Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Help creating the perfect office.

X

xpcker

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 25, 2010
129
0
Hello everyone :)

Im starting a new business, oriented to programming and enterprise solutions in software. my team is from 7 to 10 and we want to give them the best work conditions to start in the best shape as possible. (giving top hardware as a gift like a dell 15z or a mbp 13", second monitor, personalized workstation, gaming headphones, etc etc etc)

The thing is finding a good distribution and design isn't easy task, i've searched a lot in itunesU, google and everything i can for examples but i just cant find what i want. im not looking for a fancy place like googles, but something sober and fun (without destroying my budget hahaha)

have anyone some pics, references, or something that can help me? it would be great! maybe desktop distribution for privacy maybe, who nows, any idea :D

my idea is to have a big room for all us to work as a team, a main office for meetings (also for working in specific projects) and a fun room, (tv, xbox, puffs, a bed maybe for taking a nap, etc)

thank you all for your time, have a great week!

:)
 
X

xpcker

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 25, 2010
129
0
hahah come on guys any advice :D

magazines, pics, videos and dont know :D
 
Littleodie914

Littleodie914

macrumors 68000
Jun 9, 2004
1,813
8
Rochester, NY
Things programmers like:

  • Free (good) coffee, I worked for a few days in a partner office that had one of those Keurig machines. Best office idea ever.
  • Easy access to good food (laminate a piece of paper with local pizza/sandwich delivery places and toss it on a fridge)
  • Comfortable chairs
  • Very nice keyboards (seriously, it makes a difference. check out http://www.daskeyboard.com/)
  • Big whiteboards, with good markers and erasers
  • A community bookshelf with language reference manuals, data structures books, etc.

It sounds like you've got the break area covered. :D

If you want pictures of cool, shiny things:

http://theroxor.com/2009/11/30/15-awesome-and-inspiring-offices/

http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/10-seeeeeriously-cool-workplaces/
 
rhett7660

rhett7660

macrumors G5
Jan 9, 2008
14,379
4,503
Sunny, Southern California
Littleodie914 said:
Things programmers like:

  • Free (good) coffee, I worked for a few days in a partner office that had one of those Keurig machines. Best office idea ever.
  • Easy access to good food (laminate a piece of paper with local pizza/sandwich delivery places and toss it on a fridge)
  • Comfortable chairs
  • Very nice keyboards (seriously, it makes a difference. check out http://www.daskeyboard.com/)
  • Big whiteboards, with good markers and erasers
  • A community bookshelf with language reference manuals, data structures books, etc.

It sounds like you've got the break area covered. :D

If you want pictures of cool, shiny things:

http://theroxor.com/2009/11/30/15-awesome-and-inspiring-offices/

http://positivesharing.com/2006/10/10-seeeeeriously-cool-workplaces/
Click to expand...

A must... Or if you are inclined to do so, paint the walls with the new paint that turns your walls into white board. Kind of pricey but man having a whole wall to work with would be so freaking nice. Instead of having several boards pieced together... Well that is what we have at my office and we can't paint the walls... :(
 
X

xpcker

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 25, 2010
129
0
Great comments! all points were more the less covered, (im not a programmer, im learning but studied another thing.) For that reason ur comments really makes a difference to me.

Yesterday it occurred to me the next thing to cover quality =)

We are starting, so i cant spend $120 on a keyboard so, we will make a standar price for our hardware, for example, well buy 21.5" monitors, if someone likes 27" well... we will discount the difference from the salary so, if you leave the company, you take your own monitor, no money disccounted. its a gift from us.
we also expect very low rotation of people, so it wont be a problem. this system will be used with: monitor, headphones, mouse, mousepad, desktop lightning, chairs (they are executive type)

food is free also, top coffe, tea, fruits and healthy snacks. we dont provide food, yes the money to buy it though

any advice? =)!
 
GenesisJLS

GenesisJLS

macrumors regular
Apr 21, 2009
145
1
Check out Milk Inc's offices. Here's a bunch of photos of their current office. Personally, I think Kevin R. didn't spent an extravagant amount of money to make it look the way he did. Just make the office as inviting as possible. I think he purchased everything from Ikea.
 
B

bigeasy_uk

macrumors 6502
Sep 8, 2005
275
12
Leamington Spa, England
Hexiii said:
I am terribly sorry for the Off-topic, but it's impressive you've signed up 6 years ago and still have the first rank. :)
Click to expand...

Sorry to continue the off-topicness
There's a few reasons I'm only on the first rank, the main one being I don't post very often, lol. In all seriousness though I flit between different forums depending on my interests at the time, the last one that I spent most of my time on was jammaplus, a forum for UK arcade machine collectors. But I've moved recently into a much smaller place and I've had to sell all but one, so not much collecting being done at the moment. I tend to stick to one forum at a time because you get to build up a rapport with different members.

Back on topic,

It might sound odd, so bear with me on this, but a 'standing station' might be a good idea, a computer that's raised up so you have to stand to use it, like you get in a server rack. For people who are sick of sitting down all day they can stand for a while and continue to work while they stretch their legs, etc.

Good lighting, a must for people who already stare at screens all day.

Big bowl of fruit in a communal area.
 
X

xpcker

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 25, 2010
129
0
bigeasy_uk said:
Back on topic,

It might sound odd, so bear with me on this, but a 'standing station' might be a good idea, a computer that's raised up so you have to stand to use it, like you get in a server rack. For people who are sick of sitting down all day they can stand for a while and continue to work while they stretch their legs, etc.

Good lighting, a must for people who already stare at screens all day.

Big bowl of fruit in a communal area.
Click to expand...

great idea, ill search how to build some stand desktops, really great!
 
B

bwhinnen

macrumors 6502
Apr 15, 2010
304
53
McKinney
As an ex-programmer (are we really ever ex-programmers?) the main things I can suggest are:

- a view, looking at a screen all day gets tedious, being able to look up and out a window is essential specially to keep the creative juices flowing. Preferably to the side of the desk, not facing the window when seated (see note below).

- an easily accessible communal area for chatting, drinking coffee (or beverage of choice), it is these areas where most brain storming or problem solving will happen. Note: this is not the lunch room :) It also means that you can talk without disturbing other teams or programmers.

- enough workspace area to have papers and notes spread out :)

The best office I ever worked in was fairly utilitarian in appearance (this was the early 90's), but was completely open plan. We could see each other, we could talk easily, whether you are working on a single project or collaborating with others on a bigger project it is always handy to be able to bounce ideas off of someone else. For me being able to have someone approach the front of my desk so I can look up without really losing concentration on work was great, much better than having to turn around, I know it sounds a bit rude, but being able to just look up at someone to converse with was less of a break in programming routine for me than turning around and fully losing contact with the workspace, strange I know.
 
X

xpcker

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 25, 2010
129
0
bwhinnen said:
For me being able to have someone approach the front of my desk so I can look up without really losing concentration on work was great, much better than having to turn around,
Click to expand...

noted, you game me a great idea! probably i wont be able to use it in this office but on a future i would love to make modules that can move and redistribute according to projects and social affinities


wow thanks all!
 
A

avro707

macrumors 68020
Dec 13, 2010
2,263
1,654
Working in an open plan office environment with little space, this is what I'd recommend:

1. Give people enough space to work and live in, and for goodness sakes, put in some dividers, create some privacy - and give people provisions to hang things, or put things away. Consider returns on the desk to allow people to have meetings around their desk. I've had desks like this before with enough room for me to have 3 other people seated at my desk if we need to collaborate on something together.

2. The workplace kitchen should be far enough away from the work-area that it doesn't cause distractions.

3. Put in a decent coffee machine and grinder and get some training to show people how to use it. Put it down as professional-development and team-building. It'll also cut down on people going out to buy coffee if they can make it themselves inside. Also, make sure that a cleaning roster is rigidly enforced! Nothing worse than kitchen appliances like coffee machines and fridges that are not kept clean.

4. Consider a 10min coffee break in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon inside the office in some sort of shared space away from the general work-area where people can discuss their work, and just generally relax a bit. It works wonders. In my old workplace - we did that. 1 or 2 people would make coffee, another person would get the raisin-toast going on the toaster and it was wonderful. Great for team building, great for casual discussion of work outside of a formal structured meeting, especially when everybody is there. And trust me, we did discuss work - and not other stuff. And we were also a very close-knit team, and reckon that was part of the thing that we became like that. Three of us brought this idea with us when we changed offices, and it had a positive impact.

5. If you must have meeting rooms, avoid the "fish-bowl" style meeting rooms that are not properly insulated. People in the meeting need privacy, and people who are outside the meeting room don't want to listen to your meeting.

6. Have plenty of natural light, rather than relying on lots of artificial light. Adequate ventilation is important too. Nothing worse than a stuffy, stifling hot office - that sends people off to sleep and encourages people to put fans on their desks.

7. Second the idea of the communal library of reference books. That's a great idea. Those things remain there, and not at peoples desks where they are hidden and not useful.

8. Another thing might be putting in a gym, a small one and a shower/locker space if possible to cater for those people who run or ride a bicycle to work. They will need somewhere secure to lockup their bike and hang their sweaty riding/running clothes and shoes and also some place to store their clean work clothes.
 
Last edited:
L

La-vida227

macrumors member
Mar 2, 2009
75
0
Regarding the community floor plan idea - my girlfriend's family makes these:

beta1.jpg


The company is called Tecno and the design is called beta. Something similar to this could be useful for your new place.

Good luck!
 
X

xpcker

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 25, 2010
129
0
@avro707 noted all, great comments, you'll make a team of 10 people very happy over here!!! promise to take them all in count :D

@La-vida227 AMAZING distribution, i think its the best ive seen. it takes lots of space, but i'll manage :D

thank you guys!!! keep posting!

hope this post help others to start business or to open the eyes for those who aren't interested on improving the work of others :D
 
G

Gillespie81

macrumors regular
Sep 2, 2011
167
0
Minnesota
another thing is ask your people what they want. bring them all in together and brainstorm about everything. after all you making the best environment for them. I'm a business consultant and i spend most of my day with the employees talking about the changes and things they want to make their day better.

p.s i won't charge you my rate for that advice...lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom