Reasons You Should Give Up Your Corner Office
From the time a lot of us begin our professional lives, we find ourselves striving for that coveted corner office position. A long-standing symbol of importance, employees who have corner offices are often viewed as powerful leaders. However, the once-prized corner office might not be as beneficial as you may think. In fact, there are plenty of reasons you should give up that corner office and opt for a desk closer to your team. We’ve pulled together some key factors to consider when space planning in the workplace.
You Want to Encourage Conversation
Part of being an effective team leader is always being there to answer questions and address your team’s problems. This is much harder to do when you’re routinely shut away in a corner office. To best connect with your team members and ensure your culture remains free of red tape, you should be physically closer to your team and available when they have questions. Sitting closer to your team will help develop stronger relationships between leadership and employees.
Being privy to ad hoc conversations amongst your team will also ensure you stay in the loop with employees. Rather than being viewed as the boss, employees will let down their guard and speak freely about work and personal life. When employees and leaders are able to have casual conversations within the day—and when leaders are accessible—corporate culture is strengthened.
Team Collaboration is Easier
Skipping out on the corner office in favor of sitting near your team also makes collaboration on tasks much easier. Without the physical barrier of office walls, you can identify and respond to problems much quicker. More importantly, your team will feel more comfortable coming to you for help. You’ll be able to respond to simple questions quickly, which is a much more efficient use of everyone’s time.
Privacy is Still Accessible
Another important reason to give up your corner office space is that you don’t need complete isolation to get the privacy you may sometimes need. Many individuals crave a private office because they think this is the only option for having privacy within an open workspace. Luckily, there are many ways you can get the same sense of privacy at a workstation. When it comes to noise reduction, high walled cubicles and office dividers are simple solutions to offering privacy. Best of all, many of these options are non-committal—simply remove them when you don’t need them—offering the best of both worlds. Many offices leverage conference space for individuals needing a quiet room for meetings requiring confidentiality. And office phone booths are another way to offer a small, private spot with complete audio privacy when needed.
It Provides More Communal Space
For corner offices that aren’t in use, consider repurposing them into something everyone can take advantage of. Team members always need areas to collaborate or simply take a break with their peers. Eliminating the corner office gives you the freedom to add these resources. If you have the space and resources, consider morphing a private office into a meditation or wellness room for everyone to use. Repurposing the space can make your team much more satisfied with their workplace and improve overall performance.
The isolating environment of a corner office isn’t always the sanctuary many business executives make it out to be. If you’re looking to eliminate this space from your office, give Rework a call. Our full-service solution means we can help with space planning, design, and everything in between. With a diverse selection of used office chairs for sale and planning and design services, we can restructure your office environment into the space you’ve always imagined. We can’t wait to help get your project started!
