Mike over at cubicles.com has a really eye opening white paper about space planning for optimum workflow. It tells a story about an executive who decided to jump on the anti-cubicle bandwagon and do away with assigned workstations altogether. The problem is that he didn’t figure out if this was the right solution for how employees performed their work within his organization.

Plus, he didn’t fund the initiative properly. He figured since some people would be telecommuting he could skimp on the number of computers he made available on-site. This led to the predictable hoarding and conflict among coworkers fighting to get the basic tools they needed to do their jobs. That’s not even the worst part. With no fixed work places, people couldn’t collaborate on company projects – because they couldn’t find each other. What a nightmare! To discover how the whole debacle turned out, go check out the free white paper.

What’s The Moral of This Story?

One takeaway point might be to ‘try before you buy’. If you want to completely redesign your office layout based on the latest trends, consider leasing the furniture you think you will need. You can use it to test out your idea and see if it helps or hinders workflow in your particular company. (Hint: figure out in advance how you will measure the results or you could still make the wrong decision).

When your desk or cubicle lease is up, you can trade the furniture in for something different. With a month to month lease, you’re not stuck with anything you don’t want. It’s a good idea to limit the major changes you make in the office environment to keep disruption to a minimum. But it’s much cheaper to find out that your cool new office layout isn’t going to work when you can easily return the furniture. Don’t forget to get a no-charge space planning consultation too. At Cubicles Office Environments, we can help you avoid common mistakes and make the right leasing and purchasing decisions.