4 Easy Ways to Future-Proof Your Office

Are you thinking ahead to what the future will bring for your office? If you are trying to have an office that will be futureproof, ie will be ready for whatever happens in the future, there’s something you should know.

Making your office ready for anything is impossible. You can’t “future-proof” your office. But you can prepare for the future. No one can predict the future. Instead of focusing on “future-proofing”, you should focus on “future-preparing” and using real data, trends, and experience to create a flexible and resilient space that can change to meet your anticipated needs.

Luckily, there are a few easy steps you can take to ensure that your space can be flexible and resilient for upcoming changes. Here are 4 easy ways to prepare your office for the future.

1. Buy most of your furniture from the same, quality manufacturer

If you’ve got furniture from 20 manufacturers, figuring out who to buy an extra two stations from for that department can be a hassle. Streamline this process by buying from fewer manufacturers. You can give yourself even less headaches by buying this all from the same dealer, that way you have one contact person to handle all your reordering or warranty needs.. While we represent over 200 brands, we don’t suggest that our clients use that many in a single project!

Finding a quality manufacturer with a good warranty will ensure that your furniture will last, won’t be discontinued down the line when you need an extra two stations, and that if you do run into issues, the warranty will cover it. A good warranty can significantly decrease your cost of ownership for your furniture and even decrease your worker’s compensation claims.

2. Get Reconfigurable Furniture

The only constant in life is change. While your current layout may work beautifully for your team’s current needs, your needs will change. Getting furniture that you can reconfigure to multiple layouts will come in handy when you need to redesign to incorporate your team’s growth or changing needs.

Purchasing furniture with the same “kit of parts”, or parts that all work together, will help with reconfiguring a new layout.

3. Don’t Buy Built In Technology

One of the fastest changing industries is technology. Your team will use, break, replace, and upgrade their technology regularly. Don’t buy furniture that has its tech built in. You’ll have to replace the furniture as fast as you replace the technology. Good commercial furniture should last you seven to ten years. Can you imaging being stuck with 7-10 year old technology?

4. Colors and Patterns

Certain colors and styles may be trendy right now, but will look outdated in a few years. It’s smart to pick neutral colors for the furniture and bold, trendy colors or patterns in places that are easier to change. Consider bright paint or wall paper for an accent wall, throw pillows for ancillary furniture, or decorations.

While it might seem cool to incorporate that bright orange from your branding in your furniture, only do this if you are sure you aren’t going to rebrand!