Who would believe that you could save money AND increase morale? Although this article (Smaller Workspaces, Better Workspaces) is spread across five pages, the essential lesson is that strategic planning and out-of-the-box thinking can result in $1 million in savings over 10 years and simultaneously attain substantial morale boosts among office workers. One workstation, Allsteel’s Reach integrated storage system, is the subject of the article’s accolades. Employees were moved from 64 square foot workstations (8′ x 8′) to 42 square foot workstations (8′ x 6′) and actually had positive things to say (see the survey results in the lower left-hand corner). I was also excited to read the article because it showcases several prominent Chicago-area players: Huron Consulting (the tenant), Interior Architects (the project designer), and Henricksen (workplace dealer consultant).
Now, a cynic might say, “Sure, it’s easy for a huge user like Huron Consulting to get access to new systems like Reach, but what about the little guy?” Not everyone gets invited to their furniture dealer’s headquarters to inspect prototype systems, that’s true. However, it is cutting edge testers like Huron that enable smaller firms to explore how these similar systems could help their office increase efficiency.
After-blog mint: I’m excited to have discovered functionality in the NxtBook magazine system that enables linking directly to specific pages, which should serve to improve your experience as I comment on articles from The Leader.
Filed under: Chicago, Commercial Real Estate, Project Services, Real Estate, Workplace Integration | Tagged: Henricksen, Huron, IA, Interior Architects, workstation |
Corporate Real Estate 
Great article, Jacob. The link to the e-magazine proved an incredible resource on office design, “go green” sustainability, and increasing efficiency with the right office furniture. I recently wrote an article that touched on a similar vein entitled “Increase Productivity – AND Your Bottom Line – with Workstations”. (Link: http://cubeking.wordpress.com/2007/07/16/blog-article-2/ . )
Also, my company recently experienced a move to another office location. I have found that the attention we paid to our more uniform instead of motley, privacy-oriented, branded environment has already started paying off. I’m sure my productivity has increased – but the thing that does it for me is that the stress level has gone way down, too.
Thanks again!
-Scott Daly, Inroads copywriter
Scott,
I’m glad to hear that you checked out The Leader. It’s nice to get feedback, and to know that there is an active blogger on the office furniture side of the industry.
Nice to know that your stress is down, too. Nothing like improving employee morale.
Warm regards,
Jacob
[…] For a great example of how office furniture and space planning saved a company thousands of dollars and improved worker satisfaction AND productivity by tangible numbers, read the article mentioned here. […]