Whether it’s chairs, desks, office pods or meeting furniture, investing in good quality office furniture can have a highly positive influence on the wellbeing and output of your employees. Indeed, research has shown how great quality office furniture can boost employee productivity by up to 32%.
Providing comfortable, fit-for-purpose office seating is incredibly important; after all, desk-based full-time employees can spend up to a quarter of their lives in the office. At best, feeling uncomfortable in an ill-suited chair creates an unwelcome distraction and feeling of dissatisfaction. At worst, it can result in issues for your employees such as back, neck and shoulder problems. Indeed, employers have a legal obligation to provide DSE workstation assessments to ensure the comfort and safety of their staff.
Lismark supply a great range of ergonomic office chairs designed to be adjusted to actively support different body types. As well as offering seven adjustment options for the perfect fit for the body and positioning at the desk, the Solo Ergonomic Task Chair features five degrees of movement on the seat angle, inflatable lumbar support and a flexible section at the front of the seat to protect the back of the thighs.
While high end office furniture designed with ergonomics in mind may not always be the cheapest office furniture option, investing in it will always result in increased employee satisfaction – and, as a result, increased motivation. Not only that, it guards against the expensive productivity issue of long-term employee absence due to the work-related health problems that can arise from using inadequate office furniture.
In the modern office, which may be designed for hybrid working and hot-desking, nurturing employee satisfaction and productivity with high quality office furniture goes far beyond the desk and chair.
At Lismark, we provide a wide range of great quality office pods. Our solo office pods are perfect for uninterrupted work and private phone calls. Ideal for the flexible modern office, our acoustic Milli Work Pod features air ventilation, automatic lighting and power sockets as standard, as well as built-in castors, so it can easily be moved around as requirements change.
We all know the importance of taking regular screen breaks during the working day. However, research by Loughborough University and The University of Leicester found that standing while working actually increased productivity. Lismark supply a great range of sit-stand desks, designed to give employees the choice of sitting or standing while they get on with the working day. Paired with the Solo Ergonomic Task Chair, the easy-to-adjust Solo Sit-Stand Desk is the perfect ergonomic solution for the modern office. We also supply high meeting tables such as the Advance Sit-Stand Meeting Table, which is designed to transform sluggish sit-down meetings into energetic exchanges.
The ability to take a break or move around is key to productivity, which is why it’s so important to provide alternative spaces for staff to regroup or get a fresh perspective. Soft furnishings provide a welcome alternative to official workspaces and office seating such as our Libby Sofa Range offer a comfortable and chic space for colleagues to catch up or provide an on-brand welcome for clients and guests.
Meeting pods are the chic and contemporary space-saving alternative to the traditional office meeting room and do a great job of empowering employees to focus on the collaborative task in hand. Lismark supply a great selection of meeting pods including the Bea Meeting Pod, which is available in hundreds of colourways and is able to accommodate between 2 and 6 people.
No one wants to work in a drab, dimly-lit environment, which is why making the most of your workspace with colour, light and modern and attractive office furniture has such an important role in motivating employees and increasing productivity. High quality furniture should always be prioritised over good looks in the office, but the two can happily coexist together. The sleek lines and curves of the Neon Mesh Back Task Chair are designed with users’ posture in mind, as well as contemporary good looks. Available in a wide range of seating fabrics, you can add a splash of colour to fit in with your brand décor theme too.
If you’re interested in finding out more about how you can increase happiness and productivity with office furniture, please get in touch with our experts. Our service begins with a visit to your premises to understand and advise on your exact requirements. Call us on 0116 251 7741 or fill in our contact form to find out more.
Hot-desking is becoming more and more popular with businesses looking for space-saving solutions as they embrace new patterns of working. Done right, switching to a flexible office can bring fantastic benefits in terms of productivity and cost-effectiveness. But before taking the plunge, it’s important to consider various common pitfalls, which can be avoided with a bit of careful planning.
Most hot offices are designed to encourage a spirit of flexible collaboration, but this shouldn’t come at the expense of providing places for staff to work in privacy when they need to focus on a demanding task or have a confidential conversation. Privacy pods for offices provide a perfect solution to this issue. At Lismark we supply a great range of office pods for a variety of tastes and budgets with the following features:
Gone are the days when a personal landline was a key requirement for every team member, but although much of our business is conducted online these days, it’s still important to provide a space for employees to conduct phone and video calls, particularly if they are confidential, lengthy or require deep levels of concentration. Installing office phone booth pods means your staff can concentrate on conversations without having to worry about background noise or other distractions. Our phone booths offer:
As humans, we can be creatures of habit, which is why some people can initially be resistant to the idea of making the switch to hot-desking.
Not only that, in these offices, some people can still become attached to a particular desk, which can defeat the purpose of transitioning to a flexible workspace.
This type of issue can be mitigated by careful planning of the office layout to ensure that while there will always be desks people prefer for a variety of reasons, there is no one ‘bad’ workstation that everyone wants to avoid. Choosing the same standard of high-quality furniture for every workstation will also ensure every employee feels valued and content, wherever they end up working on any given day.
Our great range of bench desks, including the Martin Bench Desk, are a great option for the modern office. Not only do they provide a change from the traditional metal-legged office desk with their stylish solid timber leg frames, their intermediary legs mean they offer the option to grow with your team as they do the job of both a collaborative worktable and a solo workstation.
Although team members won’t sit in the same place every day, it’s still important to foster a sense of belonging in the workplace. This can be achieved by providing breakout areas for staff to socialise, take breaks and collaborate informally. An inviting and contemporary feel can be created by using soft furnishings like our stylish and contemporary Walter Sofa range.
When a more private setting is required for meetings, a meeting table is a must. Our Martin High Meeting Table creates a collaborative and contemporary atmosphere that blends seamlessly with the hot-desking environment. Or if space is an issue, why not create a striking statement with a meeting pod? Most of the meeting pods we supply, such as the stylish Brix-Up Meeting Pod are available in two, four or six-person configurations, and if you need a bigger meeting pod, take a look at our showstopping Ben Den meeting pod.
Here at Lismark we use our expertise in office design and furniture to create the perfect workspace for your business, starting with a visit to your premises to advise on what will work best for your space. To find out more, please call us on 0116 251 7741 or email sales@lismark.co.uk.
Open-plan offices have become the norm in the UK and worldwide, and although they facilitate collaboration and communication, they can sometimes raise questions about privacy and the ability to have sensitive conversations.
Luckily, there are some simple ways to create privacy for employees in open-plan office environments, without losing the benefits of ease of movement, versatile seating plans and flexibility for individuals who only work from the office for some of the time.
Here are some of the best ways to create privacy for employees at their desk, in ad hoc meetings and when making private phone calls.
Office pods give you instant privacy by enclosing a desk or meeting space with acoustic shields. This reduces the transmission of sound to the surrounding area and provides a visual barrier to passers-by too.
Work pods and booths have other benefits too. As well as protecting privacy, they can give workers the space they need to concentrate on a challenging or time-consuming task. Employees face fewer distractions than in a large open-plan space, ensuring productivity and the quality of their work are optimised.
Acoustic pods are not just for individual workstations. They can also provide a shielded area in which groups of colleagues can meet to discuss projects, problems, or anything else that needs their attention.
Depending on the size of your team, you might want to consider installing larger meeting pods. These can accommodate groups – in the case of Magna Extra Large Meeting Pods, up to eight people at a time – while serving as comfortable breakout spaces when not in use for meetings.
Office phone booths are a fantastic way to allow private phone calls to take place without the risk of eavesdropping. That’s not to say that any of your employees would listen in intentionally, but keeping calls separate from the rest of your office is a sensible precaution.
Modern office phone booths don’t have to be boxy. Even a low acoustic surround can shield conversations from people nearby, such as on our Brix 61 Solo Work Booth. It’s all about meeting the needs of your workforce, while providing them with comfortable, usable spaces for private discussions and phone calls.
You might not need 100% privacy or total soundproofing in order to reduce the risk of calls and conversations being overheard. High-back sofas are a great way to break up the transmission of sound, without completely enclosing your employees.
If you prefer to leave your acoustic pods open to the rest of the office, you might want to place them slightly further away from the busiest areas, where there is less chance of individuals in either area disturbing their colleagues.
You might not need 360-degree privacy. In some cases, it can be appropriate for a meeting booth to open on to the team’s work area, while being shielded from the rest of the office for security reasons, or just to avoid distracting co-workers.
Meeting pods with an acoustic surround can be orientated to provide maximum privacy in the desired direction, with ease of access to the seating area they serve, creating a best of both worlds solution in busy offices.
Our work pods and booths are designed to be as versatile as possible, with comfortable seating, optional mains electricity outlets and a range of built-in desks to choose from. All of this adds up to privacy with flexibility for your entire workforce.
Why does this matter? It gives your employees and managers options. Conversations can take place in surroundings that meet the privacy needs on the day. If a discussion is more sensitive, it can move inside a fully enclosed acoustic pod. This means you can rest assured that you have catered for your workforce privacy needs.
Even open-plan offices don’t have unlimited space, but with compact meeting pods and office phone booths available, you can create clearly defined private spaces in even the smallest offices.
Traditional square-footprint booths with straight vertical sides are among the most space-saving and standing phone booths work well as part of the modern sit-stand office trend, allowing employees to stretch their legs while on a call.
Performance acoustic insulation materials mean pods and booths can be placed close to each other, with little to no audio leakage between adjacent pods, depending on which booth design you choose.
To find out more about any of our acoustic pods, work booths, meeting pods and office phone booths, please get in touch today and we will be happy to discuss your privacy needs.
We recently had the pleasure of supplying brand new office furniture to a fantastic local charity. The customer was downsizing from its existing premises to a smaller office situated in the Gresham Works coworking space in Leicester city centre.
They enlisted us to help them to create a welcoming workspace to encourage staff to return to the office.
The customer wanted the office to have a clean and simple appearance, with comfortable office chairs, adequate storage and lockers for staff members’ personal items. They also wanted a small soft seating area with a table, chairs and stools that can be easily moved to face a video screen.
The furniture also needed to be adaptable for when all staff had to attend a company meeting.
We recommended our Oblique Bench Desks in white with its clean lines and compact footprint, along with our Verco Max Task Chairs for all-day comfort. Two tall cupboards accommodated the office storage with matching lockers for staff’s personal effects. A small table in the corner of the office created an impromptu breakout/workspace area with small circular Box Low Stools and Mango Chairs. The stools and chairs can be easily moved to face the video screen for conferences. All the seating was upholstered in Inloom One sustainable fabric, in colours that feature in the company, World Habitat’s logo. Each metre of Inloom One fabric is produced from 60 recycled plastic bottles.
We were able to help create an efficient, agile workspace with a clean appearance, which can be adapted to accommodate the number of staff in the office on a particular day. The customer was very pleased with the result and we received the following feedback:
Katherine Windsor of World Habitat said “I wanted to let you know how amazing our office looks with the furniture! Thank you for providing great furniture and great service. It’s over and above!”
“The office looks amazing. We are really looking forward to starting to use the space.”
You may well be considering new office desks for your organisation? Our personal service may also be of interest to you? Well please get in touch and I will come out to have a chat and see how we may be of assistance. Email me direct mark@lismark.co.uk or call for a chat on 0116 251 7741.
Ergonomic office furniture is designed to provide comfort and support to the user. By reducing strain on the body, ergonomic furniture can help to improve productivity, alleviate pain and prevent the health problems that can be caused by inferior quality office furniture. When you are considering investing in ergonomic furniture for your employees, it is important to understand what options are available and how they can benefit you and your staff.
Whether they hot desk, work from home or work from an allocated desk in an office, employees spend a significant proportion of each day sitting at their desk. For this reason, when investing in ergonomic furniture, chairs are the first place to start.
Easy adjustability is vital so that employees can share chairs in communal working spaces and chairs can be allocated to different staff members as employees come and go.
The most important function of an ergonomic chair is to ensure the occupant’s body can sit in a safe, upright position that alleviates stress on the neck, spine and hips. Usually, this is facilitated by a supportive headrest for the neck and shoulders, and a backrest that supports the spine’s natural curve. Choosing a chair like this can prevent minor aches and pains and more serious long-term conditions such as neck arthritis.
Our high quality range of ergonomic office chairs includes the Solo Ergonomic Task Chair, which comes with everything you need to tailor the chair to your precise needs, including advanced adjustment features, plus an inflatable lumbar support and a flexible section at the front of the seat, so that the chair doesn’t push against the back of your thighs. Not only that, it’s available in a wide range of fabric choices, meaning that safety, comfort and good quality doesn’t come at the expense of style.
Nearly all of us are aware that sitting at the same desk all day long is bad for our health, however, breaking that habit is easier said than done when no other options are available and there’s a deadline to meet.
One way employers can solve this problem is by installing sit-stand desks in the workplace. Already compulsory in Danish offices, these desks offer employees a much-needed alternative to the traditional desk and chair arrangement that we have accepted as the norm for so long.
Research by Loughborough University and The University of Leicester found that standing while working increased productivity. Not only that, muscle activity is nearly 2.5 times higher when standing. This means that spending some time standing while doing tasks also has great benefits for physical health by reducing the risk of injuries, pain and cardiovascular disease by up to 40%.
Here at Lismark, our range of easily adjustable sit-stand desks cater for a wide range of tastes and budgets and even includes a two-person version for the ultimate in space-saving and dynamic working.
As every business owner knows, a healthy working environment is a happier and more productive one. In the wake of the pandemic, many professionals are reassessing their work life balance, so the provision of a modern working environment equipped with high quality ergonomic office furniture is now more important than ever.
Ergonomic furniture is the key to the modern, health-conscious office but it’s also important to remember this foundation can be enhanced with keyboards and accessories designed to prevent repetitive strain injury and pivotal monitors made to increase productivity by lessening the risk of eye strain and headaches caused by staring at a screen for too long.
Finally, fostering a culture where regular breaks are encouraged is fundamental, as is ensuring that any employees who work from home are also supplied with the appropriate ergonomic furniture they need to do their job in comfort and safety.
Here at Lismark, we don’t just sell ergonomic office furniture; we work with you every step of the way to understand your exact requirements. As part of this process, our experts will visit you to ensure your new furniture fits and enhances your working space perfectly. To find out more, please email us at sales@lismark.co.uk or call 0116 251 7741.
Choosing good quality office furniture is fundamental in creating a comfortable and productive workplace. However, knowing how to place office furniture is also important to showcase the furniture and give your employees an office interior layout that works well for them.
A well-organised office makes it easier to move around, to store and retrieve important documents and to work without feeling uncomfortable or developing repetitive strain injuries.
Here are five top tips for how to place office furniture in a way that’s pleasant to look at, comfortable to work within, and maximises productivity and output throughout the working day.
Where not to place office furniture is just as important as where to place it. Open space is crucial to allow employees to move around, for safety in an emergency, and to give everyone a sense of comfort and spaciousness.
Keep entrances clear and avoid clustering large, heavy furniture such as floor-to-ceiling storage cabinets, in one part of the office. By dotting them around, you prevent any one area from feeling overly cluttered, and give everyone easier access to storage nearby.
Natural light can help offices to feel more spacious. In areas well away from windows, give employees a choice of bright overhead lighting and controllable task lighting, so they can give their eyes a rest over the course of the day.
You want your office layout to feel balanced, so extend the tip above to include the visual impact of different items of office furniture. Try to have roughly equal numbers of cabinets, cupboards, desks and shelves in different areas.
If you can’t balance items exactly, it’s not the end of the world. However, you may still be able to achieve a more balanced aesthetic, for example by placing a clock, notice board or wall art flat against one wall, to match the visual of a deeper piece of furniture placed elsewhere.
High-quality office furniture is designed to look great, as well as to be ergonomic during use, so choose some statement pieces and make them focal anchor points for your overall office interior design.
Office environments are rarely static for long, so be ready to reconfigure your office furniture layout to accommodate changes in team size, management hierarchy, or anything else that affects where your employees and line managers need to sit and work.
Modular office furniture is a fantastic way to achieve this. Just add more segments to modular seating to extend it, or to add a different configuration of arm rests and side tables. Modular office sofas can have optional back rests, or can be bench-style to allow seating access from both sides.
By using modular office furniture, you can create comfortable breakout areas, divide larger spaces into smaller ‘virtual’ rooms, and make the best use of open-plan office floors without having to put up any stud walls or temporary partitions.
Although open space can make offices feel comfortable and healthy, sometimes employees need privacy, whether that’s to discuss confidential business, or just a personal desire to work away from the noise and hubbub of the rest of the office.
If your office layout is dominated by open-plan or you’re still deciding how to arrange office furniture in a new workplace or refurbishment, consider whether private work booths could be the key to your office productivity.
Private work booths and individual office pods create cubicle-style spaces for employees to work in privacy and confidentiality and can be conducive to productivity when individuals need to focus on demanding or time-consuming tasks.
Not all of your workstations need to be assigned to a designated individual. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, more offices are allowing employees to work flexibly, and even when the pandemic is no longer a health concern, remote working can save on overheads and keep employees happy by reducing the daily commute.
Modular office furniture is again a great way to make sure you still give everyone the workspace they need, with comfortable hotdesking areas that can adapt to the changing nature of your flexible workforce in the years ahead.
Give your employees good quality office furniture and they will feel valued, even when they do not have an assigned workstation of their own. When you factor in the added bonus of reducing your office operating costs and capitalising on the positive lessons learned over the past few years, it’s a no-brainer.
These days, business owners are increasingly coming to the conclusion that the traditional boardroom table no longer reflects their ethos and way of working. One easy way to update the look and dynamic of your office is with a high meeting table.
Here are five benefits of having a high meeting table in your workspace:
Increased productivity
When you’re sitting at a high meeting table on a high chair or stool, you’re automatically placed in an elevated position, which prolongs energy levels and aids productivity. This is particularly beneficial in longer meetings, where the traditional table and chair set up makes it all too easy to physically disengage by leaning back in the chair, leading to a feeling of tiredness and a lack of concentration. The sense of focus a high meeting table brings also means meetings and brainstorming sessions tend to be shorter and less likely to go off on a tangent.
A flexible option
Many professionals appreciate the health benefits of being able to work from a standing position. With a high meeting table, you can accommodate the needs of both those who wish to stand and those who would prefer to sit. This is the perfect solution for long meetings where participants can switch to standing halfway through without disturbing others or moving away from the table.
Alternatively, a high meeting table can be used as an additional area for your team to hot desk from, giving them the option to move from their desk to continue their work from a standing position. And of course, a high meeting table is the perfect place for impromptu get-togethers or coffee breaks.
A healthy workplace
You may not be ready to invest in sit s
tand desks for everyone, but a high meeting table is a great way to introduce this modern way of working. High meeting tables are considered a healthy choice because it’s easier for your blood to circulate when standing. Standing also requires more muscles than sitting and helps to improve posture and reduce back pain. These factors all help to reduce common repetitive strain injuries reported by office workers, improve morale and reduce sick days.
Creating a style statement
As well as improving workplace wellbeing, our high meeting tables are built to the highest standards of quality and design. They are available in a large variety of heights, shapes and colours and a range of seating options, meaning there is sure to be the perfect option for you.
The inclusion of high meeting tables also improves the look of your interior by creating a feeling of separation to different areas in an open-plan office. Not only does this provide aesthetic benefits, it works on a practical level for employees who need a break from the confines of their desks.
The modern way of working
Most of us have been in stuffy board rooms with long conference tables and leather chairs which make meetings feel very formal, no matter the situation. However, the contemporary feel of a high conference table changes the energy in the room and makes people feel more relaxed, imaginative and open to discussion.
If you’re looking for a high meeting table, we have a great selection here at Lismark Office Products. View our full range, request a quote or get in touch today to learn more.
The landscape of the office has changed dramatically over the past few years. In the wake of the pandemic, many employers are now offering flexible working solutions and opting for hot desking and open plan layouts in place of traditional office setups.
But what does this new style of working mean for productivity? A recent study found that one in three workers feel distractions and noise from open work spaces hinder their productivity, while one in six say it has a negative effect on creativity as well (Forbes.)
Privacy is also a major factor to consider. Some studies suggest the lack of personal space and privacy can cause a slump in communication, collaboration, and productivity in the open-plan office.
So how can employers combat the downsides of the open plan office? Providing private work booths or individual office pods for employees to retreat to could be the answer.
When it comes to furnishing offices, one size does not fit all, so luckily there is a wide choice of options when it comes to providing flexible, modern and attractive individual office pods for your employees.
Many individual work booths come in the form of desk booths, which give employees everything they need for a peaceful atmosphere to concentrate on the task in hand in private and without the passing distractions that working in an open plan office inevitably brings.
As well as built-in desks, many workstation pods come with electric sockets and lighting as well as comfortable seating designed with long periods of work in mind.
No workstation pod will provide sound proofing but most will provide a degree of noise reduction, depending on the design, as well as keeping some sound in, using materials such as sound dampening foam to reduce ambient noise. Also, the privacy and screening provided by work booths mean most workers find it easier to zone out from any sounds around them than they would if they were sitting at an open plan desk where they can also see the source of noise.
For increased peace and quiet and privacy, acoustic pods and office phone booths work well alongside your work pods for times when significant noise reduction or complete confidentiality is required.
Good quality work pods always come with the high standards of design you would expect in terms of durability and style. Due to the robustness of our commercial grade work pods, we carry out installation in your location, however they can be relocated at a later date with careful handling.
Our work pods are available in a huge range of fabrics and colours, meaning making an on-brand style statement is easy whether that involves the palest of pastels to boldest of primary colours.
The end result is a high-quality style statement that will enhance employee happiness in the workplace as well as their productivity.
When opting for a work pod with a built-in chair, it’s important to ensure the seating provided is contract grade and provides safe and supportive seating for a variety of users to work in comfort.
Equally, when choosing chairs for pods without seating, it’s crucial to opt for an easily adjustable and supportive chair to maintain employees’ wellbeing.
While a high-quality office pod will always involve a financial investment, it will pay dividends in terms of longevity and the flexibility it adds to the working environment. Not only that, the increase in employee productivity that providing this kind of space results in, will also save the business money in the long term.
Lismark offer a wide range of work pods and booths with options for any office space. Get in touch today to request a brochure or speak to our experts about finding the perfect work pod for you.
Office breakout areas are all the rage at the moment, driven by the more relaxed approach to office interior design taken by big web businesses such as Google.
But what does the term mean, and is it defined by physical features like your choice of office breakout area furniture or less tangible aspects like how the space is used?
In this article we’ll look at the defining characteristics of an office breakout area and the kinds of office furniture you’ll usually find in one.
The general definition of a breakout area, breakout room or breakout space is a versatile zone that is available for employees to use as and when they want to step away from their own desk.
There is usually not a specific designated use for breakout areas. They may be used to relax, for informal meetings, or to work away from the desk for a while.
The area may be clearly defined by walls, temporary partitions or high-backed breakout area furniture. Alternatively, it may be more open plan and loosely defined.
Breakout areas done right can bring plenty of benefits to a business. Not only do they create extra workspace, relaxation areas and somewhere to casually collaborate, they also provide an interesting setting to meet with visiting clients, stakeholders and other guests.
You can read more about the positive impact of breakout spaces in our article 7 Benefits of Office Breakout Areas.
However, not all office breakout area furniture is the same, so it’s useful to know what’s available and give some thought to what you want from your breakout room, booths or pods.
The modular nature of modern breakout area office furniture means that when you want a change of scenery in your office, you can reconfigure the space to suit your evolving needs.
Stools, tub chairs and two-person meeting pods are at the more compact end of the scale and can be fitted into tighter spaces – with the help of a pull-up laptop table where required.
Larger zones can be furnished using modular seating systems which incorporate elements like corner units, end units, middle seats with no arms, and curved 30/60 degree linking seats.
Modular office furniture is ideal when you want to change the layout of your seating, and this is especially true in breakout zones, where it can help to keep things feeling fresh when it comes to giving your employees somewhere to escape from their desk.
While breakout zones are usually very versatile, some furniture is designed with a specific task in mind.
For example, a freestanding laptop table can be pulled up to almost any seat to provide a temporary desk, or even a side table for snacks and drinks.
Alternatively, an office phone booth provides a comfortable but confidential space to have a phone call, as well as block out unwanted noise and visual distractions from the rest of the office.
Self-contained acoustic breakout pods can also reduce distracting noise from elsewhere in the workplace, while keeping conversations private for participants.
Acoustic pods come in a range of styles, including high-backed bench seating which can feature an open top or be fully enclosed with a roof for even greater privacy. These are ideal for relaxing, holding informal meetings, or even as a more casual working space when paired with a table.
Lismark offer a wide range of breakout area furniture, available in a choice of styles and upholstery to match your branding, company livery or interior design colour scheme.
Get in touch today to request a brochure or speak to our experts about creating your own breakout area.
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