Workspace as Business Tool: Where should you begin?

Building a business is hard. Don’t make it harder with a workspace that isn’t functional and doesn’t reflect who you are. An interior designer can help create a space that works for your team, embodies your brand, and grows with your business.

A thoughtfully-designed workspace can contribute to the growth of your business if it reflects your brand, accommodates continual innovation, and offers flexibility as you grow. An interior designer can help you navigate how to fit all the necessary components (and your people) within your walls and create a platform for organizational commitment from employees and brand loyalty from your clients and users.

Interior designers are immersed in the world of the user. We experience an environment through texture, color, light, and balance. We focus on how each element will make the user feel and what we can bring to this space to improve function. We can help you figure out the most effective design for the best value.

These are our top three starter questions to consider when imagining your ideal work space:

  1. How do you work –
    • Do you thrive in teams to generate ideas or do you need more private spaces to pump out your deliverables? Is it both?
    • Are you opening your space up to clients and collaborators?
    • Do you engage in a culture of interruptions and break-out sessions?
  2. How do you learn –
    • Are your employees more self-made entrepreneurs or highly-educated professionals?
    • Do you want all your brilliant ideas out for everyone to see, or do you have more siloed information gathering?
    • Do you bring in outside talent or consultants to teach your staff?
  3. How do you grow –
    • Is your company’s expected growth exponential or are you trying to ‘keep it small’?
    • Do you out-source your production or is it all in-house?
    • Is there a desire to partner with other enterprises?

Ultimately, the answers to these questions not only help define your physical environment but also affirm the culture of your company.

An interior designer can determine how to vary the types of spaces in your office. Work stations and conference rooms aren’t the only places where conversations happen or where decisions are made. Creating spaces where people can huddle up informally to collaborate or socialize may be important to your business goals or your culture, so it’s critical to consider what type of space you need early. It’s important to understand how to balance open layouts and private spaces to get the best out of your team.

Beyond work stations and break rooms, there are opportunities to tell the story of your brand in your space. Your brand is in the details. It’s defined by the small things about your space that add up to the feeling people get or the image they conjure when they think of your business. Brand goes beyond logo: think color, imagery, and information.

No matter the size of your company, a well-designed space is one that is specific to your brand and allows you to reach your strategic goals, and interior designers can help.