Office screens: a good investment for your firm?

You don’t get to be successful in business by splashing cash unnecessarily. However, certain purchases are well worth making, and office screens could be among them. Depending on the layout and size of your working environment, these simple products could represent a savvy investment. If you’re unsure as to whether such screens could benefit your business, keep reading.

The perils of the open plan office

Open plan offices certainly have their advantages. Chiefly, they represent an efficient use of space. In addition, they can foster collaboration between colleagues. Given these two major benefits, it’s no surprise that such setups have proved popular over recent decades. However, open plan design is not without its flaws. One major drawback of these environments is the fact that noise levels can quickly build up within them, distracting employees and reducing productivity. Highlighting this problem, an international study of workers conducted by a team at the University of Sydney found that more than half of individuals based in open plan spaces were dissatisfied with their lack of sound privacy. The team behind the research, which was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, remarked: “Distraction by noise and loss of privacy were identified as the major causes of workspace dissatisfaction in open plan office layouts.” They added: “Even though occupants are satisfied with interactions in open plan layouts, their overall workspace satisfaction will eventually decrease unless a certain level of privacy and acoustical quality are provided.”

A simple, cost-effective and flexible solution

Of course, one way to limit noise levels would be to up sticks and move to a new workspace that offers enclosed areas and private offices. However, you might not wish to do this, or it could stretch your budget too far. This is where office screens come into their own. These inexpensive yet highly effective products can dramatically reduce distractions within larger work environments. We offer both floor and desk screens, and for maximum noise reduction, you can select versions that feature foam cushioning. Screens work in a number of ways. Most importantly, they limit the amount of sound that travels across offices, keeping volume levels under control. They also discourage employees from holding conversations with colleagues located far away from where they’re sitting. In addition, they offer added privacy. The products are highly flexible too. You can use them to divide up your office as you see fit. Perhaps you’ll separate different teams or departments, or maybe you’ll partition individual workstations. You also have the option of creating enclosed areas for meetings and discussions. The best thing is, whenever you feel in need of a change in your workspace, you can shift your screens around with total ease. You can even put them in storage for a while if you find they’re temporarily surplus to requirements. Once you’ve got used to using these design features, you might wonder how you ever managed without them. If you think office screens could make a valuable addition to your work area, just take a look at our range. You might be surprised by how affordable these items are, and you can rest assured they’ll represent a shrew investment.