Working from the Living Room… At the Office | How to Optimize Employee Wellness and Productivity with Lounge Furniture

Want to stifle creativity and collaboration? Stick people in boring boxes with sterile walls and lighting and some uncomfortable desks and chairs in freezing temperatures and then expect them to produce results that will elevate your organization to new levels of success. That should work well, if that’s your goal.

Or, if you want to bolster productivity, problem solving capacity, and innovation, you could create a workplace environment conducive to wellness and excellence. There are many elements to workplace design that can help you accomplish your organization’s goals more effectively and efficiently, but let’s look at just one easy one that might surprise you – lounge furniture.

Taking inspiration from the comfort of your employees’ own living rooms at home, your team can craft spaces within your building or campus where employees can go to get away from their desks, get comfortable, and get more work done. It may seem counterintuitive – give them a nice couch to sit on with a cup of coffee and a snack and a laptop and then expect them to produce better results? Absolutely, and here’s why:

• Moving away from your normal workstation to another location can help stimulate creativity and problem solving skills, simply because of the change in scenery.
• Lounge spaces can be more comfortable and “homey,” which can help promote wellness and bolster confidence in your employees that your organization’s leadership cares about them.
• These spaces are inviting and can help promote greater collaboration and teamwork, as well as camaraderie, which means an increase in belonging, innovation, and creativity.

In our industry, we call this resimercial design, and it’s a recipe for improved employee recruitment and retention rates, reduced absences, and more cohesive and productive project teams.

There are so many lounge furniture options on the market, today, so to simplify things for you, here are a few considerations to discuss with your project team, if you’re interested in incorporating employee lounge spaces in your workplace:

• Evaluate what types of lounge furniture designs and layouts will complement your overall design, coordinating best with other elements like decor, lighting, biophilia, acoustics, tables, etc.
• Measure your available space accurately. There are lots of sizes and shapes of lounge furniture to choose from. Your sales rep and designer from your contract furniture company can help with this, so you don’t order the wrong thing.
• Determine your data and power needs before you design or order lounge furniture. !Work with your sales rep and designer to be sure you have access from the power and data sources in your space to your lounge furniture and that your furniture has the proper electrical and data receptacles built in.
• Determine if you need to be able to easily rearrange your space for multiple uses. Lounge furniture can be heavy and cumbersome – choose something easy to move or rearrange, if need be.

Need an example? Jovalie by National is one of our latest lounge furniture products that features power and data options, a comfortable design, and a sleek, customizable look. There are many more options where that came from, so be sure to contact your local workplace furniture and architectural interiors products dealer to help you sort out your options and select the right designs for you.

And, if you’re located in the Southern and Central Pennsylvania region, you can send our Benjamin Roberts team of experts a message or give us a call. We’re here to help you create a workplace of art!