Few things can have a more immediate impact on employee performance and satisfaction than the way people are actually arranged in the workplace.

Long gone are the days when new hires got the cubes and everyone kept a covetous eye on the prize of the corner office. Today’s preference is open floor plans and collaborative environments, but is that always the best way to go?

Here are six things to consider when cobbling together your own office seating plan.

1 – Workflow

There are some employees who work together daily and some never cross paths. It may seem obvious, but it bears mentioning here. Figure out who needs to communicate most frequently and seat them together. It’s easy to discount the time it takes to pick up the phone or tap out an email, but it’s much more efficient to just turn your head or take a short stroll for an immediate answer. Over time, that translates to significantly more time spent working and less time spent checking out Facebook while waiting for replies.

Oh, and don’t make the mistake of seating people next to those they report to. While that may seem to make sense, it’s far more valuable to place people next to those with whom they most often collaborate. Streamlining collaboration is the most effective way to maximize workflow. In fact, a study by Sunkee Lee at Carnegie Mellon University found that an office seating plan can help increase creativity and productivity and can save companies of over 10,000 employees as much as $1MM.

2 – That means execs too

That last point means you might also want to rethink where you place your execs. It may seem natural to place them in the trenches with their direct reports, but too often execs get overly focused on their own small piece of the business jigsaw, losing sight of the bigger picture. Company priorities can easily become misaligned if execs aren’t actively collaborating to maintain a consistent overall vision. Senior leadership is also a team. Keeping them together makes it much more likely that they’ll follow the same playbook.

3 – Why can’t we be friends

It’s a fact of life. Sometimes people just don’t get along. 

Sure, company get-togethers and team-building exercises can help, but the truth is some people just aren’t going to work well together, and it’s counterproductive to spend time trying to enforce camaraderie.

Identify your employees’ personality types. Observe interactions. Placing an extreme extrovert next to an entrenched introvert is just going to frustrate the former and annoy the latter. Some people thrive on interaction, cooperation, and a constant give and take. Others just want a quiet place to get things done. Take the time to identify these differences. Your employees (and your bottom line) will thank you.

4 – Striking a balance

It’s true that an open floor plan and the proper placement of collaborating groups and compatible personalities can positively influence productivity. But there comes a point of diminishing returns. Even those who thrive on the group dynamic eventually have to sit down and focus on the task at hand. If you’ve opted for the open floor plan, make sure you also provide access to quiet workspaces where folks can get away from it all and meet that deadline.

5 – But what do they think?

Ultimately, happy employees are productive employees. There are a lot of ways to make your employees happier, but ultimately the easiest is just to listen to them. Yes, there are many factors that go into building the ideal seating plan for your company, but don’t get so caught up in everything we just talked about that you turn yourself into some sort of office space dictator. Ask your employees what they think. Ask your employees what they need. A bigger desk. An L-shaped desk. An ergonomic chair. Cooler. Warmer. Someone they don’t get along with.

Ask them.

Of course, you can’t accommodate every request. But the ones that you can accommodate will significantly impact both employee satisfaction and productivity. And ultimately they’ll appreciate the fact that you went to the trouble of asking. That’s what the cool bosses do.

Look at you. You’re one of the cool bosses.

6 – Don’t stagnate

You’ve established a winner of an office seating plan. Everyone’s happy and productive. Well done! Mission complete!

Not so fast.

Unfortunately, finding the right seating plan for the moment isn’t the end of the story. Of course, there’s the obvious fact that employees come and go. Your workforce evolves. And seating plans must evolve along with them.

As stated above, studies have shown that periodically rotating seating plans is directly associated with increased creativity and productivity. It seems that exposure to new people encourages the sharing of new information. New information and new perspectives combine with our own, and the result is often creative new solutions to familiar problems.

Summing things up

Basically, you owe it to yourself to do everything in your power to supercharge your workforce. And the fact is, where people sit makes a difference. Take the time to be smart about your seating plan and everyone will benefit.

Remain Flexible

As you explore office décor ideas, flexibility will provide more options, especially for a growing business. The kind of office you choose and how its managed can make all the difference. By remaining adaptable, you’ll more than likely end up saving since you’re making informed decisions and are open to new ideas. This should also play a role if you haven’t yet scored a spot as you should be open to different kinds of lease agreements and terms as your company grows.

Find a Balance

Increase morale by creating conversational and activity-based areas. Optimize the space to everyone’s benefit and keep everyone engaged with each other in a more conducive environment. And while open space layouts are great for collaborative moments, they can create times where there’s too much communal noise to distract. So if you have an open plan, do devise clever ways to allow for privacy. Glass partitions are great for this and will keep the space feeling light and airy. Plus, everyone will remain focused and social when needed. The key is to strike a balance between privacy and openness. Designated activity-based zones will then come in handy when collaboration is key.

Be Deliberate

When it comes to decorative trends, they have no place in an office. Instead, inform office-related décor by a more strategic goal. Here’s where intentionality remains key as you should want to maximize the value of every office décor decision you make. This way you’ll get the best value you can without having to spend a small fortune. Think about how you would feel working for someone else in the same space based on its tone and energy. Would you enjoy coming here every day? Would there be anything that would hinder your productivity?

To make sure that everyone enjoys coming in, consider these cues:

Comfort Comes First

The more time you spend in your office, the more comforting its look and feel should be. To create a cozy feel, consider mimicking the feel of a luxurious living room with conversational seating areas, and plush, sumptuous fabrications.

Smart Storage Solutions

Smart storage solutions are essential when it comes to storing files, electronic equipment, and just about anything that you don’t need out in the open regularly. Concealed storage will also help you retrieve and put away what you do need, leading to a cleaner, more comforting environment.

Plants are a Must

In any space, plants offer plenty of benefits besides being an affordable way to bring in texture and a sense of the organic. In fact, studies have shown that they can work to help dramatically reduce stress levels while boosting productivity. And since they can effectively clean the air from pollutants around them, you’ll have happier and healthier employees to boot.

Layer Texture

Spartan offices often evoke dull, lifeless energy, while layers of texture and color boast a mood-enhancing feel. To create a balanced, layered look, mix and match decorative elements and bring in extra texture via patterned rugs, throws, and pillows. And to avoid a sloppy, unorganized spirit, stick to only a handful of extras to avoid a heavy-handed feel.

Inject Color

Cold and austere neutral color schemes should be left for institutional environments as they do nothing when it comes to sparking creativity. Avoid a clinical feel by embracing warn, richer colors. Just be sure that you opt for ones that you won’t tire of soon.

Utilize Variety

Decorative accessories are certain to help you create a unique, and layered, well-judged look. These intriguing contrasts will also help to keep the eye moving which is great for keeping the senses stimulated.

Play with Patterns

Long gone are the days of confetti printed industrial carpets as today’s office decor trends call for visually striking plays on geometric patterns. Whether you opt for a bold color combination or something more subtle, refreshing geometric patterns are certain to boost the energy in any environment.

When in Doubt, Go Minimal

If you’ve got a small and challenging office space to work with, take a cue from the slim, sleek, and methodical feel of a fine art gallery as you plan to decorate your workspace. By going for a well-judged minimal take, you’ll ensure that your office space remains timeless in feel without any bulky elements in the way. Even better if you’re able to build a workstation along a wall from the ground up to take as little of valuable floor space as possible.

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Here’s some additional insight on how corporate events inspire employee bonding, and how they can benefit your business.

They turn co-workers into friends

Never discount the importance of workplace companionship. You probably know from personal experience that being close with your co-workers makes the day go by faster, but there is data that backs this up. According to the Gallup State of the American Workplace survey, having friends at work makes work more enjoyable and worthwhile, with workplace friendship boosting employee satisfaction by 50 percent. What’s more, people who have a “best friend” at work are seven times more likely to engage fully at work. Corporate social events, which encourage employees to socialize outside the typical workplace, can promote more genuine friendships within the workplace.

They foster company loyalty

When your employees want to wear their company logo T-shirts outside the office, you know you’ve done an excellent job. Loyalty matters, and not just because it makes leadership feel good. Long-term employees are vital to the success of a business because they offer the company stability, knowledge and cost savings over time.

They encourage dialogue

When you know someone better, you’re much more likely to open up to them about things that affect you throughout the day or in your life outside of work. Putting your team in a scenario where they’re encouraged to communicate (see below for some great ideas) is a fantastic way to inspire bonding and boost the strength of your workplace culture. Make sure that you focus on opening up the communication channels between all departments and titles. For example, be sure that your latest entry-level employees are encouraged to work face-to-face with the top members of your C-suite at fun corporate events.

They teach problem-solving skills

When you to work together with someone to achieve a clear-cut objective—say, to get yourself out of an escape room or to beat the competition in a friendly game of softball—then you’re much more likely to forge real bonds. Working with others in these kinds of scenarios also helps employees polish up their problem-solving skills for the workplace, allowing them to better communicate their wants, needs, and frustrations at any given moment.

They lower the pressure

Indeed, one of the best parts about getting to “hang out” with your co-workers and employees outside of the workplace is that you can be yourself since there are much fewer pressures and stressors. When you feel like there are fewer rules and you’re away from your e-mail, to-do list or that ever-growing stack of paperwork on your desk, you’re much more likely to associate your co-workers, and the work itself, with enjoyable experiences and positivity rather than stress and worry. Employees also feel relaxed enough to share their personalities.

Planning a successful corporate event based on goals

To plan a successful company outing, you need to have a game plan going in so that you can tailor the event to your unique goals. Here are some great corporate event ideas that help encourage bonding while also helping you achieve specific high-level workplace goals:

To make employees happy—If your game plan is to promote more comfortable, more connected employees, then don’t overthink things. Any activity that has to do with pure fun will help employees associate happiness and joy with their work and co-workers. Here are some awesomely fun employee activity ideas.

• Go-carts
• Theme parks
• Mini golf
• Concerts
• Professional sports games
• Festivals
• Karaoke
• Bowling

To improve loyalty—Having a problem with turnover in your workplace? To boost loyalty, create some friendly competition between departments or entities so that workers feel loyal to the team they work with every day. And make sure you provide all of the event-goers with company promotional items they can wear at corporate events and outside of work.

• Employee sports leagues
• Team trivia
• Competitive fundraisers or food drives
• Volunteer days
• Marathons or relay teams
• Team exercise classes

To improve communication—If your corporate event goal is to enhance communication and dialogue among your team: Don’t send employees to a movie, a concert or a play! Instead, make sure they’re someplace where they can talk to one another in a comfortable, open environment. You might also think about coordinating a more formal, planned event complete with ice-breakers.

• Happy hours
• Working lunches
• Team dinners
• Weekday brunches

To improve problem-solving—One excellent way to boost interpersonal engagement within your organization is to present groups of employees with a specific challenge. If they find that they all have one shared goal—even if only temporarily, to win a competition or complete a task—they will simultaneously build close bonds and strengthen their individual and team problem-solving skills.

• Escape rooms
• Scavenger hunts
• Cooking classes
• Murder mystery events
• Mazes

Making the most of your corporate events

Setting time aside for more focused group development and changing the scenery for employees separates the event from the everyday work environment. When done correctly, a good company outing allows people to be involved in the activities without the worry of the typical job responsibilities and deadlines. This encourages people to socialize and cooperate more without feeling pressured, which is good for the long-term success of your company. Always remember: a little bit of fun goes a long way!

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For many of us, that’s because the winter months mean grey skies, chilly commutes, and drafty offices. For me personally, it means I’m spending weeks sitting at my desk feeling perpetually chilled because I’m one of those people who is ALWAYS cold.

Cold offices were linked to decreased levels of productivity in a study done by Cornell University in 2004 and a study done at the Leiden University found that people’s working memory functions better if they are working in an ambient temperature where they feel most comfortable.

So whether you’re taking these colder temperatures in stride or are in denial of the inevitable cold front, our tips for staying warm at work these winter months are sure to keep you cozy and your mind alert at your desk this winter.

#1: Drink plenty of hot beverages

Hot drinks are a great way to raise your internal body temperature and take the edge off the chills. We love cold brew, but in the winter months, there’s nothing quite as comforting as a steaming cup of coffee in the morning.

Not wowed by the thought of plain coffee to warm you up? Change up your morning coffee routine by adding a flavored syrup to it or flavored creamer.

Stock up on a variety of teas to drink throughout the day–black and green teas offer a great source of caffeine if you’re looking for an extra boost of energy. Other flavors have calming or relaxing effects, perfect for those tense days at work. Turmeric ginger, peppermint, green tea, and chai are a few of our office favorites.

If you’re not into coffee or tea, try drinking glasses of hot or warm water with lemon throughout the day. Not only will drinking hot water keep you warm and toasty, it’s a great natural remedy for colds, improves blood circulation and helps maintain a healthy metabolism.

#2: Wear extra layers

Remember when your mom always told you to wear a lot of layers to stay warm when you were little and you never listened? Well, it’s time to start listening.

Wearing multiple layers to work is a great way to be prepared for the most aggressive or lackluster heaters in the winter months. Leave an extra sweater or jacket at your desk for days when you need a little extra warmth.

Beyond just layers, thick socks, scarves, fingerless gloves, and winter hats are a great way to add a little extra flair and heat to your wardrobe.

#3: Let there be light!

Keep the blinds open on the windows in your office when the sun is shining. Letting in the natural light will not only boost the energy in your office, but also keep temperatures on the warmer side. Don’t forget to close the curtains on the windows before you leave for the day so the office doesn’t get drafty at night.

If your office gets plenty of natural light throughout the day, pick a sunny spot in your office to work from. The new scenery, especially if you’re by a window, is a great way to change up your work routine. Plus, soaking up some winter rays will take the edge off the office chill.

#4: Small spaces = warm spaces

Small conference rooms or phone booths tend to trap warm air inside them because of the way the air circulates through the office. Jump in an unused conference room or phone booth throughout the day when you need a quiet place to work and keep warm.

#5: Turn your chair into a seat heater

If bringing a blanket into work isn’t your style, a heating pad might be the way to go. This alternative is slightly less noticeable but equally warm.

If it’s electric, plug the heating pad in by your desk, place on your seat and you’ve got your own personal seat heater for the day!

If you want to go wireless, use a microwavable heating pad instead. Just be mindful of your microwaving frequency so as not to disturb your co-workers with constant beeping when you run back to heat it up.

We all know offices are moving away from the cubicle-plus-corner-office style of the late 1960’s-on towards greater openness, but that change is coming in many forms. Before deciding which office design is right for your firm, it’s helpful to take the pulse of the current market and see which designs are flourishing. Below are the top office space design trends you’re likely to see in 2016.

#1: Open offices

PivotDesk host company, J Frankl Associates provides an excellent example of open office collaboration.

Loved by millennials, these offices are popular thanks to the benefits of collaboration. And while they originally became popular among tech startups, they’ve grown so popular that even companies from traditional industries like law firms are embracing the advantages they offer. Canadian general practice law firm, McCarthy Tétrault, replaced their private offices with more than 62,000 square feet of open meeting space, mainly to take advantage of the benefits of increased collaboration. The firm also says, on top of collaboration, their clients are serviced more effectively in the new setup—the expertise of the entire firm is literally all around them and at their disposal.

#2: Blended offices

Raven Office Centers, a PivotDesk host out of San Francisco, is the perfect balance between collaboration and concentration.

Blended offices incorporate a little bit of everything, and if they get the mix right, they can offer the best of all worlds. Of course, what the best of all worlds looks like depends on which firm is using the space, but these offices tend to offer a mix of private, semi-private and open workspaces. This office design recognizes that there are benefits and drawbacks to all major office layouts, everything from cubicles to completely open spaces, and aims to combine them in a way so as to capture the benefits each offers while negating the negatives through diversity.

An excellent example of a blended office in action is NYC-based Barbarian Group, which took the long white worktable common in creative agencies and expanded it to create a “Superdesk” that winds through the whole office. The desk allows everyone in the company to work at the same table, yet the environment surrounding that table transforms as it moves through the office from open space to semi-private space. Ultimately, the desk enters into cave-like nooks where more introverted/heads-down employees can work in privacy.

#3: Culture driven offices

The Havenly office space in Denver reflects the company’s knack for interior design.

Just as company culture is critical to the functioning of a business, it should also be an important aspect of office design. Many creative businesses rely on the sort of creativity that comes from happenstance interactions between employees, and office design can help facilitate those sorts of interactions. But it’s not as simple as throwing in a foosball table—it’s more about building a space where employees can run into each other in such a way that encourages the interactions a company’s culture depends on. What the actual space looks like depends on what type of culture a company has, it could be anything from the slides in Google’s offices that connect different floors to the creative table used at Barbarian Group. Whatever it looks like, company culture should inform aspects of physical office design.

#4: Convenient offices

Located in the center of Midtown, New York City, PivotDesk host, Bene Rialto is in the middle of it all.

Thanks to technological advances, many jobs can be done anywhere. Whether than means at home or in your favorite city, this simple fact is forcing employers to consider convenience in a way they largely haven’t had to before. Enticing employees to actually want to show up to work is important, and two easy ways to do that are making work fun and convenient. This means planning offices in close proximity to cafes, bars, banks, gyms and pharmacies. If an office is in a centralized location, employees can carry out personal chores like grabbing their dry cleaning during lunch a break and hitting the gym immediately after work. Cutting down on wasted time commuting is essential for employees with today’s time-strapped schedules. Plus, saving time helps ease stress while making employees more productive.

#5: Outdoor spaces

CenterPoint Media is a host located in the heart of the NYC Flower District and features a sweet rooftop.

Unless you’re a park ranger, few work in offices that are entirely outdoors. But many progressive companies, including a number of PivotDesk hosts, are building improved outdoor spaces to bring the benefits nature provides to the modern worker. Facebook’s headquarters, for example, offers employees access to a free, full service bike repair shop in the middle of the campus, and the company encourages employees to bike everywhere they can. Prudential Financial’s newest building in Newark, NJ, has a walking park on top of its cafeteria so employees can get some fresh air during breaks. Employers are emphasizing physical activity and being outdoors more than ever before, and more than that, they are providing the space to make it happen. This helps employees lead healthier lifestyles—and healthier employees are more productive.

#6: Empathetic offices

Java Studios prides themselves on the accessibility of their New York City office space.

More than simply adhering to the requirements in the Americans With Disabilities Act and building wheelchair-accessible bathrooms, some office designers are going above and beyond to make sure their layouts are comfortable and accessible to seniors and those with disabilities. Dallas-based architecture firm, Corgan, had its employees wear suits that simulated what it would be like to be 40 years older—it included weights to mimic decreased muscle mass and goggles to impose poor vision—so they could see what challenges current designs may pose to seniors. The researchers found room for improvement, and they are now placing restrooms away from high traffic areas, adding benches and chairs along hallways and lengthening escalator landings for better balance. It’s important to remember that, while millennials are having a profound impact on office design, offices need to be comfortably accessible to everyone.

#7: Offices designed for sharing

Los Angeles host, The Park, offers growth flexibility for all of their guests.

Many leaseholders are building spaces for sharing into their office floor plans, as a way of planning ahead for office sharing as hosts. About 90% of businesses have excess space when they first move into a space, so office sharing is a great way to offset costs as they grow into their space. By putting aside space for guest teams, setting up multiple wifi networks and carving out extra meeting spaces, companies are making the office sharing experience smoother and more beneficial for both hosts and guests. 

Fortunately, there are plenty of devices and apps that make staying connected from just about anywhere a snap. With a little planning, even international travel won’t prevent you from staying in touch and in the loop. Here are some of our favorite ideas for staying connected on the road.

#1: Find the Free Wi-Fi

Remember, you can connect for free at many airports and cafes. Use the free app, OpenSignal to find places that offer strong Wi-Fi and cell signals. 

#2: Utilize Mobile Hotspots

Travelers who have smartphones with 3G and higher connections can tether their phones to their laptops or tablets via USB and access the Internet, turning their cell phones into hotspots. 

Standalone hotspots are also available. A good example is Karma, for Apple or Android systems. Karma can provide internet access for up to 8 devices.

#3: Consider Wi-Fi Extenders

Another way to get online when you’re on the go is through the use of a marine Wi-Fi extender. This is an antenna that amplifies Wi-Fi signals and can be very useful in rural areas. These often claim a range of 7 to10 miles, but they were designed for use by boats, which have an unobstructed line to the Wi-Fi source on shore. The range is typically more limited on land.

Pricing ranges widely on these devices, and is dependent on their range and power. You can find several versions for under $100. Depending on your needs, this might be a great solution for ensuring access when you travel.

#4: Check Out Shared Office Spaces

If carrying around one more gadget just isn’t in the cards for you, there are plenty of other options. One popular idea is to pay for coworking or shared office space. There you have fast Wi-Fi as well as access to office supplies and other equipment. You can make the most of your time, get connected, and get sh*t done.

There are hundreds of coworking and shared spaces in the U.S., and they are also quite numerous in Mexico and many countries in Central and South America.

#5: Conference on the Go

If that team meeting just can’t go on without you, take advantage of mobile conferencing options. Skype lets you have free video chats; Google hangouts and WebEx Meeting Center are other great free options.

What are your favorite tips for staying connected on the go?  

Unfortunately, amidst all of the excitement surrounding the search for office space, there exists a number of real threats — threats most people overlook.

Office space is the second highest expense a company will face after staffing. Lengthy contracts can be trouble for businesses whose growth plan is tough to predict — and let’s be honest, projections very rarely (if ever!) go according to plan. Luckily, learning from the mistakes of others is the easiest way to avoid the major pitfalls associated with taking office spac.

Check out the top mistakes businesses make when setting up an office.

1. Assuming coworking is the only option

For smart business people, flexibility is a must. We seek out flexible HR solutions, flexible IT solutions and flexible office space solutions. But often, we’re made to believe that the only way to truly achieve flexibility in our office, is to opt for coworking. And while coworking is a great solution for some businesses, especially those still in the validation phases, it’s not for everyone.

And it almost always begins to lose its appeal as member companies grow and develop the need for their own, unique culture. That’s why assuming coworking is your only flexible office option can be a huge mistake. Companies who stick with coworking for too long often report loss of focus, increased distraction and even loss of team morale.

But when your business outgrows coworking, it shouldn’t outgrow its agile approach to real estate. We created PivotDesk to ensure there was a more mature solution to graduate to — a solution for businesses that need a professional space to continue to grow their business and their culture, but don’t need the risk and cost associated with signing a long term lease.

2. Letting the process drag on forever

As a responsible business leader, the last thing you want to do is allow impulsivity to govern your decision making process. But few realize that when it comes to choosing office space, allowing the process to drag on can be just as dangerous as acting too soon.

The search for office space can be an all-consuming process. You’ve got to deal with:

– Finding a commercial real estate advisor you can trust

– Meeting with that advisor to convey your needs

– Touring offices, coworking spaces, subleases etc.

– Negotiating terms

– Moving

– Setting up your IT infrastructure

– The list goes on…

Chances are you’re putting your top people (and yourself!) on this and these things take time. So… let’s state the obvious: Time is money. And the somewhat obvious: Time is productivity. Perhaps the most damaging part of letting your search drag on is the loss in productivity from your team during the hunt!

Yes, you need to make commercial real estate decisions carefully. But letting the process drag on can have a serious impact on your bottom line. So when it comes to office space, get your priorities in order and drop the perfectionist approach.

3. Forgetting about all of the other costs associated with office space

The cost of rent and coworking fees in cities like New York and San Francisco can be staggering and difficult to swallow. But when it comes to setting up an office, those costs are just the tip of the iceberg.

Did you know, a 4-person team in NYC will spend an average of $15,750 on initial setup fees alone?

That accounts for things like:

1. Legal fees
2. Furniture
3. Office supplies
4. Tenant improvements
5. Moving expenses

Forgetting to account for these costs has caused many a melt-down when it comes to reviewing your spend on the space and the variance between the total and your original budget.

4. Paying for space they don’t need

One of the biggest benefits of working with Saas companies like DropBox and SalesForce, is the pay-as-you-go model they offer. By purchasing licenses on an as-needed basis, customers save thousands that would otherwise be wasted paying for service they couldn’t fully utilize.

The same dilemma applies to office space.

Often, when entrepreneurs sign long-term leases, or even commit to private coworking offices, they end up paying for space they don’t need as their team size fluctuates. It’s hard to avoid — your business is incredibly dynamic, and part of this involves adding to and subtracting from your employee roster. Doing so shouldn’t mean paying for offices space you aren’t using. We modeled PivotDesk after Saas companies like DropBox by allowing our guests to pay for just as much space as they need, only when they need it.

5. Jump into a lease too soon

If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, you’ve seen that once promising “Unicorn” companies are toppling left and right as their egregious spending habits catch up to them and they fail to hit projections.

And what is it these companies are blowing all of their capital on? You guessed it, office space.

That’s why, in the wake of all this panic surrounding the potential burst of the tech bubble, investors or expecting businesses to be incredibly smart with their capital. Eric Schmidt, who has kept the actual door that once served as his desk when he was helping to build Google as a reminder of what it really takes to create something great, says he judges companies he’s considering for investment harshly when he sees them working in over priced offices:

“I can always tell when we’re dealing with a proper founder when we start with how are they spending their money. And so whenever I go into [a] start-up that has beautiful offices, really nice chairs, I cringe. Because that means I haven’t quite figured out that it isn’t their money.”

Now, that’s not to say you should settle for a dingy office with doors for desks — rather, you should consider carefully the things that really matter and spend your money accordingly. Entrepreneurs who over-spend on office space often don’t get a second chance to do things right. Investing in flexibility can help you achieve the level of comfort you need, without breaking the bank.

6. Choose privacy over security

For certain businesses, like those in the healthcare or law industries, privacy is a must. But for others, getting stuck on the idea that privacy is essential to running a business, can be a major stumbling block. Just like Eric Schmidt didn’t need a fancy desk in a private office to build Google, you probably don’t need an office with a locking door to build your business. What you do need is flexibility and financial security. Sacrificing these essentials for privacy can sink a business.

More and more companies are embracing the office sharing trend as a way of staying agile. Take design agency, Emerson Stone, for example.

Instead of fixating on privacy, thousands of PivotDesk guests like Emerson stone are choosing to focus on synergy by office sharing with host companies whose values vibe with their own. These arrangements not only keep both host and guest companies safe, they lead to collaboration and networking opportunities which might not have happened in more secluded offices.

7. Hanging onto unrealistic expectations

Just like the fabled, rent-controlled NYC 2-bedroom, we all dream of finding the perfect office space to house our team. Unfortunately, in this market, neither are realistic.

And companies that let their fantasies keep them from finding an office that will work, tend to waste tons of time and money on their search. That’s why, before you even start your search for space, you should create your list of must-haves and nice-to-haves.

Must-haves are the space characteristics or amenities that are absolutely essential to your business’s growth and culture.

Nice-to-haves are the things that you think will improve your business or culture dramatically, but aren’t worth missing out on a great space for.

The difference between must-haves and nice-to-haves should be determined by your answer to these 2 questions:

1. Is this essential to successfully running my business? And if so…

2. Would I risk losing out on the deal to get this?

If your answer is “yes” to both, then it’s a must-have. Establishing your must-haves and nice-to-haves early on will ensure you’re only considering spaces that are worth your while.

8. Failing to plan for growth.

Just like paying for space you don’t need can be dangerous, failing to plan ahead for growth can be worrisome too. Yes, growth is great, but moving is expensive and you don’t want to go through the hassle of uprooting your team every 6 months.

That’s why it’s so important to strike a balance between having enough space for your team to grow (that’s the goal isn’t it?!) while not paying for more space than you need. Flexibility is key here. Utilizing a flexible solution like PivotDesk is a great way to add spaces as you need them. And for companies that do decide to sign a lease, sharing unused space on PivotDesk can help offset costs.

9. Idealize the sublease.

People often think a sublease is the solution to fit all of their office space needs, but the reality is very different. Rather than act as a panacea, subleases often create more problems than they solve. You see, contrary to what many think, subleases aren’t necessarily faster, cheaper, easier or more flexible.

Here are some of our favorite subleasing misconceptions debunked:

– Subleasing isn’t always short-term. Subleasing means that you are taking over an existing standard lease from another tenant. Since most standard leases are long term, you’ll assume the remaining length of that lease for the period of the time stipulated in the lease. So, if a tenant has a 10-year lease and you move in during year 2, then you’ll have 8 years left on that lease.

– Subleasing isn’t always faster. Negotiating with one landlord takes time. Imagine negotiating with two. With a sublease you have to negotiate contracts with both the sublessor and the landlord who has the ultimate right of approval and no incentive to move fast since the sublessor is already on the hook for the rent.

– Subleasing isn’t always cheaper. The sublessor won’t automatically charge you the same rent they are paying. In fact, unless they have some extenuating circumstances or need to move out ASAP, you’ll likely pay market rate so the sublessor can make back some money on the deal.

– Subleasing isn’t within your control. The landlord’s agreement is with the original tenant and so contractually, they are not required to talk to the sublessee. Hence, all of your communication will go through the sublessor who will then contact the landlord on your behalf. It can be a giant game of telephone and a lot of things can be lost in time and translation.

Setting up a home for your business is an exciting time. It means you’re on a path to growth. Yet, getting caught up in the excitement and ignoring the risks can be dangerous. As we’ve seen from the recent collapse of several “Unicorns,” poor real estate decisions can spell ruin for even the most promising companies. When it comes to your business, trial and error is simply too risky. Luckily, learning from others can help us stay on track.

1. How to pitch

2. Hiring and firing

3. Office space

PivotDesk CEO and Co-Founder, David Mandell has seen it all throughout his career as a serial startup founder and Techstars mentor. Through these lessons, his goal is to inform entrepreneurs based on his own past successes and failures.

Part 3 in the series focuses on a task most founders dread: Office space.

When growing companies graduate from their accelerator program or choose to leave  coworking in search of space of their own, they are quickly confronted with the harsh reality that leased office space is the second costliest expense they will face after head count.

Add to that the notoriously static nature of the commercial real estate industry, and the challenge grows even more daunting.

Between securing a trustworthy broker, finding space, negotiating a contract, completing buildout and moving, the process can take months. And when you’re taking your top people off their normal responsibilities to manage the task, you’re not just wasting time, you’re wasting precious human capital.

PivotDesk CEO, David Mandell, has been through the struggle of finding office space many times and he’s ready to share what he’s learned.

Despite that criticism the open office isn’t here by accident. On the contrary, there are a lot of things to love about the open office layout.

What the open office gets right

Open-office spaces tend to be the favorite among millennials, tech firms and startups, and they’re becoming more normal in traditional businesses too. There are a lot of good reasons for this—open offices promote interaction among employees of all levels and functions, helping facilitate greater levels of teamwork and innovation.

Open seating is also perfect for organizations that are looking for the easy, casual, and often profitable collaboration between different parties that comes from the coworking environment or even the shared office space environment. Coworking is expanding at the speed of light—WeWork’s latest valuation hit a staggering $16B, and smaller coworking hosts are putting their own spin on the latest office-space breakthrough. Yet open office-floor plans aren’t found only in coworking spaces—major employers like American Express and Goldman Sachs are also opening up their offices, and Michael Bloomberg brought the model to city hall in New York City in his time as mayor.

The maximization of space has a lot to do with that. For some firms, that means using easily-movable furniture and unassigned seats to make the most of their space, while at the same time making collaboration easy. All you need to do is move a table and change your seat to form a new work-group.

Maximizing space not only makes it easier to work together—it saves money. Open offices require less square footage per employee, since employees are all sitting together and moving around throughout the day. And companies are really starting to pack people in…by 2017 American offices are expected to allot just 151 square feet per employee—that’s down from 225 feet in 2010.

Not everybody is on board

When some employees hear terms like “promoting interaction,” “teamwork” and “fluid offices,” what they’re thinking is “goodbye privacy” and “noise noise noise.” The number one complaint about the open office is how the fluid layout erodes nearly all visual and auditory privacy, and these aren’t trivial complaints—a recent study found almost 40% of employees in open offices wish they had more privacy while another discovered workers in these layouts are less focused and more stressed.

Many employees intuitively know they are more productive when they have privacy. Nobody disagrees that cubicles are ugly, but they do allow you to work in a mostly-private space while at the same time being accessible to your colleagues—both good things.

On another level, older employees remember the days when getting a corner office was almost as good as getting a promotion. In that model, the space you occupy largely reflected your value and level of achievement within the firm. After working their whole careers and now finding themselves in comfortable, prestigious lodgings, many older employees are understandably unhappy about relinquishing them.

What is the middle ground?

There are benefits and drawbacks to the open office, just as there are to private offices or cubicles. Whether an open office boosts creativity, integration and teamwork or drains an employee’s concentration while adding more stress, is ultimately connected to what type of work that businesses does.

Open seating is particularly effective for employees engaged with creativity and marketing, and other tasks that benefit from easy collaboration. Then there are those jobs, the more “heads down” professions, that don’t benefit from constant interactivity—I’m talking about people like programmers, and number crunchers. On top of that, there are HR professionals, legal departments and those who handle accounts payable. These positions are not even close to ideal for open offices since they require confidentiality.

Despite the benefits to open offices, and the gains they are making in the modern workplace, some jobs, and people, require privacy. Whether that’s for productivity or confidentiality, it means open seating should not completely replace the private office. At the same time open offices provide boosts to roles that rely on interactions with coworkers, they help foster innovation and they ease pressure on the bottom line. Those are big successes, and because of them, we can expect the open office to continue to gain ground. So, the open-office space trend isn’t heading towards conquest—it’s heading towards integration.

The modern office is anything but a zero sum game, and it’s not terribly difficult to combine the best each office layout has to offer into one modern office. Offices will continue to open up, the benefits of interactivity and reduced costs are too much to ignore, but most offices will also be equipped with private rooms. However those rooms will likely not be reserved for senior executives, instead they will serve the practical needs of departments, and individuals, that require confidentiality and quiet.

Not sold on that metaphor?

Consider this: there are some compelling, data-based reasons for making time for spring-cleaning in the office. In a survey of 1000 office workers, 75% said that a clean office makes them more productive.  On the other hand, a messy and disorganized space limits your efficiency and can sap your energy. Not only that, it projects a poor image. In the same Adecco survey, 57% of the respondents said that they “have judged a coworker based on the cleanliness of their workspace” and nearly half say they have been “appalled” by a dirty office.

So while some contend that they “have a system,” a cluttered office is having a negative effect on their productivity as well has how capable they are perceived to be by others. Spring-cleaning should address the basic idea of cleanliness –i.e. clearing the dust and cleaning surfaces as well as the problem of clutter and lack of organization. Here are some steps that will help you tackle the former and lay the groundwork for creating a more organized space.

Out with the old

Your first step should be to purge your office (or even just your personal workspace) of all un-wanted or under-utilized items. That book you ordered on Amazon but never managed to bring home? Those glass bottles you’ve been meaning to return to your local juice bar? Time to toss them or return them to their rightful place. Cleaning is a chore but there’s no better time to check it off your list than spring time.

So Fresh and so clean

Simple cleaning the office is something you should do occasionally, no matter how excellent your janitorial staff may be. These steps will freshen up your space and make it a more pleasant and healthy place to spend the prime of your life.

Clear all surfaces and wipe them down

Use a microfiber cloth and warm soapy water to wipe down the furniture (bookshelves, desk, chair, etc.) and walls. You will be amazed at how much grime accumulates.  Your dull office will instantly look brighter and ready for action.

Give electronics some TLC

Your computer and other devices are your loyal servants and come in contact with all sorts of dirt every day. Take time to show them some love when you’re spring-cleaning. They’ll be more pleasant to use and will likely work better and live longer. Start with a can of compressed air and clean dust and crumbs from the keyboard, and then wipe down the keys, mouse, and housing with a damp cloth. A cotton swab dipped in alcohol or vinegar is great for getting into crevices. Do the same for you printer, phones, tablet, etc. For cleaning LCD screens, use a product designed especially for that use.

Hit the floor

Move as much as you can off the floor, including cords and cables, which are notorious dust bunny havens. Give the whole area a good vacuum. Get into the corners, behind furniture, and under the desk. Remove and shake out any area rugs.

Contain the dust

Now turn your attention to containers. Empty your trash bin and wipe it down with a damp cloth, then do the same for your recycling bin, if you have one (and if you don’t, why not?). Pull files out of drawers and cabinets and wipe them out while you marvel at how all this gunk could possibly find its way to the bottom of the drawer.

Once these cleaning steps are complete, don’t put anything back that you won’t need. Take the time to sort files and purge unneeded documents. You may be able to scan many items and free up physical space. Organize drawers and keep the things you use daily close at hand.

Remember that organization applies to your digital environment too, and streamlining your desktop by eliminating unused icons is an easy task that will make life sweeter. And hold your head high. Shining up your space is a positive step toward improving your performance and joie de vivre. Happy spring!