Office breakout area is almost as important to employee productivity, as the office furniture employees use to produce work. This is because people working in any business, irrespective of the industry, are still human beings and expecting them to work without any productivity drop for hours without a break – is unreasonable.
Now, breakout areas are not that complex to be built, if you keep a few things in mind. These are not supposed to be the instructive set of rules for a breakout area, but a guide of principles to help you design a more fulfilling and effective breakout area. In short, what you are trying to achieve is a breakout area that provides a little escapade from work and helps employees stay away from fatigue.
Here Are 4 Things to Keep in Mind, When Designing the Office Breakout Area
1. Provide Basic Amenities Such as Tables, a Small Fridge and Charging Stations in Office Breakout Area
When you sit to plan for your office design, you will also take into account all the furniture that you will need in the office. The same applies to your breakout area as well. The breakout area, without a few basic amenities, will not give any relief. At the same time, basic amenities like a seating area, a few tables, a charging station and a small fridge will only add to the comfort in the breaking area.
This will also push to put a breaking area in a corner, instead of putting it right in the middle of the office. It would be of great help to both the employees who are on a break and the ones who are working if you are able to insulate the breakout area from the working area using soundproof walls.
2. Keep the Furniture Basic, but Positive Looking
The office breakout furniture is critically important for this area. One key aspect that you cannot afford to miss out on is that no matter what, the furniture in the breakout area should not be the same as the one inside the office.
This is because you want to psychologically differentiate both the spaces and any similarities between them will defeat that purpose. Take use of beanbags and other casual furniture to add to the relaxing setup of the breakout area.
3. Have a Dustbin Installed in a Corner
When you go for organized office planning, you take into account the hygiene of the office. The same applies to the breakout area. As basic and implied as it may sound, the biggest mistake you can make is not having a dustbin in the breakout area.
Understand this – the breakout area is for people to take a break-in. A large portion of people often tend to grab something to eat or drink in this area and will really appreciate it, if there is a dustbin to dispose it all off.
4. Put Some Refreshments in Office Breakout Area
You can have something as simple as a coffee machine or you may go for a small kitchen with basic ingredients in place, to give the employees an option of making something by themselves in the breakout area. Along with these amenities, you can also have a few arcade or board games in place.
In Conclusion
Mind well – these things may look like unnecessary costs to you, but if you don’t have an effective breakout area in the office, you will end up pushing your employees closer to the state of fatigue. No one expects you to go ‘Google’ with designing relaxation zones in the workplace, but if you take care of these basic principles of planning out a breakout area, your employees will definitely thank you later.
In our years of experience, we have seen a ton of businesses face problems in designing office breakout areas. Hence, we offer you a free office furniture consultation session. This will help you formulate a plan, that will make the breakout area designing process much simpler for you. Browse our website to know more!
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