Workspace design with natural light

Checklist

How to design your office

Wondering where to start with outlining your office design? Our proven seven-step guide will take you through the basics, and where to start.

Your office design starts with your people.

Before you even think about a design for your new office, it's best to take a quick look at how your current space works and how your staff are using their office. This will give you both qualitative and quantitative evidence to base your future design decisions. Both are equally important and need to be considered in tandem, as to how your staff feel about their space and how they actually use their space can often be quite different.

Survey your staff

  • Survey your staff

    The very first step is to find out what you're doing well, and where there could be room for improvement, and what better place to start than with the people using the space every day - your staff! Create a survey and ask your colleagues (not just the managers) what they think about the current office layout and design.

    What do they like? How do they feel in the space? What do they think could be improved? Does it help them be more productive, or is it a hindrance? Is it somewhere they look forward to being each day?

    You can quickly create a free, anonymous online survey with tools like SurveyMonkey.

  • Carry out a utilization study

    Once you know how your staff feel about the office, it's time to start with the quantitative spatial analysis. This looks at the utilisation of the space, specifically: How is your office space currently being used? How much time is being spent at desks and in meeting rooms? Are they often left empty or vacant? How often are the break-out areas and kitchens being used? Have some people got too much space whilst others have too little? Are some parts of the office used a lot whilst other areas are hardly used at all?

    These first two steps are crucial in starting your office design journey on the right foot.

  • By studying how your staff use the office space, you will:

    • Ensure the new office design will be based on feedback and evidence, not just 'gut feel'
    • Get buy-in from your teams at an early stage, as they've been part of the decision making and design process.
    • Save money in the long run since you'll get the right amount of space you need
    • Bust a few myths! Do you really need all those meeting rooms? Possibly not...

Create a robust design brief