Equipping the Flexible Office for Maximum Productivity and Professional Experience

Flexible Office 9to5 Seating Aria Chairs

With COVID, flexible office work arrangements are more popular than ever. Digital technology has kept employees so connected for the past couple of decades that many need reminders to unplug during vacations and long weekends.

Going through the COVID-19 shutdown made remote working mandatory and now companies are reimagining how doing tasks in remote locations can remain compatible with working in a corporate office.

Making the office a destination spot is a strategy to create a positive office experience that will draw workers back is a trending strategy. But what are you bringing them back to?

Let’s look at flexible office spaces and their use as a competitive advantage.

Flexible Office for Deliberate Flexibility

Corporate offices today are adjusting their defined work areas. It’s not just a matter of placing the names of departments on different doors like accounting, marketing, or production. Instead, they’re doing what CBRE in their 30,000 square foot El Segundo office is doing: designing spaces as lounges, single-person work pods, and equipping outdoor areas with wi-fi, comfortable seating, and shade umbrellas.

In 2018, community design firm Stantec unveiled a re-design of its 60,000-square foot space in Irvine. It’s a diverse company of scientists, architects, and project managers. They have “Four non-traditional collaborative spaces take the shape of breakout rooms, lounges, and hubs.”

A training room has space for 50 people and a retractable wall that can separate the room into two if needed.

Personal interaction is planned and designed into the floor plan with a collaboration café that’s “purposefully located where office circulation paths meet to foster quick planning sessions and conversations.”

A central lounge with reclaimed barn wood paneling, a coffee bar, computer stations, television screens, and contemporary lounge furnishings, serves as the flexible office’s central meeting place and social focal point.


Photo: ERG International Tivoli Lounge

Flexible Office Productivity

Planning office spaces for flexibility that leads to greater productivity is important because different people have different ways in which they work best. Just like learning. Some people learn better with a hands-on approach while others may be more visual or more auditory.

Some work best from home and 2010 Office Furniture understands this so we equip the remote workers, too, with work-from-home flexible office suites and accessories.

Creating a flexible office space that allows your team to feel comfortable respects their individual needs while bringing them together in a unified mission of meeting corporate goals.


Photo: SitOnIt Seating Glove Chairs

Flexible office spaces let employees work in areas that suit them best.

Physical Flexibility

There’s another type of office flexibility that’s important for a person’s overall wellness. Sitting for long periods of time strains the elbows, wrists, knees, and lower back. If the height of a monitor or desk isn’t right then posture is off and sitting for long stretches is a gradual strain on the entire body.

Promote physical flexibility with quality ergonomic chairs and height-adjustable desks.


Photo: DeskMakers Hover Workstations

Common Needs

A headline from an agency recruiting remote workers in Los Angeles proclaimed on its website, Productivity doesn’t need an office.

That’s not 100% accurate.


Photo: DARRAN Chameleon Workspace

Everyone has different needs for a flexible office. Some people work best at one specific workstation with occasional meetings or chats in lounge areas.


Photo: OFS Tangent Lounge

Others prefer remote work over full-time in-office work.

However, there are common needs that everyone has despite personal preferences:

  • Social interactions
  • Natural lighting
  • Pleasing environment

Even the most ardent remote worker is best served with in-person meetings and not just all-virtual gatherings, all the time. We like interacting with others or we begin to feel alone, even if we’re digitally connected.

We have an abundant amount of sunshine in Southern California, so make sure your team has plenty of light filtering in. Sunshine boosts morale in the office and helps people maintain a circadian rhythm so they sleep well at night.

Colors matter, too. You don’t need bold, splashy colors in every room, but you also don’t want dull and drab. Plenty of cubicle solutions use attractive fabrics and come in easy-to-configure arrangements so you can plan for both privacy and personal conversations.

The 2010 Office Inspiration page gives options that show you how today’s flexible office can make the best use of color and space to reflect your brand and show your employees that you have their needs in mind.

Plan and design a space for minimalists or create a resimercial space that reflects both personal lives and professional pursuits.


Photo: Allermuir Mozaik Lounge Seating

The good news is you don’t have to sacrifice quality when designing a flexible office space. An array of durable options exists to help you get the most from your workspaces so your team is as productive as possible.

Find Flexible Office Solutions that Work Best

Turn to 2010 Office as your solution for space planning and office furnishings that help you create the modern flexible office. The team has more than 50 years of experience working with clients who rank among Southern California’s most distinguished corporations, universities, and small businesses.

Contact them with your potential needs.

Read Also: Your Guide to Office Feng Shui for the Best Office Environment
Main Photo: 9to5 Seating Aria Chairs
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: 9to5 Seating, Allermuir, DARRAN, DeskMakers, ERG International, OFS & SitOnIt Seating 

The Benefits of Touchdown Spaces in Office Space Planning and Design

Touchdown Spaces Global+ River Lounge

Your employees are more than workers—they’re consumers of the office experience you provide.  And for them in today’s professional climate, touchdown spaces have never been more important than now.  Let’s break it down.

Here are two factors impacting your office:

  • Hybrid work arrangements
  • Personalities who seem to have conflicting needs

Many companies in Southern California allow for a hybrid model of remote work where employees plan to work in the office a few days per week.

A range of different personalities expects the office to meet their needs like focused privacy and open meeting areas. Differing expectations can co-exist without competing against each other.

How do you make your office space a positive destination?

Plan flexible areas called touchdown spaces and use furnishings that support diverse needs and desires.


Photo: Global Drift Table

What are Touchdown Spaces?

Touchdown spaces are informal spaces where you can settle alone with a laptop, pad of paper, or smartphone. Or, where you can collaborate in a small group setting.

Plan a touchdown space that comes with fast internet access where your team can quickly answer emails, have a virtual meeting, or check in face-to-face before moving elsewhere to complete tasks.

The goal is to help your employees handle their tasks in a supportive and comfortable environment.

Benefits of Touchdown Spaces

Companies that depend on knowledgeable workers can benefit greatly from touchdown spaces.

Collaboration is needed to troubleshoot issues related to production and client management, while individual focus is essential for uninterrupted stretches to deliver actionable items. Touchdown spaces maximize the use of office space and give employees the opportunity to be as productive as possible.

In a hybrid work environment, defined space is as necessary as ever. In pre-Covid days prior to 2020, companies often assigned one desk or workstation per employee. You were assigned a seat and that was the end of the matter.

Special accommodations were made for employees who wanted flexibility and shared tasks. Employee A came in 15 to 20 hours a week to a specific workstation and shared it with Employee B who worked on the same task.

Now, people are coming and going on different days of the week, but they still expect defined spaces.

Touchdown spaces are community areas where you know you can either take a private phone call or meet with co-workers in an uninterrupted huddle.

Touchdown Spaces Encore Chirp Lounge Seating

Photo: Encore Chirp Lounge Seating

Practices and Furnishings that Support Space Needs

An article in the LA Business Journal states that the end goal for the office is a place to “provide an experience–much like hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers do–that not only helps in recruitment of new hires but also entices employees to gather and collaborate there.”

Here’s a key first step in providing positive touchdown spaces.

Managing the flow of employees who come in and out at different times. Develop an app that allows workers to reserve workstations, specific conference rooms, video conferencing rooms, or even lounge areas.

Take the next step and provide furnishings that work well for a flexible office touchdown space like:


Photo: Snowsound PLI Acoustic Panels

Plan to Furnish Spaces Wisely

In a flexible office setting, you need to direct sound and activity to keep group spaces separated from private spaces.

How does furniture help?

Acoustic furniture absorbs sound waves from distracting conversations, ringing phones, and other noises.

Look at the 2010 Furniture inspirational web page, Modern Conference Room. There’s an example of a small meeting area that doesn’t have a door. A clear architectural wall encloses one side, and the opposite side has a wall for writing and diagramming. An attractive covering encloses the top.


Photo: Trendy Volo Wall

Check the 2010 Office Furniture Inspiration page to get ideas for workstations and meeting areas and how they look in various office settings and designs.


Photo: Allermuir Haven Lounge Seating

Many lounge seating options are designed with privacy in mind, like the Allermuir Haven Lounge Seating where one person could stretch out and concentrate or two people could meet beneath the high backs.


Photo: ERG International Laguna Lounge Seating fr Touchdown Spaces

A similar look is available in the ERG International Laguna Lounge Seating arrangement. It has many customizable options using privacy panels and is highly functional in common areas like cafes and lobbies.

Touchdown Space Example

In the South Bay, commercial real estate brand CBRE opened a 30,000-square-foot office this summer and equipped it with 14 different types of workspaces because people work in different ways on different projects.

The El Segundo location is using a concept called neurodiversity.

They range from what the LA Business Journal describes as “acoustically enclosed, single-person focus pods for individual work to huddle rooms for small teams” to “residential-style living rooms for casual meetings, a library for quiet work, and an outdoor patio equipped with WiFi, seating and shade umbrellas.”

Spaces are equipped with interactive whiteboards and some project rooms have large horseshoe couches and large video screens.  These make for good touchdown spaces.


Photo: National Bio Conference Media Table

Plenty of options exist to design an office of any size that’s flexible and satisfies the users.

Get Pro Help on Touchdown Spaces

Contact 2010 Office Furniture and get input for your space planning and furnishing needs to create touchdown spaces or any office environment that’s right for your company.

The team at 2010 Office has a combined half-century of planning spaces and sourcing furniture for Southern California’s most distinguished companies, universities, and small businesses.

Share your questions and projects to get trustworthy advice.

Read Also: Using Resimercial Office Design as an Employee Retention Strategy
Main Photo: Global River+ Lounge Seating
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: Allermuir, Encore, ERG International, Global, National, Snowsound & Trendway