Office Screens/Partitions

Office Partitions
If you are buying office partitions for a large or small team of people, it is a major purchase, and one you don’t often make. You will probably, therefore, need to think carefully about your needs before making a selection.
1. Consult Your Staff
The first thing to consider when buying and setting up office partitions is whether they will do the job you want them to do. They should be planned primarily to add to the efficiency and productivity of your workplace, helping people to work together as a team, while retaining some individual privacy. You can achieve such a compromise by having each person’s workstation planned around the recognition of the need for
privacy, while also arranging the modular furniture to give the staff plenty of opportunity for communication. As the staff will be using the modular office furniture, you should first make sure that each person will be satisfied with his or her individual space, and then happy with the
overall effect. This is especially important when you are organizing the purchase and arrangements of office partitions to serve as call centre furniture or for use in similar environments where people will spend most of their day. If the staff members are happy with their surroundings, they will be happier, work better and more productively.
Before deciding on the office partitions you want, let your staff know what you are planning, and invite opinions. They may have personal experience of using office partitions in other workplaces and could have valuable information to contribute. As they will be spending a lot of time working in the new environment, they should be able to help with the selection.
2. Built To Last
Office partitions should last a long time. You may, in fact, go shopping for them only once, so you should make the most of the opportunity. While you will be able to ask the advice of the supplier of your modular furniture, you will first need to provide some information about your office space and staff.
Measure the space where you want the office partitions to be installed or contact your partition provider to ask for their help, and make a note of the workstation numbers you will require. It will also help the partition provider to know the tasks of your employees, in order to determine the size and location of each area. Some people may need extra space to conduct interviews. Others may need office partitions that provide space for only a desk and phone. If you are buying call centre furniture, for example, the office partitions will not need to be as large as those you
would require for a group of people who do a lot of paperwork. When working out the cost of buying office partitions, remember to include the price of delivery and installation. Ask if the company you are dealing with does its own installations. It is preferable if it does, as this will ensure that you receive direct, personal service throughout the operation, rather than having to deal with a third party.
3. Flexibility
One of the great assets of office partitions is their adaptability. If you expect your business to grow, you can plan to use modular furniture that you will be able to expand when your need for office space and storage increases. As your needs alter, therefore, you can change your modular office furniture to keep pace with those needs.
The office partitions you buy can also be adapted if your business stays the same size, but your focus changes. This may mean redesigning the workspace, but that is no problem at all with modular furniture, whether your work equipment involves a single workstation with partition or a large amount of partitions and furniture. As well as being built to last, office partitions are capable of growing and changing with your business and making life extremely easy when changes are required. Their mobility
means that changing things around is not difficult.
When you are adding to your modular office furniture, it is a good idea to continue buying the same brand of partitions and preferably the same colour. If you buy a different brand, you will find they are not interchangeable with the modular furniture you already have. This could cause problems with office partitions and other items, so try to stay with one make of modular office furniture, as your business grows and changes.
4. Noise Reduction
Among their many advantages, office partitions can help reduce noise, especially when your modular furniture system is designed carefully and for this purpose. This is an important benefit, particularly if you are planning the workstation layout for call centre furniture or a similarly large organisation. The constant noise level in such spaces can be distracting, and even, in the long term, stressful for some employees.
The more you can do to reduce these noise levels, the better.
While helping to reduce noise in the right conditions, the provision of office partitions will not eliminate the noise completely. You can, however, make design choices that help diminish the noise level to a large extent. Remember, for example, when installing office partitions, that the noise reduction will be less, if your office includes such design features as glass surfaces and melamine panels that have an adverse effect on noise absorption efficiency. Some ceiling systems, on the other hand, are designed to absorb a great percentage of the noise in a busy office, making each partition area more comfortable for its occupant. Including acoustical panels or screens in your fit out will help prevent noise
travelling between staff. Another way to assist with noise reduction between spaces is to have transparent partitions fitted above the acoustical panels. This addition to your office partitions ensures natural light, while also helping to keep noise levels down. Remember not all partition systems have acoustic benefits and you need to ask your provider for their systems, acoustic features and construction methods and materials.
5. Advantages Of Office Partitions
In addition to helping reduce noise in the office, office partitions make it possible for staff to work without the distractions that would occur in a totally open environment. While still having easy access to their colleagues, people also have the benefit of the degree of workstation privacy that modular office furniture provides. In this way, the
partition creates an extremely workable compromise, enabling staff to work quietly when they need to concentrate, and when appropriate, to enjoy the communication and socialisation that is part of working in an open plan office environment. While taking up little space, modular furniture has the advantage of offering plenty of storage space for its users. Screen partitions can be provided with such storage options as wheeled pedestals, wall cabinets, or shelving and filing drawers. Freestanding bookshelves can also be provided within these spaces. When these storage options are configurable, the people using the space can set them up the way they want and in the positions that are most convenient for them. When buying office cubicles, ask about other optional extras. Some of these include glass, shelving, cable management, task lighting, and even coat hangers. It all helps to make life comfortable for you.
6. Maximizing Space
Whether you are equipping a home office with a single workstation, or buying enough office screen partitions to serve as open plan furniture, you should make the most of your purchase. As well as spending only as much money as necessary on your modular office furniture, you will also want to know that you are maximizing the space available to you. This applies to both small and large spaces, which need equal care expended on the selection and arrangement of the modular furniture provided for them.
With the wealth of modular office furniture available, it would be easy to over-buy, but if you are just starting to provide yourself with office partitions and other modular equipment, you would be wise to buy carefully. Try making a list of the minimum purchases you need to make. This may be as minimal as one setting or enough settings for a larger fit out. If you need just one setting for yourself, think about how you want to organise your work area to maximise the space available. If you are
buying for your staff, consider where their various office settings need to be placed so they can communicate. Engage a space planner if required.
7. Ergonomics
The importance of ergonomics cannot be underestimated, whether you are buying call center furniture or equipping a workstation in a small home office. As well as setting up office cubicles to be as efficient and comfortable as possible for their users, you need to think about ergonomic issues. In addition to increasing comfort, modular furniture that is designed and arranged with ergonomics in mind can help lessen the risk of workplace injury, in turn reducing claims for workers’ compensation. If you work from home without proper office equipment, you may find it helpful to provide yourself with an office cubicle. While you may not think it worth the expense of buying modular office furniture for one person, it is quite likely you will notice the physical benefits of using an efficiently set up workstation, rather than straining your back by sitting at the dining room table with your laptop. You will probably also notice other benefits such as increased productivity and concentration. By setting up a professional office atmosphere for yourself, you should be able to work more efficiently, as well as more comfortably. When providing office partitions for staff or for yourself, you will find it helpful to
investigate the variety of ergonomic advice and equipment available. The height of desks and the design of keyboard, or paper handling space can help with the avoidance of strain to the back, neck, and wrists. Arm, foot, and wrist rests along with height adjustable chairs are also available to avoid injuries.
8. Making Decisions
When buying office partitions, there are a number of things to consider to be sure you obtain the right equipment at the right price. One of the great advantages of some modular furniture is its flexibility, and you will need to be sure that the equipment you are buying will be as flexible as you require. If, for example, there is any possibility at all that you may move to new premises in the future, find out how flexible the modular office furniture you are considering will be, should you make that move. There is no guarantee that the new space will be the same shape as the office area you now occupy, so find out if your modular furniture can be reconfigured in case this happens. You will also need to make decisions about the size of your office work spaces. If, for example, Different workstation sizes are required for different office situations you may need a variety of sizes depending on the type of work performed by the staff using the space, with some office possibly large enough to accommodate two or more occupants. The height of the office partitions you buy is another matter to consider. Discuss this with your employees before making a decision. Some people like partitions that are high enough to provide privacy whether they are sitting at their desks or standing up,
while others prefer a lower height that makes interaction easy.
9. Setting Up
The main purpose of choosing workspaces with partitions is to enable people to work as efficiently as possible; the workstation and screen partitions need to be set up appropriately. When you are arranging to have modular office furniture installed in a large area, issues such as telephone and computer connections and their cabling need to be organised well before the installation dates. It is crucial to bring together
the furniture manufacturer and the electrical/data service providers to plan the fit out well in advance. For this, you can ask the advice of your modular furniture designer, or if you run a large company, employ an interior designer. The interior designer will help with the space planning, from the point of view of both aesthetics and convenience. Before making a final decision, ask to see a variety of computerised versions of the proposed office layout. This will help you determine that
your modular office furniture is as well organized as possible. Check that the office furniture modules are arranged in the best possible way for the purposes of your team, and if you plan to increase the size of your business within the same premises, discuss the possibility of leaving space for more office cubicles to be installed when that growth occurs.
Check out http://www.newvision.co.nz/ for all your Office Screen & Partition needs.