How To Make The Most of Your Workplace Social Space

We spend the majority of our day at work, so it goes without saying that at some point we need to take 5 minutes for ourselves. This might be taking a walk through the office garden, making a coffee with some colleagues, or having some quiet time in a modular booth, so make sure that your workplace social spaces offer your employees the respite they are looking for.

Social spaces are an essential part of a functioning workplace and offer all employees the opportunity to take time for themselves or to socialise and network with their colleagues. When done well, an employee-focused office design will drive creativity, productivity, and employee satisfaction but most businesses simply offer a cramped kitchenette and call it a day, so read on to explore our top tips for making the most of your workplace social spaces.

Lounge Areas

Whether you offer a hybrid work model or your team works full time in the office, comfortable social spaces offer a great setting for employees to collaborate on projects and work together without having to huddle around a desk or communicate through emails.

They offer plenty of opportunities for employees to sit together, work alone, or split their time between their desk and the lounge area, providing a much-needed change of scenery during those afternoon slumps. They’re also a good place for team activities to take place, such as icebreakers when onboarding new employees or weekly all-hands meetings, and encourage open communication between all parties in a way that boardroom meetings don’t usually facilitate.

Comfortable Seating

Your seating areas shouldn’t just look inviting - they should also be as comfortable and ergonomic as possible. Your employees will be able to tell if a seating area has been designed to get them back on their feet or back to their desks as quickly as possible, so invest in chairs and sofas that help them to relax and recharge as needed.

You will also need to provide plenty of seats in the kitchen to encourage employees to sit down and unwind on their lunch breaks. No one wants to be on their feet for longer than they have to be during the working day and it is little touches like this that will show your employees how much thought and care has gone into the office design.

Green Spaces

One key priority in office design is to include green elements wherever possible. As we’ve already touched on, office workers spend 8 hours a day inside a building, so it’s essential that you offer them opportunities to spend time outdoors.

If you are lucky enough to have a small garden (rooftop gardens in particular are a great way to make the most of the limited green space available in built-up areas), then you must keep it in the best condition for your employees and visitors with regular grounds maintenance services. These spaces are a great benefit for busy offices, but if you don’t have the room to make this happen then there are still a range of ways for you to bring elements of the outside inside by:

• Maximising natural light with full-length windows.

• Adding large, leafy plants to reduce stress.

• Creating green dividers with partition walls.

• Adding hanging baskets that don’t take up floor space.

• Giving everyone their own desktop planter.

Flexible Layouts

When designing a workplace social area, it is essential that you do not impose limitations on the space, and the best way to do this is to opt for a flexible layout.

You want your team to use the space available to them at all times, so provide them with a modular workspace that can be easily rearranged to accommodate different activities. This might mean removing tables to make room for extra seating or moving partition walls around to make sure that everyone can see the meeting leader, but it can also extend to activities that aren’t part of the usual working day, including office socials and parties.

Alongside this, the space must be accessible at all times and should always offer enough space for everyone to move around as needed.

Wellness Rooms

The main aim for any workplace social space is to support employee wellbeing and this will look different for every member of your team. Most of your employees will likely want to socialise and spend time with their colleagues away from their desks, but some employees might need total privacy in order to unwind and take a breather and your workplace design should provide them with this.

This could be a quiet room in which employees can exercise or meditate or a soundproof modular room that employees can work in without distractions. Depending upon the size of your team, you might also opt for a small multi-faith prayer room or a paternity room for new or expectant parents. Since these rooms will be accommodating your team it’s important to have a good understanding of their needs before starting the project, so ask your employees for their input when planning the new design.

Ready to talk to our team?

Now is the time to prioritise your employees and take steps to meet their needs every minute of the working day.

We work with businesses across the South of England to bring their office designs to life, so get in touch with us today to find out how we will help you to make the most of your social spaces.