution was an elegant one. All cubicles had high walls to deaden sound and create privacy. Their office was a rectangle shape with cubicles lined up on the long sides of the rectangle, facing the wall.

If there were questions or collaboration was needed, all they had to do is push their chairs out from their desk and enter the common space between the two rows of cubicles. Arora’s team called it the “hallway of knowledge.”

Divider Panels Provide an Effective Middle Ground

There’s a big reason why the open office concept hasn’t led to more productivity – humans crave a certain level of privacy.

Psychologically speaking, having your own space gives your mind the spatial security it needs to think freely, be creative and focus on the task at hand.

Divider panels provide that space. What’s great about them in relation to the modern area of office spaces is that our desk-mounted panels can literally turn an open office space into a semi-private work area overnight.

Installing divider panels onto desks requires basic hardware and about 10-15 minutes. Businesses don’t have to worry about shutting down office operations or moving equipment out and back into their workspace. In many cases, our desk divider panels can be installed while people are working.

It’s not just about ease, though. The sound and visual privacy our divider panels provide give your employees the autonomy they crave and, as a result, their productivity will go up.

OBEX Divider Panels

Not only do our divider panels attach to desks that don’t currently have any walls or floor dividers, but they also easily attach to existing walls between cubicles.

Stop by our Products page and take a look at the various options we provide.

Yes, it’s that time of the year.

Business-focused website Inc.com has published their list of the top offices in the world and it’s another chance to get inside the workspaces of some of the most innovative and creative office designs on the planet.

What we like about their yearly articles on the best of the best is that they don’t just breeze over nine or ten workspaces. They get in-depth, launching more than a dozen pieces on various offices and design elements around the world.

In this post, we’re pulling a few of the concepts we loved the most, not only because they’re amazing, but also because we believe they can kindle some creativity in you.

The Castle Full of Bears, Star Wars and Employees

If you take a stroll through Gloucestershire, England, you’ll probably notice a massive Victorian castle and the steady stream of people going in and out of it.

Inside that Victorian castle is the headquarters of Money.co.uk, and what a headquarters it is.

The designers and architects the company hired brought a sense of wildness and modernity to the offices without sacrificing the traditional appeal of the castle itself. Bright colors and trendy furniture pieces sit alongside aged walls revealing the weathered history of the building.

Our favorite aspect of the offices? It’s a tie between the neon-paint splatter knight’s armor and the ice room, where comfy seating is couched in an Arctic setting featuring a giant stuffed polar bear.

The Moss Wall at LinkedIn’s Headquarters

Bringing the outdoors in has been a popular trend in the past few years, no doubt a desire to make the workspace a more holistic, natural space that doesn’t feel like a 9-5 prison yard.

The concept has produced beautiful office spaces in London, Lisbon and Stockholm, but we want to focus on a unique element of LinkedIn’s San Francisco offices: the fern wall.

The wall was designed by IA Interior Designers and features varying shades of moss swirled into circles. When you look at the living wall, you get the sense that you’re flying over a forest swirled with trees of different shades of green.

“IA Architects used different kinds of moss to create a living wall with more depth and texture than your average patch of grass,” Inc. wrote.

ByteCubed Gets Geometric in Virginia

The first thing we noticed when we saw photos of consulting company ByteCubed’s offices was the pervasive use of angles. Everything from the chairs in their lobby seating area to the designs on their wall to the company’s logo itself are replete with angles.

Perhaps our favorite feature of their Arlington offices is the cubby holes they’ve integrated into one of their office walls. The three geometric spaces include angled walls for reclining, soft recessed lighting and cushioned seats.

ByteCubed plays it straight in the dining area, where long white granite countertops, bar seats and picnic tables provide the perfect place for eating and meeting.

King’s Office in Stockholm Is So Much Better Than Candy Crush

King, the app maker who created the insanely popular sequencing game Candy Crush, has what could be considered the most incredible office in the world.

Located in Stockholm, King’s offices feature a “forest” comprised of silhouetted metal trees, carpeted “stone” terraces, pockets of fern and plenty of sunlight.

The company has even incorporated bean bag chairs camouflaged as rocks.

Here’s a sneak peek at this fascinating space:

Every New Office Design Starts Somewhere

Don’t get caught up in comparisons. Do, however, pull bits and pieces of each of these offices and consider how you can integrate these into your current office.

You may want to transition from full-blown cubicles to panel extenders that provide enough privacy for productivity and enough openness to connect with co-workers.

We can work with you to incorporate these changes. Head to our Contact Us page to send us a message or give us a call at 888-323-5126.

One of the questions we often get is how cubicle shields and divider panels are different and if one is better than the other.

Our initial response is that they’re different and which one you choose should be based on your office’s needs, what you’re trying to accomplish in your workspace and what your budget is.

But, there are more intricacies involved than just those general ideas. Exploring each of those topics – needs, goals and budget – will help you get a sense of whether a cubicle shield or a divider panel is best.

Cubicle Shield vs. Divider Panels: Your Office Space’s Needs

Take a minute to think about how your office is running right now and what each team member needs. Do you run a call center where space is limited and moderate sound reduction is needed? Are your employees handling sensitive information that requires premium noise reduction between cubicles?

We find that many offices are designed with space in mind but, in some cases, visual and auditory privacy is either forgotten or neglected. This is a mistake we often see and it’s easily remedied with cubicle shields or divider panels.

In situations where you need sound privacy and you have desks with existing low walls around them, cubicle shields are a good choice because you can easily attach them to the existing walls to add height around the cubicle and deaden sound.

If your office has more of an open feel and there aren’t walls around each employee’s tables, then a desk-mounted divider panel can provide a huge privacy boost and, as we’ve pointed out before, increased privacy leads to increased productivity.

Cubicle Shield vs. Divider Panels: What Do You Want to Accomplish With Your Workspace?

Many of our clients want to create a workspace with increased productivity and privacy. These topics go hand-in-hand because, as we mentioned in the previous section, studies are clear that privacy is a human need and that workers thrive when they feel like they have a certain level of autonomy.

We also know that traditional workplaces have a desire to modernize and, in this era of office design, open concepts are easily the most popular trend.

A lot of businesses hear the phrase “open floor plan” and automatically think of bean-bag chairs and free-form work areas with standing desks and community tables.

We believe that an open concept can be achieved with cubicle shields and divider panels because both are designed to offer enough auditory and visual privacy without disrupting workplace community.

Cubicle shields and divider panels provide a functional, effective middle ground between head-high cubicle walls and wall-less open workspaces.

Cubicle Shields vs. Divider Panels: The Cost Factor

One of the things that’s most appealing about cubicle shields and divider panels is that they’re affordable and effective.

Prices tend to vary most when you’re deciding between panels that provide visual privacy and ones that provide audio privacy.

Our fabric-covered sound-reducing panels are different than our other shields and dividers because they contain STC- and NRC-rated materials that absorb sound and prevent it from moving from one cubicle to another.

While the performance of our cubicle shields and dividers is among the best, our price points remain reasonable, making both options a good choice for your office.

Wrapping It Up: An Overview of Cubicle Shields and Divider Panels

Your office’s cubicles are an important part of how productive your team will be. The thought you put into your shields and dividers will either mesh or clash with your employees’ needs and your own vision for how you want your workplace to function.

Head to our Contact Us page to send us an email or give us a call. We’re happy to talk with you about what you want out of your office and how our products can provide a simple, cost-effective solution.