Working from home can be frustrating for some due to a lack of privacy, especially for those who live with their families. With documents sprawled out all over the dining table, and sometimes having to fight for space to conduct ZOOM meetings at home without distractions and more, such problems can add on to an already stressful work life. In fact, 67% of Singaporeans found that working from home meant more distractions. 30% of them found that communication with co-workers was harder and hence prefer to work in the office. As such, with COVID-19 restrictions easing, offices need to prepare to lure workers back with an attractive work environment to resolve the pain points that employees face working from home. One such solution could be through creating private spaces in the office for a quiet workspace, such as installing an office phone booth, also known as the office privacy booth.
The Struggles of Working from Home
Although working from home has its perks, it cannot replicate the face-to-face collaboration and interaction that an office can provide. While the office facilitates closer communication to speed up the work progress, providing employees with a private workspace is also crucial. It is much needed especially for some employees who struggle with a chaotic environment at home- children crying, competing with their working spouses for space to work and to attend to private conferences- the lack of personal space can be draining. One can only imagine the fatigue that employees may feel if they come back to a loud office, only to find it distracting and unconducive for work.
How Offices Can Create a More Conducive Work Environment
When working from home, there is also a lack of boundary between the workspace and space to relax, with blurred office hours unlike working in the office. Therefore, especially open offices, which promote a communal work environment, can consider investing in an office phone booth, which is a soundproof, portable private space that does not take too much space in the office.
With new spaces for employees to work in, employees will be refreshed to find that they can have a variety of spaces to work in according to their needs. For example, should they require to have discussions with colleagues, they can do so in the open spaces in the office, but should they require to take private phone calls or require a quieter space to work, the office phone booth is perfect. Having a private space like the office phone booth also creates an impression of a space dedicated just for work, and outside of it, a place for relaxation. This alleviates the pain point of poor work-life balance that some employees face from working from home because there is no dedicated space for working and relaxing.
The Importance of Privacy in the Office
The IOSR Journal of Business lists three key elements for workplace productivity. They are visibility, accessibility and informal interaction. However, even though they are important, if employees do not have a private space to work without distractions, these three elements are no longer effective in boosting workplace productivity. Employers that do not value worker privacy could suffer lower productivity, which could lead to lower profit margins and may end up losing out to more efficient competitors. Such is the importance of privacy in the office, no matter the industry.
For instance, in creative industries, having a quiet, private space free from interruptions promote a clear train of thought for creativity to flow. For employees who have to handle sensitive information, a private space such as an office phone booth allows employees to have phone calls and conferences undisturbed.
Having worked for long periods of time from home, employers can balance between giving workers the privacy they need while in the office while encourage a collaborative work environment. What is great about the office phone booths is that they are portable so they make for an easy transformation of the office. They can be shifted around and since they are relatively lower cost than renovating the office, they make a good option for offices to lure their employees to work in the office.
Feel free to contact us if you would like to buy or rent an office phone booth or office pod in your office or home.
