The open plan creative office space is a staple for many modern workplaces. With their open design and fun break areas featuring ping pong tables and hammocks, the theory is that this openness can encourage collaboration and make us more productive. Companies like Google swear by them, and studies back this up.

And the truth is, you don't need MAANG money to invest in a creative office space. You can kit out even a small office with in-house amenities, although you might need to skip the workout facilities, and spaces for meditation and power naps.

Even if catered lunches and building-wide bean bag chairs are not in your plan, there still are tons of other ways to make your office space innovative and creatively inspired.

Lets find out how to make your office space into a more creative space.

Right out of the gate, here’s something you won’t find in many other office spaces, but that can take your modern office space to a whole new level.

Transform the office lobby or common area into an engaging hub of information with an interactive digital directory. What you’ll need? Install large displays equipped with intuitive navigation features to help visitors and employees with everything from wayfinding to information updates.

The display can help people locate the next meeting room, departments, amenities, and points of interest within the office. And with some customization, you can even incorporate dynamic content like upcoming events, company announcements, and real-time weather updates.

The water cooler is famed for being the spot to catch up with coworkers and discuss events around the office. Your business can encourage this kind of informal camaraderie by transforming the water cooler area into a creative space that supports employee productivity, well-being, and creative living.

Placing content in this zone can engage employees while they’re grabbing water, or making a cup of coffee. The content, of course, will come from a digital signage screen. Curate relevant content, whack it into a playlist, and give people a potentially endless supply of conversation.

Desklodge coworking space has implemented this exact strategy, helping different companies to meet each other and share skills. According to the company,

“The most popular screens that we have are the ones above the kettle. People are stood there waiting and they're hanging around for a couple of minutes - having the screen right there engages people.

They’ll say "oh look there’s you, I didn’t know you were doing that". So people within the coworking spaces will end up meeting each other. I don’t think they’ll ever realize that it was through the screens that they met but it helps people to naturally know what’s going on without having to interrupt them.

Of all the ways we connect people, it’s by far the simplest and the most successful that we’ve tried so far.”

Some of the content you might put on your screen include:

The most interesting posts from the company’s social media feed

Dr Craig Knight, who studies the psychology of workplace environments, found that people who worked within a cool office design containing art and plants were 15% more productive than those without. But that’s not even the most surprising thing about the result. Participants that were allowed to choose the art and plants’ location had double the productivity!

We’ve covered this workplace productivity extensively, from using digital signage to boost engagement, to increasing productivity on the manufacturing floor.

Now, it’s time to add two more items to your arsenal – creatively inspiring plants and art. One strategy is to make it a collaborative effort and ask everyone to contribute their ideas on:

How often, if at all, they should be replaced

No, we don’t mean a custom-made composition like the Mac Startup Sound (although wouldn’t that be fun?) We mean more a collection of sounds and music that reflect the preferences of your business’ employees.

An easy way to do this is through a tool like Spotify. Once you set one up, anyone with a Spotify account (even a free one) can access your playlist and join the office jam session (quietly with their own headphones, of course). This helps even those working remotely to tune into the office sound and feel connected.

Speaking of team achievements, another great way to upgrade your office space is employee recognition boards. These are simple to make; you just need details about the employee you wish to recognize, digital signage software, and display screens, and you’re good to go.

The goal of employee recognition boards is to create an aesthetically pleasing environment that gives well-deserved accolades and shout-outs to workers who demonstrate excellence and innovation.

Amazing offices also encourage some peer-to-peer recognition and allow anyone to be nominated for their work. This can foster a culture of appreciation, plus, get people working collaboratively.

Learn more about setting up an employee recognition wall here.

You have 100 points to give away to your colleagues: who do you give them to and why?

This is what Bonusly does. It gives employees a way to get involved with company games and challenges which focus on recognition for those who have done something smart, or kind, or cool.

It’s another approach to the peer-to-peer employee recognition idea we discussed earlier. By letting people award their colleagues with deserving points, collaboration rises, and creativity will follow after, according to HBR.

Using the Bonusly app to share your points boards on a digital screen in your office

Set up a “prize station”. Every employee (or the company) can donate a prize like a book, an unused gift set or even a voucher for their time, that winners can pick from

Set up a gaming or quiz area where people can compete to win additional points or prizes

Consider the most comfortable working environment for most people; usually, it’s our home, a cool café or somewhere you love working like an upstart library space. Why? Because these environments are designed for comfort. This is one of the biggest reasons people enjoy working from home.

You can take inspiration from this when designing your office space. What items, areas, or refreshments would you need to create this relaxed and comfortable vibe?

Some soft music playing in the background? Delicious coffee? Comfy chairs? All of these could be small tweaks to help you redesign your office space into something far more welcoming. Consider incorporating office furniture that is both functional and stylish to enhance the overall atmosphere.

Still on the idea of making your office space as comfortable as possible, especially in small spaces, another great idea is creative nooks. These are secluded and relaxing areas where employees can explore their creativity.

You could also supply your creative nooks with art supplies, brainstorming materials, and comfortable seating to make it as appealing as possible.

To take your creative nooks one step further, host workshops or brainstorming sessions in these areas to leverage the environment but also to encourage people to actually use them.

Flexible workstations can empower employees to quickly and easily adapt their workspaces to suit their needs. The most common examples are sit-stand desks that let you swap your working position quickly, and ergonomic office chairs that make working in one position more comfortable. These are really good for worker posture and discourage sedentary behavior.

Studies have even shown that these desks help reduce stress and fatigue, and boost energy throughout the day!

Other ideas for flexible workspaces include movable partitions and modular furniture that can be easily reconfigured to accommodate different team sizes and projects.

This is one of those office ideas that helps kill two birds with one stone. In smart offices, using your digital signage screens to display real-time performance metrics throughout the office space can ensure that everyone stays aware of the tasks at hand and can steer their efforts accordingly.

Your business can also use data visualization tools like Grafana to create dynamic dashboards that track key performance metrics, project milestones, and team goals in real time. Plus, if you enable employees to access personalized dashboards on mobile, they can monitor their progress from anywhere!

11. Increase natural lighting and ventilation

Sometimes, the amount of natural light in a space comes down to the base architecture; you can’t exactly add more windows. But, there are other cool office design hacks that can be just as helpful.

Studies have shown that people who get more natural light exposure during the day tend to have longer and better sleep, improved physical activity, and higher quality of life. This shows that there are only positives in increasing the amount of natural light that makes its way into your offices.

Here are some ways to maximize the amount of natural light making its way into your office:

Maximize window space by keeping windows clean and unobstructed

Optimize office space layout by moving workstations closer to the light sources and using glass dividers

Incorporate outdoor workspaces and break areas where possible

If you have access to an outdoor space, you can also incorporate walking or standing meetings into the schedule to improve outdoors time.

Studies like this have shown the profound effect of colors on overall productivity. When considering small office design ideas, using light colors can create a spacious and bright environment, potentially increasing productivity. In the study, the researchers picked three office colors – white, red, and blue-green – and tested which ones led to better outcomes for workers.

They measured productivity through task performance and found that the more time was spent around each of these colors, the more of an effect it had on workers.

Another study suggests that workers in blue-colored environments had higher depression rates while those in red-colored offices had greater anxiety and stress scores.

The study does not declare that red and blue office spaces equal poor work environments. In fact, some other studies have found that green can inspire innovation (source) and the color blue helps people channel their creativity (source).

The major takeaway here is that colors can impact the flow of creative juices in your workspace. Aim for a workplace interior that feels fun, relaxing, and inspiring using a combination of colors.

Read More: How Successful Teams Create Fun at Work

Gamification can get people engaging and interacting in whole new ways, adding a new element of creativity to your space. You can take things even further by using digital signage to supercharge some of these elements.

For example, incorporate some daily trivia during break times to get people to discuss and think. Display new ones on your digital signage daily, and offer rewards for the winner to encourage some healthy competition.

Another idea is to hold an activity challenge for everyone. Have departments compete against each other for who can get in the most weekly steps. Display daily progress on office digital signage to keep everyone on their toes. 

Making the most of your office design ideas

A creative and open space can breathe new life into your company and kick things to a new level of creativity. However, there’s also a risk of investing all those resources to set up a space only to find that it doesn’t meet your workforce’s needs. Or worse, to discover that nobody uses them.

Try these 3 tips to maximize the benefits of your creative office space ideas.

Encourage flexibility in your small business office space

The thing about creativity is that there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy. In fact, the one-size-fits-all approach is often the very opposite of creativity. That’s why it’s important to let employees customize their workspace based on their needs and preferences.

Their version of comfort may be styling their creative nooks differently or collaborating in outdoor break areas. Having flexibility can allow everyone to grow comfortable with their creative and different workspaces.

One way to encourage creativity in office spaces is accepting, and even celebrating, risk-taking and experimentation. Out-of-the-box ideas won't always pan out, and may even fail in spectacular ways. But encouraging employees to explore these will keep challenging the norms and find new, better ways to work.

Your business can also provide workshops, design challenges, and innovation labs that let workers creatively express themselves. 

Often, the goal of improving the workspace is to raise overall worker well-being and productivity. Another easy way to do that, according to research, is prioritizing the work life balance.

Some of that may involve dedicating particular spaces to relaxation, mindfulness, and unwinding. But that also includes structures created for “outside the office” like flexible work arrangements and remote work options.

Whether your business is based in a small workspace or multiple locations, ScreenCloud's office digital signage software fits into modern office design effortlessly.

Digital signage is a powerful tool in the modern open office, with functionality as diverse as improving communication to adding creative inspiration. And because most offices have screens mounted on walls or spare monitors gathering dust, digital signage makes use of these resources.

How can you make your office space more fun? We look at creative office space ideas to improve productivity and collaboration in your workplace.

13 Creative Office Space Design Ideas for Your Workplace

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