The Best Home Office Desk Layout for Ergonomic

Many businesses all around have wondered just how to make their employees comfortable while working for them both in the office and from home. Ergonomic office settings are designed with employees in mind. An ergonomic home office desk layout can accomplish this too. 

The furniture used is meant to improve posture and increase work productivity. Employees experience less fatigue as well as discomfort and all of this leads to a more productive employee. Before deciding what ergonomic furniture to use, one must consider the space available to determine the best home office layout.

Throughout this article, discover different ways to style your home office with ergonomic furnishings, learn the benefits of hot-desking, and how to set your office up in a way that works. 

It’s All About Location, Location, Location!

When setting up a home office for work, it is important to figure out just how much space is needed. If you are using a spare closet, you want to avoid placing oversized furniture here or even over-furnishing the space as it could become tight and uncomfortable to maneuver about. On the contrary, spare full-sized rooms allow you many different options for home office desk layout while allowing your creative side to pour through the design. 

Desks have traditionally been placed in areas where there are minimal distractions and this works for many employees. Some other workers provide their best work in busy environments. When it comes to home office desk placement, you should place your desk in a certain area that you believe is conducive to your work ethic. 

The luxury of extra living spaces is not available to everyone. In scenarios such as this, one should designate a space away from anyone else that is strictly for work. The corner of a living room can be used for such purposes. The area in the home office desk layout can be set apart from the rest of the space with a room divider if one wishes to or requires one. This idea can be applied to any other room that lacks privacy for work. 

What Kind of Ergonomic Furniture Works Best for Home Offices?

There is a range of standing desks that are made to suit the needs of any individual. Smart desks as part of the home office desk layout allow the user to adjust the height from a sedentary position to a standing position. Studies have shown that several employees and business owners alike conduct their best work when there is a variation in how it gets done.

Many of the desks come equipped with state-of-the-art controls to make work easier. Taking into account a standing desk home office layout, the cost of purchasing a smart desk may cause many prospects to shy away. If price is the only concern, one can invest in an adjustable standing desk frame of which the owner can use their hardware to merge into the frame. 

Choose an ergonomic chair that promotes physical health. The purpose of ergonomic chairs is to help improve posture. This chair relieves back pain, hip pressure, and neck pain. Users also get the added benefit of blood circulation improvements. Adding an ergonomic chair to the smart desk improves work production as well. 

How To Create the Ideal Ergonomic Home Office

A bit of elbow grease is required to have the best office desk setup. After deciding where the desk is to be placed in your home office desk layout, one should adjust their desk to their desired height. Not only does this allow variety in the workday, but it also allows space for the chair to fit underneath after the day is over as well. Most desks have front-facing buttons that allow easy movement of the desk depending on the needs of the user. 

Consider the width and durability of the desk. Knowing exactly how much office equipment and space one is going to need to use the desk determines just how wide the smart desk needs to be. In this same instance, durability is an important quality that should also be considered so as not to overload the desk in your home office desk layout with equipment that weighs more than the desk can support.

Ergonomic chairs should be adjusted. Its design fits the natural curve of the user as they sit. The recommended idea for chair adjustments follows the 90-90-90 rule. One’s feet should rest flat on the floor with ankles at a 90-degree angle. The knees, as well as the hips, should be perfectly rested at a 90-degree angle. Most chairs in the home office desk layout have relaxed capabilities that can be utilized during moments of rest and downtime. 

Armrests are typically adjustable. When users use these at an appropriate height the elbows are relatively at a 90-degree angle as well. This allows users to utilize the keyboard and mouse without much strain on the arms. 

All of these aspects of creating the perfect home office desk layout would be incomplete without a dash of the individual’s creativity. The workspace is supposed to reflect not only professionalism but the worker as well. Adding keepsakes such as photos can help to personalize the area. Other desk accessories such as lighting and other décor can add to the personalization. 

A New Trend Is On the Rise

Many businesses have implemented hot-desking, a new trend meant to cut down on equipment and utility costs all while offering the best work experiences for in-office and remote employees. It requires the optimization of all office space and designates certain desk space to a multitude of employees that are scheduled and on-call. While this trend has grown in popularity, the models available and the likelihood of use depends on the needs of the business and employees. 

What Other Benefits Does Hot-Desking Offer?

Hot-desking has become such an innovative approach with benefits all around, but as with any new concept or idea, there are cons as well. Though few, these pros and cons of hot desking should be taken into consideration when making a final decision about whether to hot-desk or not. 

Mobility

First, take into account that not everyone wants to work in the same space every day. Many employees enjoy moving about, and hot-desking allows them to do just that. Since work can be accessed via tablets, phones, laptops, and other hardware it allows remote workers the ability to reserve seating while away from the office so that once the employee arrives they can quickly grab their desired space. 

One group of employees may have a project that needs to be worked on and completed and that will require a space set aside just for them. A select few employees may work best alone and hot-desking allows this sort of maneuvering that is conducive to all office workers. 

Who Doesn’t Enjoy Conversation?

People enjoy communication especially when it involves a mutual appreciation towards something. When hot-desking, fellow employees and business owners alike can communicate about aspects of the job and brainstorm new ideas. They can communicate between offices via phone, email, and work channels. Not only does the company benefit from this, but new relationships are cultivated and nurtured which further work productivity. 

Distractions, Distractions….

Though many employees benefit from the hot-desk model implementation, others might find the model to be distracting. Team collaboration works for businesses that can easily adopt that kind of work ethic. In contrast, other businesses may have more of an independent work kind of environment where collaborations may not be conducive. 

Hot-Desking Is Simply Not an Option

While there are employees that can benefit from the hot-desking model, there are plenty of others who like routine and would rather stick to it. This work routine may be the reason why a business is taking off anyway. Hot-desking for businesses and employees who prefer to work in this way may be seen as counterproductive. 

Hot-desking and Hybrid Working

Hot-desking etiquette used in the model is basically managing the office workspace. Since the pandemic struck the world, sanitation and health and safety have been a cause for concern. While hot-desking offers a little more leniency when employees reserve workspaces, there is still the question of just how sanitary the desk spaces are after rotation. Many businesses encourage after-work clean up from station to station to ensure the space is available for the next employee. 

Adjusting to the hot-desking model to create a hybrid office environment may prove to be difficult for remote workers however for a few reasons. One, remote workers have adjusted to working in their preferred environment away from everyone since COVID. Two, those remote workers might have reservations about working in a setting in which health and safety risks are still at large. 

Using Hybrid Work Scheduling

The hot-desking hybrid model requires businesses to use wisdom when scheduling employees during certain times of the day. Employees that have been vaccinated may not see the need to take on solo assignments. Managers can group these employees with ease. For employees that may not have received the vaccine, seating arrangements can be adjusted to suit their needs. Many may still wonder just how scheduling works. 

To create a hybrid work schedule, the traditional office structure has to work in tandem with the flexibility that many remote workers experience. Hybrid employees can choose to work from home for days at a time and spend time in the office for a period. There is also the benefit of flextime.

Benefits of Hybrid Work Arrangements

Believe it or not, many benefits stem from hybrid work arrangements  For businesses and employees alike, there is a decrease in factors that in normal work circumstances may have interfered with work ethic. Matters such as transportation limitations and personal issues are no longer concerns to be worried about. 

There is a noticeable spike in productivity in employees that have the option of working remotely. Businesses experience a positive decrease in costs both financially and concerning space. The businesses can also draft and assemble a benefits package that is inclusive for all employees regardless of their work location. 

Implement A Hybrid Work Policy For the Workplace

A couple of aspects to consider when implementing a hybrid work policy are tools, equality, assessments, and meetings. These help businesses to operate as smoothly as possible with few bumps in the road. It is important to understand what tools are needed to work successfully. 

Representation of any business is important, but there is no exact way for managers to know if remote employees are sticking to the dress code. Perhaps in cases such as this businesses can relay to remote employees an understanding of what is still expected even in such a condition as remote work.

The businesses can also draft and assemble a benefits package that is inclusive for all employees regardless of their work location. In this way, employees do not feel that certain benefits are offered depending on the work conditions of certain employees. 

This is the idea that employees can choose their desired start and end schedules that may work better for them in any given workday. Flextime schedules can change from day to day and leads to an increased possibility for improved productivity.

COVID was and continues to remain a major safety and health factor. Exercising precaution is still recommended. Businesses can implement better safety policies to make their employees feel as comfortable and at ease as possible. Many businesses offering remote work in addition to continual in-office work are more capable of instituting this practice. 

Employees that have the option to work remotely look to the company to provide the necessary equipment to their home office desk layout to perform their duties successfully. Depending on the work conditions of remote employees, there may be additional requests that may not be able to be fulfilled. It is strongly recommended that businesses express the costs that can be covered and those that cannot be covered.