Office Fit Out Issues
You’ve secured a new office space for your business. The location is perfect, the contract is signed, and your enthusiasm is high. Your attention now turns to the next phase: planning your office fit out.
As you begin, though, you quickly realise it’s a minefield. There are hundreds of decisions to make – some big, many small. These can shape the success of your project, and as a result, your company’s performance.
A well-designed office can improve your productivity by up to 20%, and boost your employee retention by as much as 50%. It can also reflect and enhance the culture you’ve worked so hard to build.
Yet, many people in your situation stumble. They get caught in common pitfalls that cost time and money to rectify. Even worse, they can lead to lower morale, higher staff churn, and an environment that holds your company back rather than helping it forward.
However, these common pitfalls are avoidable. We’ve spent 17 years guiding companies like yours through the design and build of their office fit out. Today, we’ll go through the 8 most common mistakes we see companies make with their fit outs, and how to avoid them. By the end, you’ll know how to deliver a maximum-impact, minimal-disruption fit out for your company.
1. Not Aligning the Design with Business Goals
The most damaging mistake many companies make when doing an office fit out is that they don’t ensure that the design aligns with their business goals. Many companies try to fit as much into the space as possible, or focus primarily on aesthetics. As a result, company culture and strategy are mostly ignored.
This leads to a disjointed workspace experience that fails to support your company and staff. In fact, according to the BCO, 39% of UK employees say their office design hinders their productivity. If your office doesn’t align with your business needs, it’s a failure – regardless of how amazing it looks or how cheaply it was delivered.
To avoid this situation impacting your fit out, take the time to develop a solid workspace strategy and fit out brief (learn how here). Identify key project drivers – such as collaboration, culture, or client experience – and ensure every decision you make supports your project goals.
2. Underestimating Costs
Budget is a often the top concern for companies doing an office fit out, and it’s easy to see why. Real estate is the second-biggest overhead expense for most companies (behind staff). An office fit out could be one of your biggest investments for several years. Because of this, many companies set a budget based on very optimistic cost estimates that don’t account for the needs of the business.
As a result, there is often a lot of cost-cutting and value engineering required before your project can go ahead. Even then, there is a very high risk of cost overruns, due to unforeseen circumstances. According to JLL, fit out projects frequently exceed initial budgets by up to 15-20%.
To ensure you don’t encounter cost overrun issues in your project, first set a realistic budget. This should balance market standards with available funds within your company. To learn more about fit out costs, download our comprehensive office fit out cost guide. You should also include a contingency of 5-15%, based on your project dynamics. At Zentura, we offer a fixed cost guarantee. That means that unless you request the change, you are not responsible for the cost – meaning no cost surprises mid-project.
3. Ignoring Employee Input
ne of the most delicate issues when planning an office fit out project is how much (and how) to involve your staff. Too little involvement, and your people will likely be resistant to the change. Too much involvement, and your project will become very slow and unwieldy. Often, companies veer too far towards too little staff involvement. This leaves your people feeling unheard and unappreciated.
This in turn, leads to lower staff satisfaction and productivity. Research by Gallup found that companies that fail to engage staff see up to 21% lower productivity. That’s a huge loss for your company, not one you can afford in your project.
By involving your staff in a structured way, you can avoid this situation without your project becoming too bureaucratic. Online surveys can gain input from all your people, while focus groups allow more insight from a smaller audience. Clear communication and change management throughout the project is also essential.
4. Poor Space Planning
Too often, companies focus too narrowly on fitting as much as possible into the space. This leads to overcrowded desking areas, cramped meeting areas, and a lack of collaboration and focus spaces. Another common mistake is to prioritise little-used statement spaces (eg boardrooms) at the expense of the day-to-day staff experience.
An inefficient office layout could cost you thousands (or even millions) in lost productivity and higher staff churn. Most offices have around 50-60% space utilisation, compared to the benchmark of 90% - meaning you could be wasting up to 40% of your space – leading to much higher lease costs than necessary.
You can avoid this becoming an issue in your project by working with a design & build company who use a needs-driven approach to space planning. It’s crucial to focus on creating a layout that matches how your people actually should work - rather than how they work now, or how they should work in theory.
5. Overlooking Future Proofing
Yet another mistake that impacts many office designs is a lack of forward planning. If you only design your office for your current needs without any thought for the future, your office will soon become obsolete. The average “lifespan” of an office fit out is 7 years. Think how much your company and ways of working have changed over the last 7 years – how might they change in the next 7 years?
The impact of an obsolete office design can be debilitating for your company. You either have to cope with lower staff morale, productivity, and retention, or invest in another refurbishment to bring it up to date.
Future-proofing is essential to maximise the long-term success and ROI of your project. Consider your company strategy over the next 7 years, and how your ways of working might change. You should also make your office design as adaptable as possible, through the use of modular furniture, flexible spaces, and future-ready infrastructure.
6. Failing to Consider Acoustics
Arguably the most common office fit out mistake of all, poor acoustic design can wreck and office experience. This is often due to a combination of poor layout (overcrowding, collaboration areas right next to focus areas) and poor specification (too many hard finishes, not enough sound absorption).
A study by the UC Berkeley found that noisy offices can reduce productivity by as much as 66%. It also creates a very frustrating office experience that lowers staff wellbeing and increases churn. These costs far outweigh the additional investment required for improved acoustics.
The first step to ensuring you don’t have this issue is to consider your space plan. Areas shouldn’t be overcrowded, and quiet spaces should be kept separate from noisier collaboration areas. The use of acoustic panels, soft furnishing and sound masking systems can also be beneficial.
7. Neglecting Wellbeing
Another common mistake is to neglect elements such as adjustable ergonomic furniture, daylight-balanced lighting, and biophilia. Such elements are often seen as “nice to haves” and are taken out during the value engineering process.
However, this is often false economy. Poor ergonomics contribute to absenteeism, with musculoskeletal disorders accounting for 27.8 million working days lost in the UK. Daylight-balanced lighting can also improve productivity by up to 20%. Over time, these performance costs will have a far bigger negative impact on your company profitability than a higher initial investment.
8. Overlooking Culture
The final mistake we often see companies make in their office fit out is a lack of consideration for company culture. This could be designing an office that is either based on the latest trends, or purely to fit as much in as possible.
This means that your office doesn’t reflect your values, culture, or identity. It makes for an off-brand experience for your people, meaning their work will also be off-brand for your company. It will also impact your clients if they visit the space - according to Forrester, a cohesive brand experience can improve client trust and loyalty by up to 30%.
To avoid this, consider your culture right from the earliest stages of your brief and planning. An on-culture office is about much more than a few walls in the brand colours – it includes the location and layout, as well as all the furniture, fixtures, and equipment. It all impacts the staff and client experience, so it all needs to be intentionally design for your brand and culture.
Avoiding Mistakes in Your Office Fit Out
By avoiding these common office fit out mistakes, you’ll not only save time and money. You’ll create a stunning workspace that delivers genuine value for yourself, your colleagues, and your company.
Aligning the design with your goals, involving employees, planning ahead, and ensuring comfort all contribute to a more productive, engaging, and inspiring work environment. Implementing what you’ve learned today will help you boost productivity, retain top talent, impress clients, and future-proof your investment.
A well planned and managed office fit out can be a catalyst for collaboration, culture, and success. It can raise your company’s profile, drive innovation, and improve your culture. Done right, a workspace is more than a space. It’s a home for your company that supports your people, your clients, and your bottom line – both today and well into the future.
Ready to take your next step? Get your own Definitive Office Design Guide. This guide will walk you through the most common questions companies have when deciding whether to redesign their office, from process to costs to mistakes to avoid. Get your Definitive Office Design Guide here.
