5 Desk Layout Ideas for a Productive Office in 2024

If you’re looking forward to renovating your current workstation during this year, here we’ll present you with some of the best desk layout ideas you can take into account.

There are different ways to build a productive workspace. Although the needs may vary from one organization to another, you should consider that research has demonstrated that our work environment greatly impacts our motivation and productivity.

Hence, if you’d like your workforce to be the best versions of themselves, keeping an organized workplace can contribute to their wellbeing.

With that being said, here you have some desk layout ideas you can take into account while renovating your office.

Best Office Desk Layouts – From Small to Large Businesses

1.  Office cubicles

Most large corporations use office cubicles to maximize the space usage at the workstation. It provides enough space and privacy to each worker while leaving enough room for collaboration in the long term.

There are different office cubicles available. Some of them have cabinets and desks integrated, and some of them include noise cancellation properties to ensure focus throughout the whole workday.

Office cubicles can work in any business type, be it small or large. It gives a professional touch to the office and allows you to divide the workspace into different sections – that is if you have different teams working in the same place. Furthermore, despite their "bulky" appearance, office cubicles are actually lightweight and sturdy, ensuring their preservation in the long term.

2.  Private offices

Private offices often work better for large organizations and are better for businesses that often deal with legal issues or health-related consultations. Thus, private offices are meant to ensure privacy and confidentiality among the workers and the clients. You can ensure this factor by providing each room with soundproofing features.

While it can be advantageous, private offices can take a lot of space and planning to build. You are bound to construct separate rooms with distinct lighting and electric power sources, which can be cost-ineffective.

This office desk placement can be effective, but it can also lead to employees feeling isolated from their coworkers. If you'd like to make sure that everyone bonds as a team, you should consider adding a lounge area where everyone can come together, build relationships and relax from the office's bustle.

3.  Open space workstation layout

This is one of the best layouts for office desk. Open spaces have been around for several years, and although their effectiveness is still subject to debate, it can be better for organizations of any size whose workforce is mostly composed of millennials.

This office desk placement implies having all office desks grouped in the same room, ensuring open communication and collaboration among all employees. It’s also worth noting that open spaces often require larger spaces, and to ensure that each worker is comfortable, you must ensure privacy with screen panel dividers, for instance.

Another note to keep in mind is that, since everyone is sharing the same space, it is important to ensure that it has good natural and artificial lighting.

Open office layout can be excellent for open communication and collaboration, but as mentioned, they may not be as effective as you expect if you own a larger business. The whole environment can be noisy, which can cause concentration problems in certain workers.

4.  Team cluster

Corporate firms and advertising agencies can benefit the most from team clusters, among many other organizations. Thanks to this layout, you’ll be able to ensure collaboration between all of the members of a particular team, like office cubicles do.

Another aspect in common that team clusters have with office cubicles is that they maximize the space usage in the whole office.

5.  Low partition layout

Here is another interesting desk layout idea you can consider. Some people believe that cubicles may be restricting or non-inclusive. In that case, perhaps a low partition workstation layout can work better for your business. You can think of it as the “modern” version of the traditional office cubicles.

Each partition has a lower height that ensures easy interaction and enough privacy at the same time. Furthermore, it allows the entrance of natural and artificial light from different angles, ensuring a clear vision and all the benefits associated with good lighting at the workplace.

Low partition layouts are excellent for open communication, but they also offer enough privacy so each employee can focus on their individual tasks. The main downside is that these low partitions are not soundproof.

How to Decide the Best Desk Layout Idea for Your Business

If you can't decide what desk layout ideas could be better for your organization, here we have some considerations you can evaluate before deciding on one of the above-mentioned layouts.

Amount of group projects

Evaluate the departments present in your workplace and the number of collaborative projects they tend to complete during a determined time frame. If you find out that collaboration tends to be prominent in your workspace, perhaps the business could benefit more from an open office space layout, which is characterized for ensuring open communication.

Noise

All businesses have determined employees that work better on their own. If that’s the case, they may have some troubles while trying to concentrate, which means that they need to have an individual space where they can concentrate on their tasks. If this hits home, perhaps your business could benefit more from cubicles or maybe private offices.

Privacy concerns

Some businesses tend to deal with classified information and confidential documents whenever they interact with their clients. If that’s your case, private offices with soundproofing features are the best option, a soundproof work pod for example.

Conclusion

There are different desk layouts ideas you can take into account, and all of them can be effective or ineffective based on the nature of your business. It is important to evaluate your organization and the approach to work it usually has to make sure that the layout you’ve chosen is effective for the whole workforce.

Alternatively, you can also opt for running a poll and find out what your employees think the best layout for the office is. It’ll give you a clearer idea of what could work better in your organization.