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Guest or side seating

This recommendation contributes to improvements in
Individual Workspace

Leading organizations see the value of chance encounters between employees. Many workplaces such as Google, Yahoo,  Facebook, and Samsung have created workplaces that allow for hallway discussions and “collisions” between people. By offering an extra chair in the workspace, employees are able to quickly and informally interact. Extra seating can help access and expand the important resource of the social network in the office and potentially for collaboration across disciplines. Innovation can be supported simply by adding guest seating within the workspace.

 

Provide guest seating for quick informal meetings. This can be simple, like using mobile storage with cushions and other side seating that are comfortable for a short period of time.  Supporting employees’ spontaneous interactions (without booking meeting spaces) fosters collaboration and innovation.

1

Think of workspaces as yet another place that can be designed to encourage spontaneous interactions and enhance chance encounters.

2

Consider adding guest seating in the form of cushions on storage elements, or extra chairs.

Read more

If you want to learn more, we suggest the following resources:

Ben Waber, Jennifer Magnolfi, Greg Lindsay.  Workspaces that Move People. Harvard Business Review. October 2014.

Dana Coester. How to Design Workspaces that Spur Collaboration. October 2017. 

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