The nature of work today is evolving and becoming less formal. More and more people want new ways to escape the confines of their desks, and struggle with the rigid nature of standard conference rooms. While offering alternative spaces such as huddle rooms, meeting rooms, and enclaves are important, the work café is truly evolving into the new modern meeting room. When designed with different uses and meeting areas in mind, work cafés can become unique and productive spaces, fulfilling countless needs at any moment.
Meeting Space
The first thing someone might think when they hear ‘work café’ is that it is a place to go and eat or relax with a cup of coffee or tea. While work cafés should be designed with the feel of your favorite coffee house, they do much more. By providing a varied palette of settings, employees can hold team meetings over lunch or have impromptu brainstorm sessions in a casual, inspiring environment. A bonus is the work café is likely to have available space, so employees should not have to worry about booking that elusive, last minute conference room!
Nomadic Space
Sometimes employees need a change of scenery from their work area, but they do not want to have to seek out an empty conference room or seclude themselves from others. The work café is the perfect solution for this. When outfitted with workstations, these areas allow employees to be more mobile, and can be a welcome reprieve from a dedicated workstation.
Social Space
A work café should also provide a space where employees can be social or take breaks from work, as these types of meetings are key to employee well-being. By fostering a comfortable atmosphere that promotes socializing and encourages resting the brain, employees feel more relaxed and return to work more engaged and productive.
Resource Space
Providing additional meeting resources in the work café, such as a Microsoft Surface Hub or other work amenities, allows yet another way for employees have more engaged and productive meetings.
A work café is more than just a place to go and eat lunch or enjoy a cup of coffee. Work cafés are spaces that can be utilized throughout the day that provide several unique options for collaborative and focused work. By providing a multi-functional and communal space, a well-designed work café can directly contribute to employee collaboration, engagement, and well-being.
