Several interesting conversations arose at the recent Future of Work Forum in Chicago during breaks. One in particular was around office design. We were discussing the office designs of organizations like Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn when an attendee brought up the point that their company doesn’t have millions of dollars to spend on office design. They can’t afford slides and expensive renovations. Another attendee said it doesn’t have to cost a fortune! In many cases, there really is no need to hire an architecture firm. That can even be a waste of money as a firm would be trying to design an office space that they don’t work in, for a culture they likely don’t understand.
So what do you do if you want to have a cool office but don’t have millions of dollars to spend? Take the budget that you do have and recruit employees to volunteer their time! The second attendee did this in a previous company with just a budget of a couple thousand dollars. The employees went to Ikea on the weekend and bought furniture, paint, and supplies. Then they were able to create the space they wanted to work in. They redesigned, added color, created community desks, and brought life to their office on a budget.
If you want a cool office but don’t have money, that is not a fair excuse. If you’re organization is large, you just aren’t prioritizing your office design. Allocate it in the budget and make it happen. Smaller organizations can recruit employees to create their own space. It doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming. It should represent what the employees care about and value. Allow them to have a voice in the environment they wish to work in!
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Jacob Morgan is a keynote speaker, author, and futurist. You can invite Jacob to keynote your next conference, subscribe to his videos on Youtube, check our his podcast, or subscribe to his newsletter!
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