Ergonomic furniture that absorbs sound and allows for space seems to be the picks for the future of office furniture.
According to a few reports yesterday, around half of the US adult population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This great news comes at an equally great time, considering the CDC has also changed their guidelines to coincide with the vaccination numbers, saying that social distancing and mask-wearing are no longer required for fully vaccinated individuals. So, many offices and companies are taking this time period to decide how they will be approaching the imminent return to the office space. But that doesn’t mean that the office design will be identical to how it was when we all left in Spring 2020. In fact, many office furniture experts have been rethinking the entire concept of office furniture design to better replicate the home conditions many workers thrived in for a year or so. Therefore, it’s very important to take a look at accommodating office furniture for all sorts of different workers. Here are a few suggestions of office furniture to use in your office to better accommodate the post-pandemic workspace.
Consider Noise Blocking Office Furniture
Many people during the pandemic grew accustomed to working in their home offices without noise or interruption from other coworkers. Many office workers found that the silence and privacy kept them focused on tasks for longer, as well as not having to constantly be annoyed by noises or conversations happening elsewhere. Therefore, the office furniture you choose should reflect that quality for your workers. Over the course of the pandemic, plenty of acoustic-oriented office furniture was developed that actually absorbs as much sound as possible, making for a much more comfortable experience.
Allow for More Expression and Sense of Self
One other factor of working from home that employees may miss when working in an office is the sense of self-expression they were allowed in a home office. This rings especially true for employees that may have had to convert a personal spare room into a home office at the last minute but became used to the little bits and pieces of chaos reflected in the thrown-together home office furniture. So, it may be wise to allow your employees to decorate their desks or cubicles with little home photos or trinkets that remind them that at the end of the day, they are a person as much as they are an employee.
Easily Cleaned Office Furniture Surfaces
Lastly, we all learned during the pandemic just how quickly an illness could spread. Some employees may still experience relative discomfort returning to work, even if vaccinated. Therefore, all new office furniture should be easy to clean and sanitize to the employee’s personal standards for both better comfort and work production.
Choose Edwards & Hill for Your Office Furniture and Design Needs
Are you ready to redesign your office to maximize productivity and creative thinking? Edwards & Hill can help you design and install the perfect designs for your business. Edwards & Hill is a leading office, education, medical, and hospitality furniture provider with high-quality design and installation services for any style or scale. We have our headquarters in Annapolis Junction, Maryland, as well as another convenient office location in St. Louis, Missouri. If you are ready to get your office design started, contact us online or give us a call at 301-317-4250. For the St. Louis office, please call 314-797-5077. For more furniture design tips, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Flickr, and YouTube.
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