Meaning of Office Layout
Different tangible, as well as intangible things are required in an office. Without such things, the office cannot run properly and the objective of the office establishment cannot be achieved. Thus, all things or resources in an office need to be structured and arranged properly. Such act of arranging and structuring resources in the office is called office layout. It is concerned with the systematic arrangement of office equipment, machines, and furniture so as to provide adequate space for office personnel to work in an office efficiently. It is focused on office space management to ensure higher efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity during office operation.
Office layout is based on the principle of division of labor. This means every job in the office is divided into many sections. All such sections are not possible to fit in a room or even on a floor. Hence, office layout manages such sections in the manner of effective office space utilization, partition, placement of furniture, computer set up, etc. so that efficiency of the office operation can be maximized. Hence, office layout is the act and skill of arranging furniture, equipment, machines, procedures, and supplies required to work in an office with higher efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity.
Key Definitons
| Defined By | Definition |
| Littlefield | “Office layout is the arrangement of equipment within the available floor space” |
| Hicks and Place | “The problem of layout related to the arrangement in the space involved so that all the equipment, supplies, procedures and personnel can function at maximum efficiency” |
From the above discussion and definitions:
1. Office layout is concerned with the arrangement of office-related things for the functioning of an office.
2. It is making sure all the requirements in an office are made available for smooth coordination among different office units, sections, and departments.
3. Office layout is an arrangement of human and non-human resources in available office space for a better working environment resulting in office productivity, efficiency and effectiveness.
Objectives of Office Layout
It is to be understood that office layout is the physical look of an office supported by different office procedures. It is ensuring all office requirements are arranged and placed properly with optimum utilization of an office. Apart from this, there are different objectives of office layout. These objectives are outlined below:
- To use the available office space with optimum effectiveness
- To ensure uninterrupted and steady workflow in the office
- To provide a safe and secure working environment for employees
- To bring satisfaction by making the comfortable, easy, and convenient working environment
- To have provisions for future expansion of the office
- To facilitate better supervision and monitoring opportunities to managers or superiors
- To enable better communication between office members
Importance of Office Layout
Office layout is very important for an office. It makes the office visible and feasible in a proper way. A properly layout office makes it easy to perform all management functions. It ensures how the office appears physically and workflows coordinately. Thus, office layout is significant for any office. In this regard, the importance of office layout has been mentioned below:
- Convenience:
A proper office layout puts together people based on the functions they perform. For example, it is sensible to group employees who process invoices near to accounting and purchasing department so that these employees can consult with each other as and when needed. This makes it convenient for employees to work in an easy manner.
- Efficient Work Space:
Proper space and required tools are availed to employees through office layout. Such space and tools should be sufficient enough to perform the assigned work of the employees. Moreover, space should be adequate to place files, tools papers, and other documents.
- Impacts Business:
Office layout is a key success factor for an office. It is concerned with the morale, motivation, satisfaction, and happiness of employees. Highly satisfied employees perform better and efficiently than those employees who are not satisfied with the office layout. This determines the efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity of the office which is directly linked with the success factor of the business.
- Increases Productivity:
The office layout is concerned with the effective utilization of the available office space. The office layout is so designed that the office workflow is smooth and fluent. This means the possibility of interruption during office work is minimized. Such minimized interruption and smoothened workflow make the office system productive.
- Impacts Employee Morale:
An efficient office layout provides a good, secure, convenient, safe, uninterrupted, and peaceful working environment for an employee. All these attributes make an employee happy and satisfied. A happy and satisfied employee always has high morale which increases the contribution as well as the focus of the employee towards office work.
- Manage Change:
Sometimes different types of equipment, tools, procedures, technology, and personnel are to be changed in an office. A good office layout can easily accommodate such changes. Such an effective office layout ensures no interruption in workflow and no hazards due to change in-office resources. Hence,a good office layout is capable enough to manage change in an office.
- Efficient Supervision and Monitoring:
A good office layout is so designed that there is not so much distance between the superior and subordinate. This makes it easy for them to interact and communicate with each other. Moreover, an efficient layout makes supervision and monitoring of employees and their work efficient.
- Supports Information Technology:
Modern offices are not like fully manual traditional offices. Today’s offices use information technology in different forms. Hence, a well-designed office layout supports the installation, placement, and operation of information technology in an office.
