An effective staff room design scheme will provide employees with a ‘third place’ between work and home where they can adopt different modes and perform various different tasks comfortably and efficiently. From relaxation to casual collaboration, the staff room should be a multifunctional space that facilitates a multitude of activities.
In this blog post, we’re going to look at the main purposes of a staff room and the essential design elements you should consider when creating the space.
The purpose of a staff room:
While staff rooms aren’t necessary in all industries, there are a number of sectors where they can bring about many advantages. Schools, universities, surgeries, factories, plants and laboratories are all examples of where staff rooms can significantly enhance the workplace.
Some of the most prominent functions of a well-designed staff room include:
- A breakout space away from the main workplace
- A change of scenery whenever it might be needed
- A place for casual and impromptu meetings
- Somewhere to escape, relax and rejuvenate
- A place to consume food and drink ‘away from the desk’
- A setting for social interactions between staff
- Somewhere to store important documents and files
- Somewhere where private focus work is possible
The essentials you need in your staff room:
In order to ensure that your staff room is fulfilling the functions listed above, there are a number of design elements and products that you should consider incorporating…
Different settings for different modes – Just like any workspace, a staff room needs to facilitate a number of different activities. For example, focus pods will provide a place for privacy, while modular seating such as the Ballo will enable more spontaneous and flexible interaction.
A place to refuel and refresh – Providing a place to grab a drink and a bite to eat is essential for workplace wellbeing. It will help support brain function and physical health but also promote more hygienic workstations as staff won’t have to eat at their desks.
A purpose-built WorkCafe – If you have a larger company, you might want to think about extending this refreshment station into a WorkCafe. Here, staff can socialise, eat and work casually together which will enhance communication and productivity outside of lunch hours.
A Managed Print Solution for added security – As staff rooms are often used as a place to store documents, paperwork and confidential files, we recommend finding a way to make this process as secure as possible. Take a look at our sister company, Datatech Systems if you’re looking to make the management of your documents and data much safer.
Plenty of places to plug in – Whether it’s catching up on personal emails in private or coming together over some collaborative work, staff need access to power and data. Creativity doesn’t stop when lunch hours start so if staff want somewhere to continue work away from their desks, they need the integrated technology to do so.
Measures to control excess noise – By nature, staff rooms can often become extremely noisy as staff congregate to socialise and unwind between working hours. Installing some acoustic solutions will help keep background noise at bay and ensure focused concentration is still an option.
Strict rules around clutter – Last but not least, it’s important that you implement some regulations which will keep the staff room clean, tidy and organised. See more advice on how to do this in our blog post about limiting clutter in the workplace.