Saving money in office cubicles with smart layouts and smart purchases

Whether you are moving your office to a new location, larger or smaller, or simply looking for a way to maximize your current space, you may need to purchase new office cubicles and system furniture. You may not be aware that there are many ways you can save money when purchasing new office cubicle components and managing your layout, while maintaining employee satisfaction and increasing workplace efficiency.

Turn hard-walled offices into office cubicles

First, there’s a common misconception that if you’re moving from a hard-walled office to a space where you’ll be using office cubicles, you’ll need to set up your new workspaces to be exactly the same size as the ones you used before. This is simply not true. An office cubicle is more efficient than a traditional desk and hutch setup, and can actually give you more work space in a fraction of the size of a standard office. For example, a 10’x12′ office with a 36″x72″ desk and 22″x72″ credenza equals the same square feet of workspace as an 8’x8′ office cubicle or even a 6’x8′ U-group.

First, it’s important to note that building a hard-walled office costs more money overall than creating an open floor plan that uses office cubicles. Additionally, a hard-walled office requires more floor space than its footprint might suggest when the thickness of the walls and hallways are also taken into account. By using office cubicles, more staff can be accommodated in a smaller space (smaller space equals lower rent), and still offer them the same amount of work space they would have had in hard-walled offices.

Use smaller office cubicles – get bigger workspaces

Instead, you can start with a floor plan that uses 8’x8′ office cubicles. If you reduce these spaces to 6’x8′ and are working with an average rented square foot rate of $25, you can save $400 per year per employee on rent. However, this does not mean that you will be placing your employees in less comfortable office cubicles, which could negatively affect the work environment. There are many ways to maximize the revised space to make the most of it, and in fact, you may end up with more work space in the smaller office cubicle than you previously had.

Take advantage of changing technology

The days of large and bulky computer monitors are becoming a thing of the past, and now the trend is towards flat panel monitors or even laptops. For this reason, you no longer need to factor in the desk space that a large monitor and computer setup will consume in your office cubicles. When CRT monitors were standard, you would have had to set up a three-piece L-shaped office cubicle: a corner work surface (which would have been mostly occupied by the monitor) and two straight surfaces coming off each side. However, since smaller computers take up less space, you can work with a two-piece L-shaped office cubicle: two straight work surfaces that meet at a corner that no longer needs to be as deep as it once was. That’s one less work surface to buy, saving you money.

Also, many of today’s offices are paperless. This means that employees need less storage space in their office cubicles than they did in the past to store pending files or paperwork. For example, a traditional office cubicle may have had a drawer/box/file and/or file/file (a three-drawer cabinet and a two-drawer cabinet) in its place. The office cubicle may also have had two roofs: a closed container and an open shelf. These would have been necessary when everything in the office used paper. However, now that more projects are being stored digitally, you may want to take another look at exactly how much of this space is currently needed.

With a close check of your employees’ office cubicles, you may find that instead of paperwork filling their drawers, employees now have empty spaces, or spaces sparsely populated with personal items. While it’s important not to eliminate spaces for personal items entirely, you should also make sure your office cubicles have little wasted space. As is often the case, you’ll find that people will expand their use of your office workspace to fill what’s available, even if they don’t need it all for work and personal items. Once you’ve reviewed what spaces are actually needed to ensure employees can operate efficiently (and happily!), you can start to reduce the number of office cubicle components you buy—by removing one of the overhead bins, say, or a set of drawers—and saving money in the process.

Review the design of your office cube

The next step would be to revise the design of your office cubicles while also making them take up a smaller footprint. For example, you can take an 8’x8′ L office cubicle configuration and convert it to a 6’x8′ U configuration. Surprisingly, this will give your employees more square feet of office workspace, not less. Instead of 28 square feet of work surface in the 8×8 L configuration, an employee using a 6×6 office cubicle in the U configuration will have 32 square feet of work surface, all in a space that is 16 square feet smaller. Also, you should always try to incorporate existing drywall into your office cubicle design. By using the walls in the office, you can avoid buying unnecessary panels.

If you take a close look at the office layout and make these major revisions, you’ll find yourself with two new options: the ability to rent a smaller space that can accommodate the same number of people, or the ability to accommodate more people in the original space by implementing a redesign of your office cubicles. Either way, you’re saving big on space and rent.

Limit powered components

You can also save money by minimizing the number of electrical panels you place inside each office cubicle. Powered panels will always be more expensive than non-powered ones, so reducing them is an easy way to save money. You can limit power to panels along the spine of a cubicle suite. If your cubes run against the walls, you can take advantage of the existing sockets in the walls by using power strips or by using the walls as part of the office cubicles instead of panels.

Buy used, buy clones, buy carefully

Finally, buying used panels or brand name office cubicle clones can save you money overall. When going this route, be sure to work with a vendor who can stand behind their products by offering strong warranties and extended warranties. Ask the provider questions about their customer service policies and find someone you feel comfortable working with. Ideally, the provider will also be able to help you make smart decisions about the overall design and layout of your office cubicles.

If you are buying used panels, make sure they are clean and in good repair. If you’re buying clones, make sure they’re clones of well-known office cubicle brands and will hold up just as well as more expensive options. Avoid buying cheap furniture like you can find in big box stores. These pieces are designed for use in a home office and probably won’t hold up in a commercial setting. This can cost you more money in the long run, since you have to replace it much sooner than commercial-grade furniture.

Conclusion

With creative design and purchasing options for your office cubicles, you can keep your employees happy and comfortable while saving money on both components and rent. It is best if you can find a supplier who can advise you on office cubicle design and who can sell you products that are cheap and of high quality. In this way, you can create a productive and efficient office workspace that has benefits that go beyond financial.