How Your Physical Office Space Can Foster Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion.

We often hear these words spoken together, but they are not the same thing.

“Diversity is the mix, and inclusion is making the mix work.”
– Andres Tapia

“Inclusion is an organizational effort and practices in which different groups or individuals having different backgrounds are culturally and socially accepted and welcomed, and equally treated,” according to Global Diversity Practice. An inclusive workplace makes employees feel respected and valued, which contributes to a sense of belonging.

Recently we wrote about forms of diversity that are often overlooked and how they can impact your organization. This week, we’re going to take a look at the second word, inclusion. How can you adjust your office space and layout to foster an inclusive culture?

Create communal working spaces
Get up and work somewhere other than your desk and see how many people join you. Offering an alternative working space can encourage people to work alongside different coworkers, leading to inter-team collaboration, increased creativity, and comradery.

Ditch the Cubicles
Cubicles, while functional, can be impersonal and off-putting to employees and office visitors. By opting for an open office design, you can foster an environment for your employees to connect with one another and build relationships with colleagues they don’t necessarily work with on a day-to-day basis. Open office design has been touted to increase collaboration, creative thinking, and innovation while reducing costs for build-out, energy savings, and office equipment. Don’t forget though, some people do appreciate their space, so if you do embrace an open office design, be sure to provide quiet spaces for those who need it.

Activity-based working 
Activity-Based Working (ABW) environments are similar to office design spaces but convene with other task-oriented spaces, so it’s more than rows of seating. Often this is coupled with a non-assigned seating model, where workers don’t have an assigned desk. They choose where they want to work each day. Not only do agile environments greatly reduce real estate costs by maximizing space utilization and reducing footprint, but employees get to choose the space that’s best suited to their work.

Rearrange seating
While removing the walls and constraints of cubicles can foster collaboration and teamwork, rearranging seating can help people make relationships with people they wouldn’t normally work with. Put creatives next to analysts, or accountants next to salespeople. Their contrasting focuses allows employees from different departments to learn about areas of the business they otherwise may not have been exposed to, which can, in turn, make them better and more creative problem solvers.

Getting everyone in your office to feel like they’re on the same team is invaluable for building morale and fostering an inclusive culture. Encouraging people to embrace their difference, whether that’s race, gender or job function, leads to a sense of belonging that will pay dividends.