“One of the first things we did when we moved into the office was issue everyone with toy Nerf guns,” Paul Harris gleefully admits. The co-founder of BrightHR explains that he wanted the Manchester office to be an environment where if people were feeling overwhelmed, pressured or tired they could easily step away from the desk and have fun or simply relax.
He is one of a number of business leaders rethinking the design of offices to improve staff productivity. But it’s not all about toys and beds. Others, for example, are looking at the open plan design that has dominated workspaces since the 1950s. Once thought to facilitate more collaborative working, research now suggests open plan offices could actually be undermining productivity.