Since the open-plan “bullpen office” of the early 1900s, and even since the mid-1960s advent of Herman Miller’s and Robert Propst’s Action Office workstation—the prototype for today’s modern office cubicles—the office workstation has come a long way. Additionally, as it accounts for $3 billion dollars in annual sales, the cubicle doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon either. Without a doubt, this is heavily due to just how versatile and adaptive a lot of today’s workstations actually are. With the various ways that individuals and groups work effectively in a variety of industries, no single modern office cubicle will conform to all business and office settings.
This can especially ring true of today’s office workers in more creative industries, such as design, gaming, advertising, fashion design, publishing, and other various arts. Because individuals in these industries don’t often conform to the stifling spaces of more traditional cubicles, modern office cubicles have responded to their tendencies towards the free-form ideas that get their creative juices flowing.
The blended office layout, mingling open- and closed-concept floor plans, has come to be a common modern office cubicle solution. Recent interest in an office reminiscent of the Taylorist bullpen style has put all employees into a single room without privacy. Today, the lack of privacy intends to create a collaborative and informal feel, yet studies have found employees to be too distracted to work effectively. On the other hand, a closed concept using dividing elements offers personal privacy and individual initiative, but not without alienating many workers. Therefore, a modern office cubicle layout design that marries the best of both worlds. It gives adequate attention to individual privacy needs but understands the importance of communication among staff, particularly where teamwork is essential to the culture of the business. Even clusters of open-concept modern office cubicles can give a feel of collaboration on a small scale, with use of low partitions and dividers between individual workstations.
A lot of modern office cubicles can also be private or semi-private, where higher-than-usual partitions and even operable doors give a greater level of privacy than a traditional cubicle. These days, the average office worker isn’t to be overlooked for this form of work-space. This is especially true in the more creative industries which have seen the emergence of high-performance employees (HPEs), tasked as the culture-shapers, innovators, and designers of their respective companies. Half of these employees studied had reported the need for more privacy in order to be productive, due to too much distraction, leading some modern office cubicles to mimic the private office that was once the realm of higher-level management.
Probably one of the more interesting and useful types of modern office cubicle is not much of a cubicle at all but can be configured like one if need be. The standing desk, which is fairly self-explanatory, is nonetheless one that allows an employee to do his or her work while standing up. Particularly those that are adjustable in height are perfect where more progressive businesses embrace the health benefits of the less sedentary office worker. Their variable height allows them to comply to ergonomic standards on work-surface heights for when employees want to sit as well, especially when well-paired with an ergonomically designed adjustable-height stool. Standing desks can be made more or less private, singular or clustered, with the use of standing partitions. This leads to an inexpensive, easy-to-arrange modern office cubicle layout that promotes employee health and activity. At the same time, the no-fuss ability to adjust to the various comfort and privacy needs of the individual means a workstation that won’t stand in the way of the creative process.
Call Cubiture to discuss how these and other modern office cubicles can work with the unique needs of your business and office space. We also offer any quotes free of charge and with no obligation to purchase.
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