I have been preaching this for some time: the office should feel like home. Interesting to read this at our friends at Shedworking:

Office transformation specialist Morgan Lovell claim there is a new design trend for homely comforts in the office which is "turning the traditional world of British business on its head". They claim that introducing homely touches such as comfy sofas, chill-out areas, staff snapshots – and even a games console – can aid motivation and act as a platform for innovation. MD David Henderson said:

“The ‘office at home’ style is designed to instill team spirit, make employees more comfortable in the workplace and create an innovative atmosphere. The concept has come to the UK from the USA where it has been used to create inspirational environments, particularly in hi-tech industries such as IT.”

This boils down to:
* ‘break out’ areas with low level lighting and booth style seating
* television screens and decorative wall coverings to create a sense of lounge living plus displaying locally produced art in domestic style shelving and bookcases with a broad range of titles
* members of staff are also encouraged to bring pictures of themselves as youngsters for a family-style notice board, while another area includes comfy sofas and a games console where staff can exercise their competitive spirit.
* smaller desks have been introduced to encourage greater interaction and meeting rooms built to enable informal, impromptu meetings.
* fruit platters are prepared every day and lunch is brought in on the first Friday of every month so that everyone can get together and talk