The office workplace is changing. The biggest influencer in current office design trends in the last few years has been the west coast silicone startup attitude. The push for sleep and snooze spaces, chill out idea rooms, and eat/drink whenever-you-need-to breaks have spread rapidly to other office environments that want to be seen as progressive. Here are some of the most innovative ideas that have begun to be picked up in workplaces around the world.

No Assigned Seating

Also known as hot-desking. This office environment trend has rapidly caught on in work hub places around the country. Many offices are choosing transportable laptops, Bluetooth technology and wireless everything which has led to the popularity of moving around the workspace with equipment in hand or a backpack. The younger employees are putting off having a family until later in life, which makes the idea of having a designated desk for family photographs look incredibly old-school.

For this idea to work, the company should use a corporate office design firm to create work areas and spaces that can be reconfigured to evolve with every task and the number of people who will work on it. Where you end up working should be assigned according to the task and not the person. Hot desking is seen as highly democratic and egalitarian. It also promotes regular movement and walking around.

Moveable Desks

Before you decide on the layout and furniture your office of the future should have, you should seriously consider having mobile desks. They should be designed to incorporate the use of one person or adapted to all fit together as one massive collaborative effort. The look of the work surface should be one of multiple shapes that fit together as one flat surface, no matter how the segments are placed together. 

Don’t worry about your office space resembling a giant tetra experiment. Moveable desks instantly elevate a workplace into a unique and productive area where people work together as one body.

Pets In The Office Space

One of the main reasons why people enjoy working from home is that they can be with their pets. They can get up from their desk anytime they like, make themselves a cup of coffee in their own kitchen and go for a walk around the block with their pet, or even sit and pet them a while. It breaks up the day into workable segments of relaxation and fun. This is where the premise of taking pets to work draws inspiration from.

Hospitals have recognized the importance of pet visits to sick patients. It increases the body’s ability to heal and elevates levels of serotonin. The pets sit quietly with the ill pet owner until visiting hours are over. The same principle applies to pets in the workplace. 

Having a pet at work allows employees to work longer hours if they want to and exercise more, proving to be one of the biggest stress relievers in the office today.