Whether you're the owner of the company or are running it for others, the executive office is both a place for you to work and a way to set the tone for the entire business. Do you want to create a space that's both professional and welcoming, both productive and
1. Avoid Closing Off
Open door policies encourage employees, vendors, and customers to feel that they can stop by with any concerns or questions. It fosters a feeling of teamwork and accessibility between management and employees, and it helps prevent problems from festering with the company.
You can create an open door policy in several ways. First, by actually having your physical door open whenever possible and reasonable. During the design stages, consider placing executive offices in more accessible physical locations and boosting the use of windows instead of full walls.
2. Avoid Being Overbearing
When decorating your office, try not to overwhelm it with statements about yourself. An office filled with images, awards, and accomplishments of the occupant can be off-putting to others. Likewise, large television monitors and excessive artworks or paraphernalia from your interests are distracting. Overly luxurious offices on the upper floors can be a negative for both employees and potential clients.
Avoid turning off visitors to your space by not making it relentlessly about you. Choose strategic memorabilia from your career that help visitors see you as knowledgeable and skilled while also humanizing you. Balance it out with memorabilia from the company as a whole as well as community interests.
3. Avoid Limiting Your Options
When meeting with people in your office, you should have options as to where and how to talk with them. Part of a true open door policy should also include designing an office that can be whatever you and your visitors need it to be on that occasion.
Some meetings, for instance, are best held from behind an executive desk. But when talking with upset clients or shy employees, this may be too intimidating. You may want a softer conversation area in the office where you can sit comfortably and casually as equals. Include a work table where everyone can join together and roll up their sleeves for planning meetings.
4. Avoid Being Inefficient
Executives planning their private work area may have the tendency to focus on the look of the office — and not pay much attention to the functionality. But when you're not entertaining guests, you will also need to get serious work done.
Think about what you really need. What sort of task lighting do you need and where? What work surfaces should there be? Do you need lots of flat space or a bigger computer station? Can you talk on the speaker phone while moving around? Can physical records be easily accessed? Should certain records or equipment be within a shorter distance — or perhaps secured better?
5. Avoid Having No Personality
While you don't want to overwhelm people with your office decor, the space should also have some personality to it. Look beyond standard, run-of-the-mill desks, for instance. Instead, you want an executive desk that makes a statement about your personality, goals, and business style. It could be large and antique, or it could be fun and eclectic.
There are plenty of ways to spice up your space without getting too casual or being overly dramatic. Look for interesting lighting choices, such as floor lamps or old-fashioned desk lights. Decorate a shelf with your kids' hand-painted ceramics. Put a branded doggy bed on the floor so your four-legged friend can visit. Or display prizes from the last company picnic.
Avoid these common mistakes to help you and your company design work areas that meet the true needs of modern executives. Your space will be enjoyable without being overdone, functional while still welcoming, and open to whatever purpose it needs to fulfill. For more help with all stages of office design, call the experts at Office Furniture Barn today.