How to maximise potential of informal colloboration space
June 22, 2010 10:30 AM Subscribe
Our new office layout intentionally leaves an open space, beside a window that has a great view, for employee collaboration and informal meeting. What is the best way to design and encourage use of this space - do you have such a space and does it work in your company?
We have put put together a accepted case for a open space beside the window of our new office that has an unobstructed view of the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco Bay. It is approximately 27'x11' (about the size of 3 small offices, preview here and it is indented for employees to gather informally if they don't want to use a conference room, or conference rooms are occupied. We want to make this work - we do not have such a space in our current office. We don't want it used as a lunch space and we are not a table football kind of company. Presently all we have planned for this is 4 chairs and a low coffee table.
Any suggestions for putting simple things here that would allow people to use it for multiple purposes, or maximize the usefulness of the space. Do you have such a space - is it used, do people like it? Thanks!
We have put put together a accepted case for a open space beside the window of our new office that has an unobstructed view of the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco Bay. It is approximately 27'x11' (about the size of 3 small offices, preview here and it is indented for employees to gather informally if they don't want to use a conference room, or conference rooms are occupied. We want to make this work - we do not have such a space in our current office. We don't want it used as a lunch space and we are not a table football kind of company. Presently all we have planned for this is 4 chairs and a low coffee table.
Any suggestions for putting simple things here that would allow people to use it for multiple purposes, or maximize the usefulness of the space. Do you have such a space - is it used, do people like it? Thanks!
1) Cool coffee/tea/hot cocoa machine like a Keurig with lots of pods to choose from and a place for people's personal mugs to live
2) Obviously, comfortable places to sit, preferably arranged for conversation, and some tables for people to put their mugs and papers and electronic items on. I'd advocate for some small couches and comfortable chairs.
3) At least one conference table area with some usable display options -- basic like flip chart and light easels and markets or snazzier things like attached laptop and projector and screen.
4) Plants. They are appealing and movable and make people feel a little more peaceful.
posted by bearwife at 10:45 AM on June 22, 2010
2) Obviously, comfortable places to sit, preferably arranged for conversation, and some tables for people to put their mugs and papers and electronic items on. I'd advocate for some small couches and comfortable chairs.
3) At least one conference table area with some usable display options -- basic like flip chart and light easels and markets or snazzier things like attached laptop and projector and screen.
4) Plants. They are appealing and movable and make people feel a little more peaceful.
posted by bearwife at 10:45 AM on June 22, 2010
Get furniture that moves easily, and have the default layout orient the chairs towards the view.
posted by bluedaisy at 10:52 AM on June 22, 2010
posted by bluedaisy at 10:52 AM on June 22, 2010
Why don't you want people to use it as a lunch space? In my experience the places that people sit to have lunch and the places that they want to sit to have an informal meeting are largely overlapping. If the lunchers are truly taking over you could experiment with an informal lunch/no lunch schedule.
posted by heyforfour at 10:53 AM on June 22, 2010
posted by heyforfour at 10:53 AM on June 22, 2010
Things to put in the space:
- A bookshelf with useful books in it
- The office fruit bowl
- A whiteboard or something else that can be scribbled on
I think this kind of space works best if it gets through traffic - not people standing on your feet to get past, but people who might discover an interesting conversation on their way back from the bathroom, and join in.
posted by emilyw at 10:58 AM on June 22, 2010
- A bookshelf with useful books in it
- The office fruit bowl
- A whiteboard or something else that can be scribbled on
I think this kind of space works best if it gets through traffic - not people standing on your feet to get past, but people who might discover an interesting conversation on their way back from the bathroom, and join in.
posted by emilyw at 10:58 AM on June 22, 2010
Table tennis table! Nintendo Wii. And lots of materials like paper, markers, post-its etc. For inspiration look at for example Google's offices. I believe in a direct link between physical exercise and creativity.
And use plenty of colors. But hey, I'm a girl and I love some color. :-)
posted by eau79 at 11:23 AM on June 22, 2010
And use plenty of colors. But hey, I'm a girl and I love some color. :-)
posted by eau79 at 11:23 AM on June 22, 2010
And yes, we have a similar space, and it works. It is also great to take your clients there. First, they'll be a bit uncomfortable, but when they get used to it, you'll have an instant connection.
posted by eau79 at 11:25 AM on June 22, 2010
posted by eau79 at 11:25 AM on June 22, 2010
a looking glass or binoculars on a tripod?
can you write on the window? Maybe put a dot where the sun sets each day and track the seasons? Probably can't see the sunset, is there a shadow of the bridge tower or another building you can track?
One of those wall climbing RC cars?
Those frog-tongue-like slimy toys that crawl down a window.
A thermometer? Barometer? (Oh, ur in SF, not much interesting weather; maybe a screen with the recent earthquakes:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/
maps, ferry schedules, tide tables?
sailing posters so you can learn to tell a schooner from a ketch?
Is there a live data feed of the acoustics of one of the bridges?
A big dic on a stand?
Can you see people in the other buildings? know how u wonder what they do? Maybe start a project to track that - say, one person knows that floor 7 over there is a law firm....
If you said something about your line of work, some one might be able to suggest some thigns that tie-in.
Some picture books of the history of the bay? of the building of the bridges? of Alcatraz? of Angel Island? of the pre-history of the bay?
posted by at at 11:33 AM on June 22, 2010
can you write on the window? Maybe put a dot where the sun sets each day and track the seasons? Probably can't see the sunset, is there a shadow of the bridge tower or another building you can track?
One of those wall climbing RC cars?
Those frog-tongue-like slimy toys that crawl down a window.
A thermometer? Barometer? (Oh, ur in SF, not much interesting weather; maybe a screen with the recent earthquakes:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/
maps, ferry schedules, tide tables?
sailing posters so you can learn to tell a schooner from a ketch?
Is there a live data feed of the acoustics of one of the bridges?
A big dic on a stand?
Can you see people in the other buildings? know how u wonder what they do? Maybe start a project to track that - say, one person knows that floor 7 over there is a law firm....
If you said something about your line of work, some one might be able to suggest some thigns that tie-in.
Some picture books of the history of the bay? of the building of the bridges? of Alcatraz? of Angel Island? of the pre-history of the bay?
posted by at at 11:33 AM on June 22, 2010
Couches and a coffee table. Coffee maker and tea kettle. A bar fridge, if possible.
We have such a space---it's a place to meet vendors, offer visitors a drink and have impromtu meetings. It's also the place that people gather at the end of the day to decompress and tell impalusible things to each other. A "living room" is at least as useful in an office setting as at home.
posted by bonehead at 11:50 AM on June 22, 2010
We have such a space---it's a place to meet vendors, offer visitors a drink and have impromtu meetings. It's also the place that people gather at the end of the day to decompress and tell impalusible things to each other. A "living room" is at least as useful in an office setting as at home.
posted by bonehead at 11:50 AM on June 22, 2010
Definitely put a whiteboard or chalkboard there (there are paints for both of these if you have an empty wall nearby) and people will gravitate there to explain things to other people visually.
posted by judith at 12:19 PM on June 22, 2010
posted by judith at 12:19 PM on June 22, 2010
Forget the white board, just put out dry erase markers and an eraser and let people write on the window.
posted by nestor_makhno at 12:22 PM on June 22, 2010
posted by nestor_makhno at 12:22 PM on June 22, 2010
Wifi and laptops would probably make this space a lot more usable for work. Depending on what your company does, employees probably spend most of their time on computers. Not having access to a computer in a space would put a big limitation on how much the space can be used. If it's viable, as previously suggested, having something to drink or eat available makes a place more likely to be a gathering place. That's why everyone always hangs out in the kitchen at parties or around the water cooler.
posted by jefeweiss at 1:10 PM on June 22, 2010
posted by jefeweiss at 1:10 PM on June 22, 2010
Instead of whiteboards, I know of an office where they have some kind of tempered frosted glass instead of walls for all the meeting rooms that they can write on. I'm not sure exactly what materials are required for this but I'm sure you could find out. My friend who works there says it's supposed to inspire creativity.
posted by tamitang at 1:31 PM on June 22, 2010
posted by tamitang at 1:31 PM on June 22, 2010
Ditto the whiteboard (or other marking surface). Be generous. 4' x 6' is not too big. Two of them are not too many.
I love the dictionary stand idea.
posted by Bruce H. at 3:34 PM on June 22, 2010
I love the dictionary stand idea.
posted by Bruce H. at 3:34 PM on June 22, 2010
I know it's not "hip" but I say a TV (with cable).
At my old job, we had two separate groups on our floor. The two groups hardly ever interacted, except when something big was on TV--usually a sporting event or big financial news. It was nice to see these things on TV, but the real cool thing was the conversation that happened when people got out of their offices and gathered in one spot. I'm pretty sure at least a one or two collaborative projects came out of these conversations over the course of a year or so.
posted by mullacc at 6:11 PM on June 22, 2010
At my old job, we had two separate groups on our floor. The two groups hardly ever interacted, except when something big was on TV--usually a sporting event or big financial news. It was nice to see these things on TV, but the real cool thing was the conversation that happened when people got out of their offices and gathered in one spot. I'm pretty sure at least a one or two collaborative projects came out of these conversations over the course of a year or so.
posted by mullacc at 6:11 PM on June 22, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions folks - there are good ones in there. We are a translation company so dictionaries and reference books are definitely a go - one side will be a complete bookcase, so we will setup a library, there will also be a whiteboard and all that entails for collaboration. Plants are a also a good suggestion, we may try to recreate a living room.
posted by clarkie666 at 10:58 AM on June 23, 2010
posted by clarkie666 at 10:58 AM on June 23, 2010
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posted by L'Estrange Fruit at 10:43 AM on June 22, 2010 [1 favorite]