Category Archives: Office Furniture Installation

Office Furniture Trends for Millennials

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office furniture trendsOffice designs change like the latest fashions. As more millennials enter the workforce, their older counterparts are evaluating the best way to manage this creative, free-thinking group. Although this adaptation can be a challenge, a study by Bentley University recently found that 74 percent of non-millennials agree that millennials offer different skills and work styles that add value to the workplace. A conducive office space is a key component to the productivity of any generation. Millennials prefer open, communicative work spaces with the latest technology integration. What office trends are attractive to this young talent? 

Create Collaborative Space

The new generation of workers prefers office space that fosters collaboration. Low-walled cubicles create a team environment. Many offices are utilizing shared work space in addition to individual desks. For example, lounge seating is a trend that offers a comfortable spot for employees to spontaneously gather their teams. Another idea becoming popular involves having unassigned tables between work spaces, again providing an area for two or more workers to collaborate. To decrease the health risks of prolonged sitting, employers are also utilizing high tables that allow workers to stand or use stools for their collaborative sessions. Even seating trends foster collaboration. Today’s young workforce likes to have mobile seating, chairs or stools that can easily move from their desks to collaborative work spaces.

Color Boosts Productivity

Bland, grey offices are a thing of the past. Color has been shown to boost productivity and improve employee mood. Experts say the five best colors that increase productivity are blue, green, white, red and yellow. Blue is specifically linked to higher productivity. Yellow improves concentration. And, green creates a relaxed environment. Consider brightly colored cubicle walling to create a productive, collaborative atmosphere for your millennials.

Let the Office Planning Group help create the perfect environment for your office. Contact us to speak with one of our office furniture professionals.

 

Matching Office Furniture to Employee Work Styles

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employee work stylesA healthy, well-rounded company culture features a variety of people and a range of employee work styles. Row after row of identical cubicles may fail to meet the needs of everyone in an office. It’s no surprise that businesses are beginning to create more flexible and varied work landscapes to accommodate a diverse workforce and help everyone be more productive. Here are a number of ways you can use space design and office furniture selection to give everyone what they need.

Social and Collaborative

These workers prefer to be in earshot of interesting conversations so they can feel connected to office life. They thrive in an environment that is full of energy. These employees like to “talk things out” and rely heavily on input from others to do their best at work. A desking or benching system with low dividers can be an advantageous setup since it ensures close proximity to coworkers.

In offices that primarily feature cubicles, extroverts may enjoy having the freedom to work in a lounge area using mobile technology. Being untethered from a desk and able to go “where the action is” may be seen as a significant benefit. If these workers do have permanently assigned workspace, they may like to change aspects of their workstation frequently to keep from feeling bored or trapped.

Reserved and Focused

These employees are likely to be most comfortable in low-traffic areas and with workstations that feature high panels to provide a sense of privacy. In an open office environment that doesn’t feature cubicles, providing enclosed spaces where employees can retreat occasionally for greater concentration is important. They may feel protective of their workstation and have a desire to customize it to precisely match the way they work.

Introverted workers may also benefit from breakout areas for small team or one-on-one collaboration. It’s not that they want to be alone all the time, they simply need to have a choice about their level of social interaction on a daily basis. Offering greater flexibility makes these workers feel more empowered.

How do you satisfy everyone in the office?

You don’t have to hand over a catalogue and let every employee make their own selections. Next week, we’ll look at ways you can create a workspace that gives everyone what they need—and most of what they want.

Deciding on a Layout for Your New Orleans Office

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office cubicles New OrleansHow do you decide on the best office layout for your company? A lot depends on the type of business you plan to run, the office culture you expect to house, and the individual needs of your employees.

In New Orleans offices, furniture may take a back seat to the people, since space is often at a premium. You’ll have to choose between huge lavish desks and having enough room for everyone to work. That said, certain office layout details can help promote productivity and a functional workspace.

Keep these concepts in mind as you set up your New Orleans office furniture in your new digs:

 A View

Try to set up the desks in your office so that all workers have a clear view of a window. In fact, when considering your office layout, make the windows the focal point The natural light and view of the outside world is inspirational.  An oblique view is best, however – in the bustle of New Orleans, a direct facing position can lead to distraction!

Consolidation

To save space in smaller offices, you can push desks up against each other so that the workers face each other. Use a small privacy panel if needed so each still has their own privacy when seated.  This can remove the need to purchase cubicles for your office, You should always allow at least a few feet of space between the desk pairings – and if it will work in your space you should arrange each pairing at different angles so you don’t have the sardines in a can feel that comes from lining up “corridors” of desks.  Make an effort to create a grouped or departmental layout, if you have many employees; for example,  keep the sales team in one area, the creative design and tech people in another, and reserve a corner for your own executive desk and secretary.

Centralize

Equipment such as copy machines, fax machines, printers and other production tools can be located along a wall if the office is small – eliminating cordage running across the floor – or for larger offices you can put them in a central location (this is great for new offices when you can request an outlet in the floor for multiple power jacks). Keep them out of the walkway, and  away from windows and vents.

Laying out your office is important- you and your team will be spending a lot of time there, and getting this right is one of the first things you can do to make your small business a success!

 

Office Space Planning Louisiana State University

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office space planning LouisianaAre you concerned that you don’t have the budget to carry through with the ideal version of your office space planning? Louisiana State University’s Healthcare Network faced the same problem. The University’s Eye Care clinic was strapped for cash but had an ambitious concept in mind for their offices. Their idea was to have built-in wall and cabinetry features throughout the clinic. They just didn’t have the funds to make that happen.

Building  Walls Is Costly

If you’ve ever priced a retrofit of a built space, you know it’s a big project with a lot of associated costs. First, you have to tear out what’s already in place – which is a highly disruptive and messy process. It’s not just the interior walls that have to go. The carpet has to come up as well since the new walls can’t simply be built over existing carpet. Then, you have to somehow schedule renovations including cutting, sanding and painting without shutting down your entire office for the duration. You’d better be very, very sure of your final plan, too. Making changes later isn’t going to be an option.

Drywall construction is also a wasteful process since the materials you remove can’t be recycled. Plus, you cut out doors and windows after the new walls are built, sending even more material to the landfill. Dealing with dust and VOCs from the demolition and reconstruction process can pose significant indoor air quality challenges as well.

Let Your Furniture Be Your Walls

Our cost-effective and easy to install solution for the Eye Clinic involved using systems furniture to create a new internal landscape. Our highly efficient team installed the whole shebang over the weekend so not a single patient appointment had to be rescheduled. There was no need to rip up the carpet or interfere with any of the internal structure of the building.

These deep purple workstation panels and movable walls aren’t just eye-catching. They are also flexible if the client needs a future redesign. In fact, organizations save money compared to built-in solutions every time they reconfigure. It’s ROI that keeps giving you a return. Plus, most systems furniture can be recycled at the end of its lifecycle instead of being dumped in the landfill. That makes these purple walls pretty green if you ask us!

Need to save money on office space planning? Louisiana businesses in and around New Orleans can contact TOPG for a free consultation.

Hire a Professional Metairie Cubicles Installation Team

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Metairie cubiclesAre you considering moving your business to Metairie? Cubicles represent a significant investment in your current office space, so you are likely to want to move them to your new location. But you probably didn’t realize how much work was involved in breaking these modular workstations down until it actually came time to do it. In fact, you may find the job is quite overwhelming. This is an ideal time to ask for some professional help. Here are just some of the tasks an office furniture dealer can help you with:

  • Developing an inventory of your cubicles and office furniture
  • Categorizing that furniture and equipment by how it will be grouped at your new location
  • Ensuring cubicles are broken down without misplacing components
  • Packing panels and other parts properly to prevent damage during transport

From a design planning perspective, you can also access help with:

  • Creating a staged moving plan that will minimize disruption to your employees
  • Determining how to make the best use of your new office space by incorporating your existing office furniture efficiently
  • Understanding when rental office furniture can be used on a temporary basis at low cost and where new items are needed

At the re-installation in Metairie, cubicles should also be assembled by a professional team. That way, you don’t end up with unstable workstations or leftover nuts and bolts. While some cheaper cubes are pretty easy to disassemble and reassemble, the higher quality brands that incorporate power and data cabling can be somewhat complex. In addition, wood veneered parts require a little extra TLC to prevent dings and scratches. You don’t want to have your new office populated with cubicles that look like they traveled 500 miles by wagon train.

Our professional Metairie cubicle installers are punctual, appropriately dressed, speedy, efficient, knowledgeable, friendly and thorough. Let The Office Planning Group help you plan your office move. We’ll help make sure your new space looks great!

Let The Office Furniture Planning Group Be Your Project Manager

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At The Office Furniture Planning Group, we don’t just have designers, planners and installers on hand to serve your needs. We’ve also got a project management team to make sure everything happens when it’s supposed to happen. These folks don’t get the glamorous limelight, but they pull all the strings behind the scenes to ensure your office furniture project outcome meets or exceeds your expectations. A PM is the person who keeps track of all the various aspects of your furniture shipments. Their job is to get the job done in a timely fast – and help save you money in the process.

For example, they know how to review and compile your furniture order so freight is routed in the most efficient manner. In some cases, that might save you money on trip fees, pickup and delivery fees, handling fees and fuel surcharges. Of course, if a particularly critical piece is on backorder, they can also negotiate for a “hot shot” shipment to get it here on time so your installation isn’t delayed. If there are any unavoidable changes in the schedule, your PM gives you the heads up so you can decide how to proceed.

That’s Not All…

Besides managing the order tracking process, your project manager runs interference with all the other contractors that are involved in a modern office furniture installation. This means you don’t have to bear the full brunt of coordinating communication with:

  • The electricians who run the wiring to each workstation
  • The IT guys who lay cable in cubicle raceways
  • The building or facility manager who needs to be in the loop on any changes to the layout and verify that everything is up to code
  • The construction manager handling any built-in items, wall reconfiguration or other new building aspects of the project

If we are doing our job right, you’ll never even know about half the bumps in the road we smooth out on the way to getting your office furniture installed on time and within budget!

Delivery of Office Cubicles: New Orleans, Here We Come!

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Do you feel overwhelmed at the idea of receiving a huge shipment of office cubicles? New Orleans businesses (and our clients throughout Louisiana) don’t have to worry about all the stress that comes along with ordering large quantities of systems furniture. We actually have a solution that keeps your office from looking like a disaster area. Here are some of the ways we take the load off your shoulders:

Let Us Be Your “Ship To” Address

We receive product from manufacturers at our own facility for your project. If you are outfitting a new or renovated office space, you could be purchasing from half a dozen different manufacturers or more. There might be one shipment coming in for cubicles, another for seating, one for filing and storage furniture, one for lighting, and so forth. Besides being very confusing, managing all these shipments is time consuming and space intensive. The last thing you want is to have to try to find somewhere to stash 50 cubicles that arrive while you are in the middle of carpet or tile installation.

Let Us Manage Exceptions

Then there’s the little matter of damaged or incomplete shipments. If you aren’t on top of every package, you might well miss signs of rough handling or a mismatch between the BOL and the actual shipment contents. If you do notice something amiss, navigating the labyrinthine process of making a freight claim is enough to make you tear your hair out. You need to leave that hassle to the professionals. We don’t put up with being bullied, given the runaround, or otherwise ignored. You will get what you paid for in good condition – we won’t accept anything less on your behalf.

Let Us Prep Your Office Furniture

What about when it is time to put everything together? We transport your office furniture to your location. There, we uncrate and stage it (while removing any packaging). Staging is actually a very important step that often gets overlooked in installation. It takes years of experience handling office furniture projects to understand the most efficient order to follow in putting together modular furniture and accessories. Organization is what makes this a completely smooth operation. If you’ve ever done a home improvement project and ended up going to the hardware store 5 times before the darn thing was over, you know what a difference good pre-planning makes!