DESIGNING A HOME OFFICE THAT WORKS

The work-from-home honeymoon started to go stale for most of us at about five weeks of doing it full-time. Before the crisis only 5% of us typically worked from home most of the time, and 71% of us worked at home on occasion — less than two days a month according to a recent Steelcase study. When we found ourselves suddenly there all-day, every day, we just weren’t prepared for what lay ahead.

“ONLY ABOUT ONE THIRD OF THE PEOPLE WE SURVEYED REPORT THEY WERE ABLE TO WORK EFFECTIVELY.”

Caroline Kelly
Steelcase WorkSpace Futures Manager

“People faced a lot of challenges that impacted both their engagement and productivity,” says Caroline Kelly, Steelcase WorkSpace Future manager. A global Steelcase study found that people who have access to the right furniture and work tools, are significantly more engaged, more productive and feel they have the resources they need to do their work.

“The sudden nature of the pandemic forced people to make due with what they had — a dining table, the couch, even their bed,” says Kelly. “But now that many people will continue to work from home in some capacity in the future, it’s important to provide them with ergonomic seating and effective work tools to be comfortable and productive and help avoid injury from poor posture, repetitive movements, eye strain, etc.”

TIPS FOR CREATING WORK-FROM-HOME SPACES

For most organizations, our homes will become part of an expanded ecosystem of places where people will continue to work some of the time. While everyone faces their own set of challenges and home sizes can vary drastically, providing ergonomic support and maximizing space — even small ones — help create workspaces at home that are more comfortable, enhance productivity and boost wellbeing.

Home Inspiration

These home offices are designed to help you work better at home — whether you work in a small, shared space, a large dedicated office or an enhanced living space, you won’t mind working in one of these home offices:

SMALL SPACES

A productive office in a compact area, transforms rooms into hard-working spaces.

Enhanced Living Spaces

Upgrade a current living space to accommodate the demands of work to make the workday more productive.