20 Types of Workspaces, & How To Know What's Best For You? 

A workspace or workplace is part of the work environment. Different types of workspaces are available, from traditional to quirky, that exist inside a building or outdoors.

Workspaces mostly don’t tie their employees to any physical location; they can work in different locations on various days. The development in technology has led us to new types of workspaces, a virtual ones, allowing people to operate remotely. Furthermore, for someone who doesn’t know what a virtual workplace is? It refers to a digital workspace not situated in one physical space but its geographical location. Moreover, a virtual workplace enables mobile working users to carry out their daily tasks without limitations whenever and wherever they want. A workspace environment depends on the type of work required and your industry. 

Types of Workspaces

Following are the types of workspaces, used worldwide. 

1. Assigned workspace

It’s a committed workstation for an individual employee in any workplace, usually a traditional desk. For example, A receptionist, also known as an administrative assistant, performs administrative duties, such as answering phone calls, emailing and faxing, and maintaining records on the assigned front desk. 

2. Breakout spaces

Breakout space is an area that is separate from the established and more formal working place. It’s available for employees or visitors to spend time during the working day to take a much-needed break away from their desks or hold informal meetings. 

3. Co-working space

In simple words, co-working spaces are essentially shared workspaces. Therefore, they provide an environment designed to accommodate employees from different companies who come to work. These Co-working spaces offer shared facilities, private meeting rooms, kitchens, coffee, etc.

4. Coffice

As the name sounds, a coffice is a combo of “coffee” and “office”. Therefore, it describes a coffee shop where people go to work. It is an attractive place for those who need coffee to work and free WiFi.

5. Smart office

A smart office is a hi-tech workplace that uses analytics and connected technology to help people work more efficiently and productively. Someone running a smart office often faces questions like how to understand and improve employees’ performance? 

People tackling such questions can go for employee monitoring tools, which use real-time monitoring. Thus, it lets you know employees’ execution processes and work patterns. You can study your employees’ productivity efficiently by accessing these details. 

Top of that, it is easily accessible just by employing beacons (in the form of employee cards) within your premises. Not only does it track and monitor employees’ activities. But also forward data related to them straight to the cloud storage. That not only secures data but is much more cost-efficient, rather than paying for each server to store your data. Besides, you learn about strengths and weaknesses within your company.

For example, you may get to know that your team members have more time on their hands or are more useful in some other areas. With the proper insight of each team member, you can execute more informed decision-making. You get to know about issues like poor customer management or workers’ nature who slack off. 

6. Conference room 

Conference rooms are good for formal or large meetings due to their size and seating possibilities. One person leads the discussion and speaks to the rest of the group. The best type of conference room meeting focused on education, training, or presentations.

7. Connected offices

A connected office is usually part of a smart building or environment. Therefore, it features a space management solution by featuring employees’ access through a mobile app, allowing them to see room locations and features and know each room’s availability at a given time.

8. Creative spaces

Similar to a breakout space, a creative workspace is any workspace that allows or facilitates creative work. It includes team spaces for creative collaboration and individual spaces for the lone creative geniuses.

9. Cubicle farm

A cubicle, also called a cubicle desk, office cubicle, or cubicle workstation. Cubicles provide workers with more privacy. Moreover, they also serve as noise and visual buffers to minimize distractions so employees can maintain their focus. Examples of such workspaces are Banks, accounting and law firms, etc. 

10. Flexi desks

The Flexibility of registering companies without physical offices is the practice of “Flexi Desk” or Hot desk. The Flexi desk can have the possibility to share office facilities which might include a phone, fax, internet, or P.O. Box. 

11. Focus room/huddle room

The huddle/focus room is a small and private meeting area. Like a traditional conference room, the huddle/focus room features audio and video conferencing equipment and a display system. Therefore, these rooms are initially useful for phone or conference calls to restrict any disturbances to open office neighbors. 

12. Fun zones

Also considered, game rooms or a de-stress area serves as dedicated spaces for playing games, relaxing, and entertaining employees. Moreover, these rooms can include video game consoles, table games like pool and foosball, or ping-pong. It is a great environment to boost employee energy & productivity.

13. Homeworker/working from home

Working from home means an employee is working from their house, apartment, or residence rather than working from the office. A most recent example we witnessed during the pandemic is that companies suggested a WFH policy, or remote work policy, that allowed their employees to work from home either full-time or when it’s most convenient for them.

14. Meeting spaces

Meeting space is a room usually set aside for employees to come together, often informally, to hold meetings, discuss issues, prioritize, and make decisions. People often confuse a conference room with a meeting room. A conference room is larger and is useful for conducting video conferencing or conference calls for outside members to attend the meeting. On the other hand, a meeting room is not good for operating conference videos or calls.

15. Nap pods

Nap pods are also known as sleep pods. They are designed furniture meant to offer people quiet, comfortable privacy, help boost productivity at the workplace and decrease the risk of stress. These are often used in corporate/ workplace environments, hospitals, and universities. 

16. Pet-friendly workspaces

It’s just as it sounds. A Pet-friendly workspace is a place suitable for pets or where you can stay with your pet. A prime example of companies following these policies is Google and Amazon. An entire section in their employee code of conduct publicizes their pet-friendly policies. It’s a trend that’s gradually growing and influencing work cultures and offices worldwide. 

17. Phone booths

Phone booths are freestanding or fixed and are typically small and meant for one or two-people cubicles. You can use it as a talk box or escape the noise and bustle of an open office. 

18. Pods

Pods provide privacy and comfort to the worker, a private area to concentrate, and away from the office’s distractions and noises. They are the perfect place for business meetings because of their suitability for informal and social talks. Essentially, pods are helpful to make a room inside the room to build visual and soundproofed areas to hold meetings.

19. Private office

A private office is a workplace consisting upon small rooms or cabinets which are separated from the open office by partitions. They are excellent for top executives like managing directors, bosses, CEOs, and general managers. Private offices provide a quiet, confidential, and secure space to work and leave your belongings while allowing you to join the broader professional community.

20. Remote working

Last but least comes, Remote work allows professionals to work outside of a traditional office environment. It reflects the concept that work does not need a specific place. Whether that’s home, a coffee shop, a co-working space, or a library, you can work from. 

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