Open-plan Office: Pros & Cons

Known to many, but for those who are new to the term "Open- plan office," it means the design for any office plan that makes use of a large, open space minimizing the need to building distinct rooms known as private cabins or private offices.

There has always been an argument, whether open-plan offices will make for the best work environment or reduce productivity. If you are one of them who is confused, whether to adopt this design for your office or not? Below are the pros and cons of open-plan offices that will help you decide what’s best for your company.

Pros

From staff point of view

1- Easy to interact  

With an open-floor at large and with no physical obstacles, makes it easy and quick for employees to interact with each other, while at work. This can include eye-to-eye contact and sign communications too, from a distance. The floor, if divided, includes movable elements which can be customized as per business needs.

2- Advise/assistance on-the-go  

With no walls or physical barrier across the floor, an open-floor plan makes it easy for employees to bounce ideas around and get help from relevant departments on-the-go. This means employees can call out each other for advice or assistance without having to knock on the doors.

3- Call for discussions

In an open-plan office, interactions are more easy and casual than a closed-office plan where most of the employees have a separate cabinet. Having an informal work environment, you can call for discussions anytime, especially when there is an important announcement or message that you would like to convey.

From business point of view

1- Flexibility  

Adopting an open-plan office for running your business, you don't need to squeeze employees, or build small, congested cabins to accommodate employees forcibly like that seen in many  closed-office structure. You can accommodate few or many employees in a single room at large, as well as divide the floor into customizable partitions, if required.  

2- Reduce cost  

Having a closed-office plan design will incur you hundreds of dollars, even if you plan to shift a wall slightly to different angle that you wish. Also, if you business flourishes in a short span of time, you'll have to invest in a new office place that can allow you accommodate more employees to manage your business growth. An open-plan office will be the cheapest solution when it comes to renovations and accommodation for new employees.

3- Best use of resources

Not only an open-plan office will be cost-effective when it comes to renovations and space required to accommodate new employees, it also becomes less costly to heat or cool an entire floor rather than multiple cabinets.  Also, it saves the cost behind printers, scanners and photocopiers as it becomes easier to share and use them in one room.  

Cons 

From staff point of view

1 - Noisy atmosphere  

An open-office plan creates a free and informal environment. This means the high level of interactions between employees can be a major issue. Apart from the staff’s voice, you'll continuously experience the disturbance of phone calls, keyboards, and other resources than you use in the office.

2 - Health issues  

There are many health issues that spread easily, therefore any outbreaks of flu can result to many of the employees catching the same disease. This will result to a high productivity loss as most of them will be on an off from work.

3 - Internal conflicts  

An open-plan office no doubt encourages an informal environment, but there are chance when an introvert employee can be overpowered by obstreperous employees. This creates a  mix feeling amongst the shy employees to have their own workspace, just because they won't to be away from those ugly internal conflicts.  

From business point of view

1 - No confidentiality  

The level of privacy is very less, equivalent to negligible in an open-plan office as there are no partitions or walls on the floor at large. This means sensitive material/information are hard to keep confidential. This includes private calls, emails, messages over chat and much more.

2 - Hampers productivity

The open-plan office may offer employees a free environment to work, but at the same time the noise and distraction caused amongst them can lead to decreased productivity.

To end with, from one side an open-plan office creates a refreshing environment, but on the other side the chances of decreased productivity increases. Currently, this type of design is trending in the market, however still not rated as the most ideal office solution. With the above pros and cons, you can decide whether to introduce an open-plan office design to your office, or not.

Working from Home: Do's and Don'ts

Of late, more and more people are running their business from home. Apart from being your own boss, this kind of business allows lot more of advantages - cost being the major one. However, working from home appeals to many people - there are pitfalls that can hamper performance which automatically hits the bottom line of the business.

Those pitfalls are just common sense, but in most cases what seems like a common sense is realized only after it has happened.

If you are looking for some valuable tips about telecommuting, continue reading the article.

Firstly some do's

-  Dedicated workspace

Working from home, no doubt allows you act as per your choice. But, performing your business tasks in an unorganized way will hamper your progress and potentiality that you can achieve performing in a disciplined way. Consider a fixed place, dedicated table and chair, to-do lists, calendars, and filing systems to keep yourself organized. This will help you execute business tasks systematically.

- Attire

Working from home, no doubt gives you the freedom of working in an attire that you wish, however this is one of the major reason that hampers your work. Working in the same attire that you wear during night will keep you in the same (lazy) mood which directly affects your potential towards work, and in the worst case- you may doze off anytime. Ensure you resume to work in an appropriate attire -not necessary to be in your formals, but at least get off your nightwear and wear something fresh that will get you in a lively mood and you can perform business tasks efficiently.

- Fixed routine

If you think, being at home gives you a freedom to start work the moment you wake up, then you are doing it in a wrong way. This will keep you in a different rhythm everyday which will automatically lead to a bad performance in your work. Instead, dedicate regular working hours, it doesn't have to be a 9-5 job (mostly preferable) but it can be based on the hours that is preferable to you. Ensure you follow the same regularly to make the most within those hours.

- Regular breaks and a day off

Obviously no one has an ability to work constantly during the working hours, but if you are doing so (maybe when project deadlines are nearing) avoid it. This will not only reduce your potentiality but also likings for your work, which will automatically hamper the success of your business in long run.  Decide sufficient break-time for your lunch and additionally take a 3-5 minute break for exercise (stretching of your body) every hour. This will ensure proper blood circulation as well as keep you enthusiastic throughout your working hours. Also, it is very important to take a day off (depending on your business) during the week.  

- Let others know about your work schedule

If you are the only one at home, then you may have friends and relatives who can pop in anytime. Similarly, if you have a family - they can approach you for some or the other work. It’s your duty to avoid such scenarios during working hours, as this spoils the rhythm and may slow you down in performing business tasks. Inform your close ones about your working hours so that they don't arrive when you are really engrossed in performing your business tasks.

- Back-up plan

There are many other factors that, even if you wish, cannot have a control on them. Faulty internet connection, power cut, system crash, etc. are some of the interference that you need to have a backup for. As known to all "Time is money," therefore in any such scenarios instead of putting a stop to your work until resolved, it becomes important you plan a backup workplace in mind, like a cafe, library etc. This will keep you work going on and keep money flowing in.

- Consider an app

If you are working with a single client, or you have many to work with, it becomes easier to manage them with an app in place. Workhive can help you collaborate multiple client's projects as well as offer tools to manage them efficiently. You can keep a track of all your files as well as allow real-time communication, which means in case of scheduling conflict or cannot meet deadlines, you can communicate with employees (if any) and clients in advance to ensure your tasks are completed on time.

Now some don'ts

- Surfing social sites/shopping online

Most of your work will be performed online, but that doesn't mean you use social networking sites or shop online. Remember, working from home can produce a potential outcome, but getting tempted to such distractions will affect it badly. Make sure you are focused during working hours to make the most out of it.

- Household activities

Before you start your work, take time to assure all major household works are done. Because, performing household activities during work hours will force you to stretch beyond regular hours in order to complete your business tasks. And, forcing oneself to work beyond regular working hours can prove to be bad for health and business too.

- Personal calls

Cellphone is another major cause of distraction, therefore make sure you determine not to use your phone while working - until and unless it's an emergency. And, emergency does not rise up everyday. Be firm to this point, as it will save you loads of time and keep you focused to perform tasks enthusiastically.

- Cozy sitting arrangement

Your home may have the most luxurious sitting arrangement, but when it comes to work you'll have to sacrifice it in order to perform business tasks dedicatedly. Make sure you avoid sitting on cushioned sofas, bean bags, etc. This will make you lethargic and decrease the rhythm in your workplace.

- Noisy surroundings

You are engrossed in your work, but the members of your family may be chilling either watching televisions, cooking, chatting, laughing, etc. Such distractions should not reach you while you are working. This will take you off track and it becomes very difficult to get into the same track once lost. Therefore, ensure you avoid working close to noisy areas in your home to gain more focus and enthusiasm in completing your business tasks.

Wrapping up

Whether you telecommunicate for one day in a week or 6 days in a week, the above tips will bring in more self-discipline, motivation and productive when working from home.

Meet your deadlines better: Tips & Tricks

Chasing deadlines has always been a struggle since school days. Poor management skills and delay in performing tasks often lead to hasty sessions that produces poor-quality work. Similarly, failing to meet deadlines at work create bad reputation, and your reputation is generally based on two factors: the quality of work you produce and how well you meet deadlines?

In this article we will discuss, how professionals can learn effective tips and tricks in order successfully meet deadlines.

  

-Don't overcommit

Professionals who commit a deadline but later realize that they have overcommitted on a project then need to stress and exhaust themselves to meet deadlines. This becomes difficult and impossible to make it, therefore ensure that you commit a reasonable deadline. Think about all factors that should include - how much work needs to be done, how much time you can commit per day considering daily activities such as sleeping, eating, etc. Suggesting alternative dates which will give you more control, enable deadlines and creates less stress.

- Segment your project

Working on a large project can be nightmare to meet deadline, therefore segmenting the project down into smaller projects (per-day tasks) keeping a deadline for each - can limit the long-term exhaustion that comes when dealing with large projects. Start with bigger tasks and segment them into individual tasks having a daily deadline. Segmenting your project will gradually build into sizeable progress which then leads into the completion of the project meeting exact deadlines.

- Schedule daily tasks 

The best advice for any project, is to tackle it into smaller pieces. Schedule daily tasks that will give you a clear idea of how long a project will take. This will eliminate delays, and if you finish prior to the deadline, the client will be very impressed. So, instead of tackling the entire project- it is recommended to plan daily tasks e.g. few hours to research, some to perform, another to look for errors and the final hour to make it look good. By doing this you ensure your mind is in the right place(focused) to perform each tasks. 

- Keep a soft deadline

Sticking to the deadline provided by the client is good, but unexpected events can create a mess even with the most solid plan. Unforeseen problems can include hard drive crashes, absence of crucial member due to bad health issue, or amendments requested by your client. Of course, it's next to impossible to plan for every such possibilities, hence the best defense is to keep a soft deadline for your project. For instance, if your project has a three-week deadline, keep a soft deadline to complete it 2-3 days early that the actual deadline. Similarly, for a three-month long project, plan to have it done 10 days early. By setting a soft deadline, you get spare time to deal with unexpected events, if any.
 

- Get Organized 

Your project can be delayed due to many reasons, just because it is not organized. You schedule daily tasks and have number of deadlines, hence it is essential to have a technology on place. Manually making notes for each task and deadline will be exhausting and can lead to confusions, too. However, implementing a cloud-based project management software solution will help you record, share and edit tasks and files amongst team members, which makes working in a team a breeze.

Workhive - an easy project management app is proving to be a bliss to help employees, freelancers, contractors and project managers (working from different locations or even different time zones) collaborate and manage multiple projects as well as keep a track on tasks of what they need to get done. Offering an easy-to-use dashboard, Workhive allows real-time visibility of all projects in a single screen to increase productivity. To know more, please visit www.workhiveapp.com

In Closing

With the above tips and tricks, and implementing a cloud-based project management software solution, you'll make deadlines a cakewalk.

Godspeed!