Technically, an office is just a space for people to work together. Setting it up doesn’t have to be some massive undertaking that uses up a chunk of your capital. After all, with so much emphasis on hybrid and remote work, the office isn’t as dominating a place as it used to be.
CNBC reports that for the first time in 25 years, America is seeing more office space being removed than added. This is happening in the context of office vacancies being at a record high of 19% today, according to data from CBRE Group.
While it’s nice to have a swanky office for bragging rights, a functional office isn’t too complex. If you’re mainly focused on efficiency, then you want to focus mainly on a few core requirements. Today, let’s look at a few of these aspects in question.
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Access to High Quality Office Equipment
One obvious yet easy-to-miss aspect is how vital certain equipment is to any office. If you fail to stock the right equipment, business productivity is affected from day one. This is relevant everywhere, but particularly so in areas where new business growth is popping off, and you’re also dealing with competition.
Recent reports show that places like Miami-Dade County were officially designated the top destination in the country for small business growth. According to Eric Knowles, president and CEO of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, this is because of the many young college graduates moving into South Florida.
With so many new businesses starting up in these areas, simple office necessities like basic copy machines can become a bottleneck. This is why you see so much advertising happening for multifunction copiers in Miami. Copy machine companies recognize the need for high-quality machines that save time.
So, if it’s copiers, Accelerated Business Solutions explains that you’ll first want to evaluate a few factors before buying. For instance, what is the biggest size you’ll copy? What kind of print quality are you after, and how many pages would you be printing every month? Investing in other office equipment, like coffee machines or shredders, will also require you to answer similar questions, so be prepared.
Comfort and Culture Investments
Since work culture has seen a drastic change over the last few years, office comfort and convenience have become even more important. Previously, only employees working at the best companies had access to features and facilities that made the average person envious.
Free massages, food, gym facilities, and entertainment were just some of the features that the best of the best got to enjoy. That said, with so many employees preferring work-from-home arrangements, these QoF features are increasingly becoming good incentives to get people into offices.
Some CEOs, like Jon Race, understand the mindset that many work-from-home-favoring employees have. If you’re coming into the office, it really has to be better than something you had at home. Some of these office spaces even include rock climbing walls, napping caves, and access to music festivals.
As Doug Spencer, architecture professor at Iowa State University, explains, it sounds extravagant, but it’s still cheaper than giving workers a 10% pay raise. You, too, will need to decide how far you want to go with your new office. Do you already have a team of workers who are fine with daily office commutes? If so, maybe you don’t have to splurge too much.
Excellent Digital Infrastructure
Many new offices make the mistake of focusing on digital infrastructure toward the very end. They only start looking into things during the final stage of construction. The problem with this is that networking features should very much be considered early on, perhaps even during the design phase.
A bit of proactivity would make all the difference between an office space where WiFi signals have clear lines, versus needing to install multiple routers everywhere. Likewise, your wiring system needs to have LAN cables factored in because it’s not just computers that use them. Many other office devices also require internet, and the last thing you want is random LAN cables across the floor.
Besides these factors, you also want to remember that digital infrastructure also involves a degree of digital security features. So, take the time to look into essential cyber hygiene requirements, whether that be access control systems, authentication systems, and data backups from day one.
All things considered, a new office, whether you’re simply moving into one or building from scratch, is a big deal. When you consider that the necessity of an office space is being questioned by many, it makes all the more sense to make things perfect. If you’re someone who prefers to work with people face-to-face, then you really want to ensure your office has everything your team would ever need.
