Tag : panel extenders

The benefits of improving employee creativity often speak for themselves. However, you are constantly on the look out to see what else can be done to keep the momentum going. One way is by purchasing office panel extenders to fit on top of your existing cubicles, so distractions can be better controlled when employees really need to focus. Although they are still sharing the same office, when each worker feels as if they have their own personal space, this can provide a sense of motivation and keep them doing their best work. Let’s see the ways these extenders can give them that added creative spark. Studies show:

• First: that perceived control can moderate stress reactions (Glass & Singer, 1972). This means that even if every employee in that office space is under pressure and inundated with work, these panel extenders give them control over their own cubicle, that one space they feel is their personal zone. This provides more focus on what they need to do in order to get the work done. Sure, they may look across and see how their co-workers are faring and can communicate when needed but, researchers find that the ability to control one’s own environment has a significant impact on personal satisfaction. And, a more satisfied employee can block out the stresses of others and focus on their own creativity.
• Second: these panels can even help during cold and flu season! As most employers know, this is the time of year when offices are half empty or full of people who are ill. 1-in-4 U.S. employees go to work sick and with this open-work space, colds can get passed around quickly. How can someone possibly be at their creative best when they feel bad or are so sick they have to miss several days of work? Cubicles do provide some protection because employees can isolate themselves better but, these panel extenders offer an added barrier that helps to safeguard them and keep the germs out.
• Third: creativity can be blocked because of one simple thing: noise. The psychologist Nick Perham, published a study on Applied Cognitive Psychology, and found that office noise and confusion impairs workers’ ability to recall information and, can even have an effect on doing basic math. This is why libraries are so quiet; so people can think. In cubicles there is a measure of privacy but, continuous ringing of phones, loud conversations and other distractions can actually undermine employee motivation. It all comes back to control. Part of the reason office noise reduces motivation is because workers know the noise is going to be there but, feel as if there is just nothing they can do about it. This can be frustrating and unproductive if that’s all they’re really focused on. By providing office panel extenders for their cubicles, this gives them back part of that control because some of those distracting nois es will be muted.

A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology says that office distractions will make employees stressed and feel as if they are not working at their best. Add to this, a feeling of powerlessness in not having any personal space and, the fear of catching a cold or getting the flu; this can prevent them from being creative and is not a good way in bringing out their best. Providing your workers with office panel extenders for their cubicles is the best solution in giving them a sense of privacy and, help them stay productive and imaginative. To talk about this, please contact us today for more information.

As business owners, we all have a lot to learn from one another. If you want to get your finger on the pulse of the small business community, check out the Succeed: Small Business Network on LinkedIn. This group of 80,000 business professionals offers a wide variety of perspectives on just about any topic you can imagine. For example, here’s a snapshot of their opinions on open office design.

• If a job involves sensitive information, an enclosed office is a necessity.
• Open plans work best for people who are in and out of the office—not those who are there the entire workday.
• Closed floor plans require workers to schedule time together, reducing interruptions during the regular workday and potentially increasing productivity during meetings.
• Phone work (from cold calling to conference calls) is difficult in an open office environment.
• An open office may help with creating a team environment for large projects. It seems to work well for strategists and creative professionals.
• High cubicles that are reconfigurable would make a reasonable substitute for private offices—especially if they could be equipped with doors.
• Open office works best when coworkers need to interact face-to-face frequently throughout the day.
• Working with too many people around is distracting. Having a few people work synergistically together in a small office is better than having a completely open room with no divisions.

There’s one point of agreement: The best configuration depends on the type of work being done.

Can You Make an Open Office Work?

Open office layouts with no private offices and no cubicles can be very challenging. In the words of one management consultant: “An open environment is just an ad hoc meeting with no agenda or deadline peppered with interruptions, phone calls and extraneous noise.” If you must make do with an open office plan, here’s what it takes to help workers stay productive.

1. Encourage respectful social interactions. Lack of privacy is a big problem. When people are in each other’s business all the time, it can be an HR nightmare. Put reasonable policies and guidelines in place along with a mechanism to enforce them fairly.
2. If much of the work being done requires intense concentration, there need to be rules about “quiet time”. Or, give employees the freedom to seek out a quieter temporary workspace such as an empty office or conference room without fear of being reprimanded for not being at their desk.
3. Educate workers about introversion. Open office layouts unfairly penalize workers who aren’t “social butterflies”, even though excessive socializing isn’t part of the job description and actually distracts from productive work. Help employees understand that some people simply need less chit-chat to feel like part of the team.

If you’re really concerned about saving space, rethink why you want everyone in the office. Work that requires isolation might be done remotely. Consider letting some employees work from home or another location.

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!””

Did you know that open plan office layouts can create significant problems for workers? If you’ve been reading this blog, you’ve seen the arguments against it. However,  you need to read between the lines in some of these studies. Most people don’t know that in the early days, the term “open plan” was used for all office designs that didn’t have private offices with “real” walls – and that included cubicle floor plans!

Today, most people consider the term open plan to mean benching or other workstation setups that have low dividers, or even no panels at all. They use the term “closed plan” both for actual cubicles and for architectural walls that create separate workspaces for individuals, which can be deceiving as the average cubicle is about a tenth the size of a regular office and not at all the same thing!

An Australian study about the health effects of “open plan” offices compiled data that showed higher stress levels, elevated blood pressure, and more conflict in office environments where walls are lacking – meaning open office spaces caused problems! The doctor interviewed regarding the study said lack of proper physical barriers/boundaries was the problem, saying:

“The high level of noise causes employees to lose concentration, leading to low productivity, there are privacy issues because everyone can see what you are doing on the computer or hear what you are saying on the phone, and there is a feeling of insecurity.”

So how do you manage space constraints with cost effective employee benfits?

Since we can’t throw reducing the average office’s real estate footprint out the window, compromises have to be made. The main problems to be addressed when dealing with an office created with an open floor plan are, as noted:

• High noise level causing distraction and lowering productivity
• Lack of visual and audible privacy making workers feel stressed

Offices with little or no panel privacy are at highest risk for employee dissatisfaction.  Our panel extenders (which can be included with cubicle orders) could be a lifesaver – they can make cubicle walls taller and increase their noise blocking ability. This helps immensely with both issues, and could be the answer to all of your problems!

It’s time for the Friday Pick Me Up post – this year, we are starting out 2014 with a series of cool ideas for panel extenders, to make your workplace not only more efficient but more fun!

If your office is allowing flexibility in cubicle height and width, you may have a little more space to play around with your walls! Maybe an office contest is in order, to see who can be the most creative. Here’s one idea:

Create an underwater mural on your cubicle extender wall, with fish swimming lazily between corals and anemones. This works even better if you can create a background that enhances the deep sea vibe. Hang a pair of flippers or a snorkel rakishly from one corner of the cubicle wall and insist anyone speaking to you address you as Captain and sir. Reply “Aye aye” to any superiors who wander by and mutter to yourself about keelhauling whoever switched the coffee for decaf. At the very least you’ll be a shoo in for any prizes handed out on talk like a pirate day!

A bit too much? Well, you could simply hang cat pictures on your cubicle extender wall and call it a day… Seriously, what do you do about your own cubicle decor when you have higher walls to cover?

About 40 million working North Americans work in cubicles. Some like it, some don’t – and the correlation between those who feel positive about their workplace and those who don’t is directly related to how their workplace is managed, more than it is the mere fact of being a cubicle worker.

The modern-day cubicle has been formally denounced by the man who actually came up with the idea – Robert Propst. Cubicles were put forth by Propst in 1968 as a way to increase office productivity by providing personal work-spaces with plenty of shelving and increased work-surface areas. He hoped that this would help out office drones who were having difficulty with more open work-spaces that gave little storage or utility space and were so open distractions were common.

With cubicles, he felt, employees would have more room to work; partitions could be used to pin up projects and to provide the privacy that the earlier open offices lacked. Surprise – the original plan also called for adjustable desk levels, similar to today’s “newfangled fad”, with the idea that workers could benefit from the chance to spend some time standing up.

Overall, cubicles were supposed to be beneficial to the worker. After all, health can be largely dependent on your environmental comfort, which is determined by whether your immediate space meets basic physical, functional and psychological needs. A well appointed cubicle with panel extenders of appropriate height would give each employee space and privacy to work, without completely cutting them off form their fellows.

Sadly, economics completely screwed up Propst’s dream. Office space costs climbed, and instead of being focused on worker benefits, cubicles were used to maximize real estate. They became tiny and cramped, and designed to cram a lot of people into a limited area. Instead of being the flexible units that Propst intended them to be, cubicles became rows of cages, and the term “death by cubicle” emerged. TV shows, comic strips and movies made sharp commentary about cubicle life, pointing out that people were being trapped in boxes while being encouraged to think outside them.  Productivity fell, as did worker health, satisfaction, and stability.

But death by cubicle doesn’t have to be a thing. Cubicle panel extenders and a larger footprint can make cubicles worker friendly again!

Sadly, office cubicles don’t always have the best reputation. There are even movies about hassled, unhappy cubicle workers. Surely. however, this is not the fate of all those cubicle dwellers in the world!

Here are some of the reasons the cubicle manages to stay relevant, even with all the negative press – they aren’t just a cheap way for office owners to keep things running, they are actually beneficial for the right kind of workforce. You might be surprised how many workers prefer  the privacy of a cubicle compared to the chaos of an open office layout or the closed off feeling individual glass walls can cause.

Cubicles Actually Benefit Collaboration!

When you are in a glass office, it’s hard to bounce ideas off of coworkers. Low walls between those who work together often can make it easy to converse throughout the day, while cubicle height extenders can help those on another aisle ignore the conversation.

Cubicles Lead to Less Distractions

In an open office layout with no walls, it’s easy for employees to become distracted.  It’s not just the movement of people walking right past; its the music, the crackling of food packages, the phone calls and so on. Cubicles provide a much needed  level of privacy without undue isolation.

Cubicles Lead to Greater Productivity

Office cubicles offer a certain level of accountability, since managers can easily see who is working and who is goofing off. It’s an easy way to stay on top of deadlines, with less chance of people slacking off since they are in close proximity.

Cubicles Make Employees Feel Like They Have Privacy

Even relatively low walls can provide a sense of personal space for employees, and [panel extenders can increase that for those who need an even quieter workplace or who work on sensitive issues.

Cubicles Actually Foster Social Interaction

Employees are much more likely to get to know their co-workers in a cubicle setting, and can also control what interaction happens which contributes to a happier, healthier workplace environment.  People were meant to live and work and play together, and cubicles prevent complete isolation.

If your open office or glass walled office layout isn’t working well, you might consider using cubicles and panel extenders to create a more fluid workplace, where everyone has the space they need and no-one feels overwhelmed OR cramped!

Is your cubicle too dark? One of the top workplace pet peeves in cubicle environments is that the workspace is dim. Sometimes this is due to lighting; causing eyestrain as workers peer at computer screens. In other cases, the lighting isn’t the issue – it’s a deeper problem.

One solution is to drop cubicle walls, allowing more natural light from far away windows to reach each workspace; another idea is to use panel extenders to provide a higher wall so a small light can be installed, providing each worker with the amount of light he or she needs.

Other tips can include using cubicle partitions that help reflect light, teaching employees how to alter brightness and contrast on their monitors, adding space to cubicles by expanding their footprint, and allowing employees to decorate their offices – sometimes dark and gloomy is just a perception, and a little change is all that is needed to fix a negative view. Panel extenders can help here too – allow workers to indicate how much privacy they need and how much open air head-space.

How does your office deal with cubicle gloom?