Everyone these days seems to be trying to go agile in their working environment and when you look at the pros of this particular way of working, you can understand why.
However, is the agile office space design the right way for your office to go, or could it cause more problems than it’s worth?
The problem is, there is no office layout or design which is going to suit every single business out there. Every business is different, their employees are unique, and the work they do requires special attention. You can’t say “this is the right answer” and expect everyone to adhere to it perfectly.
Before we go on, check out this video which talks about the agile working plan in a little more detail.
As you can see, the main idea behind agile working is that employees can work anywhere within the office and they choose where they work according to what they need to do on that day or where they want to be. That means there need to be certain zones in this type of layout, including a collaborative zone, quiet zone, breakout space, touchdown area (optional) and meeting spaces.
Now, from that list alone you can see an immediate problem - not every office has the space for all of those zones. You don’t necessarily need to tick every one of these boxes, but that is the ideal option to work towards. The agile plan will work with just the collaboration zone, quiet zone and the touchdown/break spaces, but not as effectively.
So, is the agile layout always a good option or are there downsides to the agile workplace that could turn out to be dealbreakers?
Of course, there are.
Everything in life has its ups and downs and office layouts in this regard are no different. It’s vital that you explore agile working carefully before deciding if it’s the right option for your office and if you have an open plan office layout already, do you have the space to tweak it further? Do you have the necessary office furniture or do you need to purchase new options?
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In addition, agile working isn’t just about a layout, it’s about a complete culture shift within the business. You’re moving away from a traditional way of working and you’re moving towards something completely different, something more innovative and forward-thinking. For that reason, and to avoid problems with morale due to anxiety, you need to manage this change carefully and consult with your employees to find out whether this is what they want to see happen in their contemporary office environment.
Of course, some offices are ruled out from the agile way of working from the get-go. This type of design really does need a large open plan office as it’s centre point and smaller spaces around it. If you don't have that construction-wise, you’re going be struggling. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t tweak it and add elements. Again, that's something which is going to change the culture of your space and you will need to manage that very carefully indeed. Do not make that change unless you’re sure it’s going to work.
However, the great thing about agile working is that it focuses on the employee and their flexibility and choice. It also ensures that the task that is being done is given full attention because employees are likely to choose a spot within the agile space which gives them the best chance of completing that task to the best of their ability. That in itself boosts productivity and job satisfaction.