Features of Collaborative Office Furniture

Author: Sania Baker

Today’s smart organizations encourage a collaborative work environment so that employees can easily learn from one another, share their ideas and work more productively as a team. In fact, teamwork is regarded as the key to ensuring the success of different projects and assignments. This trend has resulted in a growing demand for collaborative office furniture that makes interactive environment smooth and easier among team members.

Leading furniture manufacturers are coming up with innovative furniture design options to meet the collaboration need of organizations. For instance, ExchangeTM collaborative office furniture has become hugely popular owing to their smart, innovative design and features that can suit any office space.

Unlike conventional square, round or rectangle shaped tables, Exchange collaborative furniture features a unique geometrical shape that allows unobstructed flow of ideas, interpersonal relationships and teamwork through encouraging non-confrontational, positive body language.

  • The table also comes with flipIT® computer stations and laptop power and data ports to allow maximum flexibility in moving/using laptops at will during the exchange of ideas, sharing of text materials or face-to-face interactions in groups or pairs.
  • The Exchange™ system / tables feature locking casters that allow them to be easily placed in any space, adjust to different situations, or move to different corners in the office facility.

However, the most important feature that has contributed towards the increasing popularity of ExchangeTM collaborative office furniture is their ability to assume different collaborative shapes to suit different types of office settings or meeting rooms.

After all, collaboration can take many forms and this may happen several times in a day. ExchangeTM collaborative furniture has connectors that lock them together to form different shapes and stay as-is during their use. Each workstation provides sufficient space for focused personal privacy (screens being angled) without the need for partitions.

Some of the popular shapes are discussed below:

    1. Pinwheel – This shape is made of 6 ExchangeTM collaboration table or elements of the same kind, either left or right to facilitate round circle meetings as well as working in pairs with neighboring collaborator with open sight lines.
    2. Triangle – Made of 6 elements, 3 left and 3 right set up in mirror image, this shape allows multiple forms of collaboration at the same time – in pairs with a laptop placed at one vertex; side-by-side at computers and independent focus.
    3. Linear – This shape is an excellent choice when floor space is limited. Consisting of a block of 4 collaboration tables or elements, 2 rights, and 2 lefts, the shape allows working in pairs, side-by-side and in groups.
4. Hexagon – The shape consists of 6 collaboration tables of the same kind, placed left or right. If placed left, the desktop space to the left can be used for keeping text materials. This formation too allows collaboration in a group as well as in pairs.

    5. Video Collaboration – Collaboration elements are set-up as the mirror image, two left and 2 right, in a way that video or projector screens can be placed at one end of the formation.
Based on your room dimensions and requirements for space, more design options may also be provided through mutual consensus and collaboration.

In every office setting, people sometimes need to work independently. Sometimes, they also need to work in pairs or in a group which requires face-to-face interactions and also sharing of text materials, laptop content etc.

Both scenarios are essential for creative freedom, individual performance, teamwork and building consensus. ExchangeTM collaborative office furniture offers the flexibility to achieve both scenarios in a hassle-free, convenient manner.