With so many office cubicle partitions on the market, where does one begin? Many of us have been working from home since last April and are now only beginning to return to the office. Many companies are having to reconfigure their workspaces and invest in entirely new workstations. The choices in desk options, ergonomic seating, and workstation panels can feel overwhelming. With new COVID safety shields and a continued need for social distancing in the office, the selection process is even more complex.
This is why Cubicle World offers free space planning to help organizations make the right selections. When it comes to office cubicle partitions, our designers follow three basic guidelines to help customers choose the very best panels for their cubicle systems.
1. Acoustics
There is no such thing as a completely silent office. Some type of noise is always heard in the background because activities of any kind generate sound. People move around and talk as part of their jobs, and almost no one works completely alone. Considering this, we can expect to always hear sound in the background whether we work in sales, customer support, accounting, or design.
There is a difference however, between normal background sound and noise pollution. Noise pollution, by the simplest definition, is background noise that overwhelms thought and impedes the flow of conversation. This can quickly damage the customer experience—especially if the customer can hear the noise over the phone and it can absolutely kill an inside sales deal. Professionals working directly with customers need superior soundproofing to prevent business relationships from being destabilized by the appearance of chaos in the room.
In response to this need, office cubicle partitions play a vital role as sound buffers in today’s busy workspace. Panels are often constructed around cores of acoustical dampening that bock out surrounding conversations and room noise. An additional layer of sound buffering comes from fabric overlays that cover the panel exterior, creating an effective barrier within the enclosed space of the workstation.
Cubicle World space planners help customers determine just how much soundproofing each workstation actually requires. Our designers then help customers choose affordable materials with which to construct their panels.
2. Privacy The original purpose of the office cubicle partition was to create a private enclosure for each employee. In the early part of the 20th century, before the term “open office” was coined by designers, most employees worked in a large, open room filled with rows of desks. Only management worked in private offices. Back in those days, too, people did not have computers. Everyone had a typewriter and a rotary dial phone on his or her desk. Workers were constantly bombarded from all directions by the sounds of dialing, talking, and constant typing that filled the room. Even worse, everyone could see everyone else around them, which led to idle conversation and busybody types interfering with coworker task completion. Gossip, overstepping, and backstabbing often abounded in these little boundary-free environments.
Office cubicles were envisioned to create appropriate boundaries between professionals. Workers now saw only their own desks as opposed to those of their coworkers. This encouraged everyone to focus on his or her own job (not someone else’s). It also empowered many people who had always wished they were in management and could have their own office. Granted, a cubicle is not a formal office, but it sufficiently resembles one and creates a greater sense of individuality and purpose than a desk in a row of desks that all appear the same.
Different types of jobs require office cubicle partitions of various heights. There is no such thing as a “one size fits all” partition. People who interact with coworkers need panels that are lower to the ground so they can conference with one another when necessary. Employees who work mostly over the phone, or who do complex tasks on a computer, need taller cubicle partitions that give them maximum privacy.
Cubicle World space planners will help customers size their panels appropriate to the job description of each individual worker. Space planning is free, so please take advantage of this service when contacting our team.
3. Lighting
Lighting is perhaps the most important factor to consider when choosing office cubicle partitions. Unfortunately, it is the one factor that office managers overlook the most when selecting panels for their workstations. We all know that natural light both feels better and is much brighter than overhead fluorescent panel lights. It is also free because no one can put a meter on the sun, so many companies try to lease a suite with lots of windows that can flood the room with light and help them minimize electric lighting costs.
Problems arise, however, when too much natural light creates glare on people’s computer screens. Glare not only distracts workers; it also strains the eyes and can cause very bad headaches in many people. Glare can be drastically minimized, and often eliminated, however, by installing office cubicle partitions that allow just enough light into the workspace to illuminate the interior without reflecting off the monitor back into the worker’s eyes. Panels constructed with frosted or fluted glass windows diffuse the light as it passes through them, softening the luminance just enough to fill the space but not reflect off the monitor.
Cubicle World designers help customers choose the right office cubicle partitions by analyzing the amount of natural light coming into the office, the size of the individual workstation, and the nature of the individual’s job. Glass partition windows may not be necessary for certain instances, while in others they may need to be positioned at a specific height.
Keeping these three factors in mind while working with a Cubicle World space planner will make it possible to choose office cubicle partitions that easily fit the functional requirement of task completion and contribute the appropriate aesthetic to the workspace. In today’s market, there are always multiple options at varying price points, so guided selection also ensures the procurement remains affordable for companies of all sizes and types. Give us a call now and get started on a new beginning with Cubicle World.
For A Free Office Cubicle Partition Quote Call 713-412-3090