Office Designs For Millennials

We have been reading a lot of materials about how the millennial workforce is drastically changing the working environment, from the way business transactions are handled, to the office and workflow design. Some love them, some hate them. But in the end, we all must face facts that things are changing, with them starting to grow within the firms they belong. It is just a matter of time that they start taking over higher positions and making critical decisions for our company as managers. One of these changes touches how we design our offices.

Change will always be met by forces of resistance. Some business owners now are asking why we should adapt to their (millennials) personal preferences while it is clearly our management prerogative that applies in the business. We design our offices with cost-saving layouts and based on traditional office designs.

After having studied their preferences, I believe adjusting to these trends would not only be beneficial to our young employees, but also to our veteran ones. There are a lot of values which, if implemented well, will actually promote a more efficient workplace. Here are a few examples that even SMEs can apply:

1. Ergonomic. Things should be designed so that they are both easily and safely used. This pretty much should apply to any workplace in general. An ergonomic workplace is where the resources are easily accessible, or at least not needing to exert more effort in obtaining them. Printers should be an arm’s length away, or at least in the middle of all of those using the same equipment; everyone has their own small garbage can and so on. Some would probably argue that doing so is similar to “spoon-feeding,” but really if the simple re-positioning of an office equipment would allow your employees to work faster, then why not? After all, we have a strict deadline in answering the needs of our clients.

2. Interactive. Millennials love workplaces where they can easily socialize and collaborate with their peers. In essence, your office becomes a social center where they are free to talk as they accomplish their tasks.
One way in promoting a social environment is choosing to have perhaps a round table without dividers, where they can see each other, or high bar tables and bar stools to simulate coffee shops. Some offices have even introduced bean bags for chairs.

Why have this? Gone are the days where promoting proficiency would mean secluding your people in tight cubicle spaces with high dividers and no contact with the outside world. The trend today is learning to promote collaboration and effective interdependence.

3. Conducive. Some offices believe that having the smell of coffee beans would help their employees stay alert while doing monotonous jobs. This is especially true in offices that handle data processing. Some put televisions in the break room so employees on their break can watch and enjoy movies together. Another way to make the workplace conducive to working is to allow your people to decorate their own spaces (unless they are working front desk where you need to always keep tidy and presentable for clients). You don’t need to issue a memo because your staff has a framed picture of his dog beside his computer, neither should you do so to that other staff who has a small action figure sitting comfortable on top of his computer monitor. If these trinkets don’t harm their work in any way, then maybe you can let them have their simple pleasures.

In terms of the break room, having a spacious and clean pantry would let your people fully utilize their break times to relax and do what they wish to do. This is conducive in a way that you help them get back to working shape after their breaks.

4. Flexible. Perhaps you can allow those who can finish their work early (but still at par with company standards) to rest in their work stations, or can join people in other tasks they want to try. Allow them to stay active by giving them the opportunity to choose where they can spend their spare time. If your people simply have a quota to fill, maybe those who can accomplish theirs early can start working on their next month’s quota, or maybe try selling a different company product to gain experience and opportunity for promotion.

In the end, I’m not saying that we should all try to replicate Google’s impressive dynamic workplace. The purpose of this article is to show you that adapting to the trends brought about by the millennial workforce could in a lot of ways help us keep our company and its people in a good working condition in tune with the times.

*Originally published by the Manila Bulletin, C-4, Sunday, November 6, 2016. Written by Ruben Anlacan, Jr. (President, BusinessCoach, Inc.) All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or copied without express written permission of the copyright holders.