Cellular offices are common; they might not be as common as the open plan layout, but they’re certainly a mainstay of office design across the country.
If you’re not sure what a cellular layout is, it’s basically a series of smaller offices which run together. So, you might have three employees working in one small office, two employees in the small office next door, etc.
Whilst this is great in terms of security and productivity, it can be an issue when you think about energy efficiency and ensuring that everyone remains pulled together as a team.
When you add walls into offices, e.g. when you have walls between employees, you’re reducing the chances of collaboration taking place. This means that employees may start to form cliques or simply stick with those they work closely with, knocking down the idea of team spirit being formulated.
The good news is that you can grab the benefits of a cellular office layout and also boost team spirit at the same time, if you think a little careful and come up with some creative ideas.
If running low on suggestions right now, check out these four ways you can easily boost team spirit when you have a cellular office layout.
- Arrange regular social outings - Across your whole organisation, make sure that you arrange regular social outings. This could be everyone going for dinner once a month, a weekly meeting in the local pub on a Friday after work, or something else entirely, but the point is that you get everyone together outside of work and therefore foster the idea of working relationships being strengthened. Then, when employees see each there around the building, perhaps at the coffee machine or in the break room, they’ll chat and keep that team spirit going.
- Have weekly team catch-ups - If you want to keep everyone working towards a common aim, you need to ensure that everyone is up to date with what is going on outside of their small bubble of an office. A good idea is to have regular meetings around the modern boardroom tables, perhaps on a Wednesday morning as one idea. Keep this casual and not a formal gathering and encourage everyone to chip in with ideas and content.
- Have a large break room or social area - If you have an outdoor space, why not turn it into a break area so that everyone can gather on their lunch breaks and other break times? This means that employees who don’t work directly together will be able to sit and chat, whilst also boosting morale and team working.
- Celebrate special occasions, e.g. birthdays - In a large open plan office it’s easy to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions, but cellular offices don’t have to be a barrier to this. Make sure you focus on pulling the team together by having birthday cake in the break room or celebrating other special days throughout the year in a similar way.
- Have occasional team building days - Perhaps once a month or once every three months, have a team-building day away from the regular contemporary office environment. This gets everyone away from their office chairs and helps to boost team spirit and a ‘family feel’ to your business.
Cellular office layouts have their pros and cons but if you want to overcome the biggest - a lack of collaboration - then you need to focus on building up team spirit and encouraging employees to work together and build working relationships. These five suggestions should give you a few ideas on how to begin that endeavour and from there, the benefits will certainly start flowing in your direction!