An open-plan workspace allows for communal activity, team neighbourhoods, and collaboration hubs that encourage group communication and unplanned interaction.
It also counters the problem of siloed or isolated employees.
But many workers find that an open-plan workplace brings an overwhelming level of office noise, an abundance of distractions, and far too much multitasking by default.
This is a red flag for businesses, because multitasking drives productivity down by 40%.
What’s the problem?
To enable more people per square metre of office space, the agile office has done away with walls to reap the benefits of open-plan working.
But without walls and closed offices to create privacy, there needs to be a smart furniture solution that can provide quiet spaces while still retaining the collaborative nature of an open-plan office.
Adding a meeting pod or a silent booth to your open-plan office is an affordable solution to create sound-proof spots or designated meeting areas in your workplace.
Quiet spaces improve employee happiness — and earn you staff loyalty, too
Employees may find it frustrating to try to work in what can be an overwhelming and busy open office environment. Having the option of a quiet space can improve their wellbeing and happiness levels.
This is worthwhile to note, because statistics suggest happy employees take an incredible 66% less sick leave, have higher motivation and morale, and are less likely to up and leave at the first opportunity.
Privacy pods dont’t just provide a distraction-free-zone – they also offer comfort and choice
Distraction-free working isn’t the only predictor of employee happiness; choice is a top worker priority in 2020, too. If organisations want to maximise employee satisfaction, they must create a workspace that allows people to have choice over where and how they work.
Our smart furniture solutions offer employees more agency over their own work environment.
The Framery O Booth not only provides a quiet place to get work done or attend a video conference but also is a comfortable environment, with temperature control, lighting, ergonomic seating, and power charging for your computer.
In fact, it’s so comfortable you can stay in there and work all day!
Silent booth are a safe, secure space for sales calls (or sensitive conversations)
Many conversations need to be had in the day-to-day running of an office.
Perhaps the sales team needs to make cold calls, or someone needs to discuss sensitive data or information about a client or a budget.
With an open-plan office, these calls and conversations can be difficult.
Our silent booths give the caller the privacy they desire by rendering the human voice almost inaudible. They also prevent other people’s conversations and chatter from being a distraction to an important call, giving everyone else the peace of mind they're not disrupting an important conversation.
For private conversations in-house, our meeting pods are carefully designed for the acoustics to direct conversation to the members of the meeting and shield them from the chatter outside.
It’s a win-win!
Meeting pods and quiet booths can drive up employee productivity
Sound-proof, climate-controlled, and comfortable meeting pods and quiet booths reduce distractions and provide a private space to get work done.
With an ergonomically designed seat and laptop table, office privacy pods like the Framery O Booth are a private space to work and be productive, and provide that much needed ‘cone of silence’ that so many open offices lack.
They are the perfect spot for tasks that require peak concentration — so that when you have a deadline to deliver a report in 3 hours you have somewhere to go to get it done.
An affordable addtition to your office that will grow with you
Meeting pods and silent booths are easy to move around the office or into your next one.
They create functional spaces that are simple to install, and are akin to adding a comfortable, climate-controlled conference room or private office at a fraction of the cost and inconvenience of an office rebuild.
If you’d like to know more about how you can implement meeting pods or silent booths into your office space, come and check them out in our showroom. Please call or email SmartSpace here.