6 Boxes to Tick While Looking for a Designer to do your Office
Epic offices like Google may not be ideal for your office – and a designer who does not understand the difference may create more trouble than it’s worth!
- Are you looking for a quick fix? Pick a contractor, preferably the one who did the office in the first place. If that is not an option, ask your neighbours to refer someone who’s been working in the area. Get referred to a reliable person who will not overcharge or disappear while you deal with the debris! Hint: get a designer friend to suggest ideas.
- Is it a long term solution? You might want to check if the designer has an experience with the scale you are looking for. If it’s way smaller than what they are usually doing, chances are you will not get priority – and that may not end well. if it is larger than what they are used to, you may not get the requisite skill sets to do a trouble free job.
- Is the location in a “trouble” zone? Heritage buildings or certain areas like Fort in Mumbai or Connaught Place in Delhi have many restrictions on what is allowed, when it’s allowed, how to do it, amongst others. Here you definitely need someone with knowledge of old buildings, rules and compliances, and most of all – people skills – who will make the process of designing and supervising the execution hassle-free for you.
- Do you have high attrition in your office? Get yourself an experiential designer who will give your team a workplace they can be really comfortable in, one they will want to come to every day. Here it’s the smallest details that count, and can make a huge difference to your retention of staff.
- Is the productivity in your office low? Again, an experiential designer will collate information about your current work ethos and processes, and streamline the design to ensure connectivity, visual open-ness while maintaining audio privacy!
- Do you require very specific industry knowledge? Get referred to someone who has done the same kind of office with satisfied clients who have a functional space and are happy with the result.
Different spaces need different skill sets. No matter what the office or workspace is like, it’s important to have a happy, functional office with light and ventilation (natural, wherever possible, easy to maintain and easy to navigate.The two biggies – staff that want to stay, and staff that are productive – are a direct result of well designed office spaces.
