If your job description includes “other duties as assigned,” you can be sure that a significant part of your job will be other duties, possibly outside your experience and expertise. This is the fate of many professionals tasked with managing infrequent projects such as remodels. As employees increasingly return to the office, tech companies are finding a need to remodel to expand capacity, encourage collaboration, increase engagement, and simply compete with other employers with cool spaces that reflect the company culture.
If you’re the project manager assigned to the design and installation of an open floor plan, the first thing you should know is this: Help is available. At MojoDesk, we offer the free assistance of experienced salespeople and degreed interior designers who understand the needs of tech companies. We’re ready to work with your budget to help create a healthy, attractive space that complements your workflow, enables collaboration and creativity, and increases morale and productivity.
That’s a lot to promise but we’ve proven our ability for decades. MojoDesk's parent company, Xybix, has been designing and building sit-to-stand ergonomic desks since 1991. Our shared design team helps manage projects for clients such as the Mayo Clinic, FBI, CIA, and FAA along with thousands of 911 dispatch centers across the United States and Canada.
Read on for details and best practices for designing and installing an open floor plan office. You can find a handy checklist for your project at this link as well.
Before you start planning your project, establish a goal—ideally, a goal related to people. People are the No. 1 asset of any tech company, and you want to keep them healthy and motivated for peak creativity and performance. Even if you need to remodel to fit more people into a space, your goal should be to create a space that is better for people to work in.
At MojoDesk, we believe it all starts with the desk—each person’s home away from home for the 8 to 12 hours they’re in the office. But we also know that many factors come into play—layout, colors, lighting, partitions, and more—and they all need to work together to create a productive workplace.
Open floor plans—that is, tearing down the walls—came about in the 1950s and 1960s for both aesthetic and political reasons. Clean, open spaces look cool, encourage communication and collaboration, and discourage top-down hierarchy. Plus, without offices and doors, you can fit more people into the same space.
Due to the lack of privacy and quiet spaces for concentration, however, open floor plans began morphing into cubicle farms. Inexpensive and customizable cubicles were popular with management but deplored by employees who felt trapped in a maze of small noisy spaces. By the 1990s, as computers got smaller, people were less tied to desks and open offices started overtaking cubicles.
Today, nearly three-quarters of modern offices prefer open floor plans in the belief that fewer divisions foster the spontaneous interactions and collaboration that enhance productivity and lead to creative solutions. In addition, open floor plans can provide tech companies with a competitive edge in recruiting. According to Ingenuity General Contractors: “Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos know that ‘cool’ offices aren’t just fun, they are smart business. These modernized, mostly open spaces aren’t just designed to look good in brochures and magazines (which they do). They’re also important to attract top talent—and help employees perform at their best once they’ve been hired.”
Today, practical considerations temper the open office floor plan. Over the last decade, we learned that people still need quiet spaces for concentration and private spaces for confidential work and communications. During the pandemic, we learned about social distancing. And as people are returning to the office, we’re learning about hybrid work and hot desks.
All these new considerations mean you’re no longer thinking about a 1:1 ratio of person to desk—so you can actually purchase much cooler desks for those you do need. You may need larger community spaces such as kitchens, board rooms, and social areas, along with accommodations for privacy. As you plan your project, consider the following best practices—and don’t forget that help is available!
Take a look at just two clients who trusted us with significant projects—Globus and Edison Interactive. Both companies appreciate the innovation and quality of MojoDesk along with the expert service provided by our designers.
When the travel company Globus need to reconfigure its offices to fit more people while still offering privacy, Facilities Manager Mark Liveris turned to MojoDesk. “We bought 175 MojoDesks in three different phases, doubling our capacity,” says Liveris. “We also added storage, acoustic panels, and cable management. I would recommend MojoDesk for any of our future needs.”
Software company Edison Interactive relied on MojoDesk to help remodel an open office for 30 engineers. “Most of the time, I love to be able to stand and get all my work done,” says Curtis Evans, Director of Sales, who recommends MojoDesk for anyone who sits at a desk all day, whether working from home or an office. Evans appreciates the quality compared to typical office furniture: “The composite material these are made out of is much more durable it stays cleaner. It just feels like a much higher quality construction.”
Ready to Get Started?
We’re here to help! Reach out to us at MojoDesk to learn more. Call us at 800.297.6656 from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Mountain Time or complete this informational form.
Resources
PDF - Remodel Project Management Checklist
Call Centers - Open Floor Plan
Productivity - Open Floor Plan