Office furniture design plays an important role in either enhancing or dampening the productivity and work-place culture as a whole. After all, a firm should choose a design that reflects the company’s values and meets the employees’ needs. All the greatest companies in the world have one thing in common: they care about their employees, the workplace and office design. There is no “One Design suits all” mantra as each company has its own layout based on their work-culture.

Here are a few things to consider while designing an office space.

1. Flexible and Dynamic: The age old cubicle and cabin design is slowly fading out as employees prefer flexible work areas which can be changed or modified as and when required. People wouldn’t want to be confined to one space area and prefer furniture that can be moved around easily. This flexible-work-space design is quite common among emerging start-ups and also big firms such as Google and Facebook.

2. Privacy Friendly Workstations: While dynamic designs are the latest trend and employees prefer open spaces, there is still a need for privacy. Offices are paying close attention to the needs of the employees and are hence providing enclosed areas where they can work freely. Semi enclosed setups let the employees work without any distraction and this can be chosen over the traditional dividers or booths/cubicles. In order to get more creative, one can place potted plants at certain open spaces to give it a vibrant feel and also enclose the work area.

3. Home Inspired: Who would not prefer to have a homely setup at their workplace? People who usually spend long hours would prefer this design as it gives a very home away from home feel. Furniture pieces like bean bags, a sleeping area, gaming room and console, lounge place to unwind etc. can help make the space more homely. Employees feel more motivated when there are factors which can help them relax and unwind.

4. Visual Reminders why people work every day: Employees would want to feel a sense of purpose when they reach their office every day. This could be done with the help of wall art, posters, creative messages etc. which can help nurture the company’s DNA as well as an employee’s well-being.

5. Technology enabled design: Millennials and the younger generation of digital-native workers are more conversant to technology then the previous generations. As a result they would prefer smart furniture which includes sensors with multi function capabilities. Advanced screens which can be integrated with the digital devices easily without much hassle would serve the purpose during meetings and conferences.

This brings us all back to one basic question. Which design should one opt for?  The answer would be to settle not just with aesthetics but also choose flexibility and comfort.  It’s important to work with experts in the industry, keeping your brand and office culture in view and thereby offer the best to your employees. Its best said – “Take care of your employees, and your employees will take care of your business”.