GCUC Blog

Is todays office fit for purpose?

By Liz Elam On October 22, 2019 In Coworking•Sustainability•Community•Coworking Trends

Open concept office spaces are all the rage but you have likely seen the push back on them – they are noisy, they are distracting, they don’t work. But is that true? In our opinion, well designed coworking spaces aren’t noisy or distracting – they are quite the opposite. Light, acoustically sound, green, designed for maximum productivity and connection.

Our Global Data Partner, Instant and our UK Partner Area teamed up to do some research to let us in on what really is happening. Their take?

“Where workspaces is failing end users is around designating available space and controlling noise”

Surprised? No. Neither are we.

On a high level they found that 2 out of every 10 individuals are unhappy at work. Unhappiness had a direct correlation to productivity and the leading causes of this? Lack of privacy, noise, and distractions. Sited along side the people ‘collegues” the key cases of positivity and happiness in the workplace were related to the layout, environment and provision for space.

93% of the occupiers believed that when they are happy at work, they are more productive.

So what does that mean to you, the owner and operator?

Happy & Productive

It means you need to make sure your space has flexible seating, good culture, benefits, mitigated noise levels, a solid location, good tech and others for your members to collaborate with. It’s not only about the desks and the community, it’s about the environment you are offering them.

Download the Instant and Area deck here to see the full results, workplace layout designations, actionables for your space based off of the data and predictions on where the future of work is headed.