The 7 Office Zones Every Business Should Have

The workplace has transformed in the last few years. So have the needs and demands of employees. With the advancement of mobile technology and remote work, we’ve seen a rise in breakout zones. Some are for energetic collaboration. Others are for quiet focus.

These office zones (or office areas) create the new ideal office by supporting various work modes including focus, collaboration, learning, socializing, rejuvenating, as well as company culture and impressions.

So how can you structure a business office to provide an environment employees love and can be highly productive in?

Must-have office zones

The ideal office has seven total zones tailored to different aspects of the work environment. Only five of these are must-haves.

1. The Welcome Zone (The Reception)

This area is the first impression visitors or employees will have. It needs to be warm, welcoming and convey your company’s culture and ethos. This area should be where you first present your corporate brand and should include strong brand visuals that showcase your purpose and ethos, as well as a waiting/hospitality area for visitors.

2. The Quiet Zone (Focus Area)

Home base. Your desk, office or cubicle. This zone can take many forms and is usually one per person. It’s the closest area to the original “chair and desk” concept, and it’s where employees can fully concentrate on work, write emails, develop concepts, and complete critical tasks. This area should be a known quiet zone with the understanding that this is not the place to socialize and it’s a good idea to have headphones in reach.

3. The Meeting Zone

Meeting zones are pretty straightforward. These rooms should be specifically designed to support small or large group meetings. They should include small or large tables, and enough seats to accommodate the group. Meeting zones can vary in size, from small 4-person rooms to large conference rooms for many people. Meeting zones are for discussion, presentations, training sessions and company culture talks.

4. The Huddle Zone

Similar to the large meetings zone, this area is one you will likely have multiple of. Huddle zones are usually “huddle rooms” where employees can have smaller, less formal meetings. These are ideal for quick brainstorm sessions, short-notice meetings for small teams, or for those working remotely who need to take calls or connect with on-site colleagues. Huddle zones are often soundproof or offer some feature that helps make them quieter and more private. Office Inspiration calls this the Refuge Area and gives more information about how to make this place ideal for confidential conversations here.

5. The Social Zone

The final must-have zone is the one not related directly to work responsibilities. But it has a profound impact on them. Employees need mental and physical breaks throughout the day to provide their best work. Designated social areas in the office help support positive morale, happy employees, staff retention, and a good workplace culture. Social zones can take many forms but are often the lunch and kitchen areas, while some large offices can also support a casual seating area similar to what you’d see in a coffee shop. These are completely open spaces with lots of light and often views to outside, providing a stark contrast from work-mode spaces.

Nice-to-have office areas

Only two zones are nice-to-haves. The reason for this is that you can essentially create these zones, or elements of them, within other areas or throughout the office. So for smaller businesses, these may not be possible.

6. The Collaboration Zone

Not every business can support every zone, so we’ve put this one as a nice-to-have. Meeting rooms can work for collaborative sessions too, but if your office space allows, consider a dedicated collaboration zone. This area is all about innovation and creativity. Collaboration zones should encourage cross-pollination, brainstorming, thought leadership and teamwork.

7. The Well-being Zone

Not every business can support every zone, so we’ve put this one as a nice-to-have. This area is all about providing a space to help support employees’ mental health. This zone can be used for meditation, rest or yoga. But since not every office has space for this, we suggest implementing the other element of this zone – add greenery. Put plants all over the office. Studies have shown adding houseplants can boost employee productivity by an average of 15 percent across staff.

How to zone your office space

Implementing effective office facilities comes down to providing the diverse workspace areas noted above. This helps meet the different work styles of your employees while optimizing resource and space usage. Each zone has a purpose, is well thought out, and staff understand what to do in each area.

Step 1: An open floor plan.

Open floor plan layouts are the best option for business offices looking to drive cost-savings, employee communication, expand their team, and support hybrid workforces.  In fact, seven out of ten companies have some kind of open office plan in the United States.

And creating the aforementioned office zones with an open floor plan is easy. Here is how: Four tips to create great interactive floor plans

Step 2: Make sure your workplace has the right technology.

This means a workspace booking solution that integrates with employees’ existing email and calendar software (i.e., Outlook) and a corresponding mobile app. This helps employees quickly and easily book a desk or meeting space or schedule a huddle without causing disruptive double bookings or administrative burden.

The only connected and installed tech you need are the in-zone solutions to help automate workspace and meeting room turnover and understand the utilization of workspaces.

For example, hot desk booking screens are an easy way to help employees choose their workspace and grab a space if they have to come in unplanned. Office space sensors are also becoming extremely popular. Sensors can identify when a space is in use, and if not, automatically change the space to “open.” They also can help turn a space from “booked” to “available” faster when meetings end early, freeing up resources faster.

• Read More: Learn more about office space occupancy and the power of sensors

Creating a variety of office zones is pretty easy once you understand which ones to include and the elements each needs to have. Having a variety of organized zones will help save time on tasks, enable greater focus, reduce distractions, and lower operational costs by helping you not overspend on spaces or resources you already have (or don’t need anymore).