Office Accommodation

and Environment
 Introduction
The office should be established at such a place where customers can
reach without any inconvenience. As far as possible, the central part of the
city is an ideal place for office location. As the success of any business
concern depends upon the location of its office, the Office Manger is
required to study the following:

1. Location of an office
2. Office Building
3. Office Layout
4. Office Environment
5. Office Furniture
 Location of Office
a. Urban Location – includes towns, cities of a region. Even
municipalities can be termed as urban location.
 Advantages of Urban
Location
Advantages of Urban Location
1. Easy contact with others offices - It easy to contact government
and other offices in the same area and therein developing business
is possible. The important offices include Income Tax Offices, Sales
Tax Office, and Corporation Office Registrar of companies.
2. Increased image – The office can enhance its image because it
is in central area.
3. Easy access – It will be more convenient for the customers to
approach office without any difficulty.
 Advantages of Urban
Location
4. Transport facilities – The office can avail of transport facilities
very easily. Loading, unloading of luggages and dispatch of goods
to various places becomes easy at a comparatively cheaper rate.
5. Banking, post office and other facilities – Normally, Banks,
Postal and Telegraph department, Insurance companies choose
urban area for providing letter services to customers. Hence these
facilities can be easily availed by offices located in urban areas.
6. Recreational facilities – Recreational facilities are mostly
available in urban areas only.
 Advantages of Urban
Location
7. Other amenities – Amenities like water supply, prompt
communication, electricity, power, skilled laborers are available
more in urban area.
8. Employees preference – There is a general tendency
among the staff to prefer to work in a city.
 Disadvantages of Urban
Location
1. Overcrowding and congestion
2. Difficulty to expand business
3. Higher cost
4. Demand for more pay
5. Polluted atmosphere
 Sub-urban Location
Advantages of Sub-urban Location
1. Payment of lower rent for the office occupied
2. Payment of lower to employees
3. Further expansion and modernization of office possible
4. Less traffic and less over crowding
5. Proximity to transport routes
 Sub-urban Location
Disadvantages of Sub-urban Location
1. Inadequate service facilities such as banks, railway
stations, markets
2. Inadequate transport facilities – airport/port/railways
3. Lack of communication facilities
 Sub-urban Location
Disadvantages of Sub-urban Location
1. Inadequate service facilities such as banks, railway
stations, markets
2. Inadequate transport facilities – airport/port/railways
3. Lack of communication facilities
 FACTORS INFLUENCING
LOCATION
1. Convenience to customers – The office should be located
near roadside, station and bus stand.
2. Transportation facilities – Office should be located at place
where customers can easily commute.
3. Safety and climate – Office should be located at a place
which is quite safe, in other words, there should not be any fear
of theft, etc.
 FACTORS INFLUENCING
LOCATION
4. Postal, telegraphic and banking facilities – Office should be
located in a place where postal, telegraphic and banking
facilities are available.
5. Availability of sufficient space –The place selected for
locating office should have sufficient accommodation not
only for the present needs but also for future expansion also.
6. Need of the business – The place selected for locating office
should be according to the need of business.
 OFFICE BUILDING
STRUCTURE OF OFFICE BUILDING

The structure of office building also affects the office

environment. If the office building restricts the entrance of
light, air, etc. then the office environment will not be healthy.
 OWN BUILDING
ADVANTAGES
1. It represents a wise investment decision, especially, where part of
the building is rented on good terms.
2. It lends prestige to the organization and enhances its credit
worthiness besides improving its image in the eyes of the customers.
3. As permanency is assured, the address need not be changed again
and again due to growing needs of the business, since the design of
own building takes care of the future needs.
4. The building can be planned on the basis of present and possible
future needs.
 OWN BUILDING
DRAWBACKS
1. Ownership of building also presents other problems to
the management, like payment of taxes and settlement of
disputes with tenants, if part of it is rented.
2. Own building may require huge investment which may
not be within the easy reach of small or medium-sized business.
3. High costs of maintenance may also prove too much for a
small or medium-sized business.
 LEASED BULDING
ADVANTAGES
1. Maintenance responsibility – The management is not burdened with
the responsibility of its maintenance. It also becomes free from problems
like payment of taxes and settlement of disputes with tenants.
2. No investment decision responsibility – The managerial decision
about investment in building and its benefit and monetary return has not
to be taken. This saves the management from possible bad judgement and
its consequences.
3. Ease in location change – Change in location of the office can be
affected with great ease. Whenever the office location needs a change,
another building in some other better location can be taken on lease.
 LEASED BULDING
LIMITATIONS
1. High rents – Rents are generally very high for urban locations
2. Wastage of space – Since the building is not constructed on the
basis of the layout plan of the organization, some area may go waste
in the process of layout.
3. Not need-based – Leased building is normally not constructed
on the basis of the needs of the lessee.
4. Frequent shift – Leased building does not lead to permanence
of address.
 OFFICE LAYOUT
CHECKLIST
1. LOCATION
• Proximity to bus/railway station.
• Proximity to car park.
• Convenience for customers/clients.
• Convenience for staff.
• Proximity to banks/post office.
 OFFICE LAYOUT
CHECKLIST
2. SITE
• Size
• Grounds/gardens
• Space for car park
• Access for goods delivery
• Availability of services
 OFFICE LAYOUT
CHECKLIST
3. BUILDING
• Size
• Number of staff to be accommodated.
• Likely expansion of staff over the next three/five years.
• Ground floor space required for heavy machinery,
computers etc.
• Weight carrying; capacity of the floors if large quantities
of records are to be kept or if it is necessary to have machinery
upstairs.
 OFFICE LAYOUT
CHECKLIST
4. PHYSICAL FACTORS
• Natural lighting required
• Heating
• Ventilation
• Decoration
• Noise
 Principles of Layout
1. Work should flow continuously forward, as nearly as possible in a
straight line.
2. Departments that have similar functions or frequent contact with
each other should be located near one another to reduce travel time.
3. Central service groups, such as stenographic pools, should be
conveniently located near the employees and departments who use them.
4. Furniture and equipment should be arranged in a straight line, with
any angular placement of desks and chairs reserved for supervisory
personnel.
5. Space allowances should be adequate for work needs and
employee comfort.
 Principles of Layout
6. Furniture and equipment of uniform size make for greater flexibility
and more uniform appearance.
7. All employees should face in the same direction, with supervisors
placed to the rear of work groups.
8. Desks should be arranged so that no employee is compelled to face
an objectionable light source. Illumination should strike the employee’s
work area from above and slightly behind the employee.
9. Units that utilize noisy equipment, such as data processing or telex
machines should be located in separate rooms to avoid disturbing other
work groups.
10. Work groups that have frequent contact with the public should be
located in an easily accessible place.
 Principles of Layout
11. Large, Rectangular blocks of space facilitate work flow
and provide greater flexibility.
12. Departments in which work is necessarily untidy should
be kept away from public view.
13. Suitable light and air conditioning for all employees
should be provided.
14. Necessary private offices should be located where they
are least interfered.
 Principles of Layout
15. Personnel and equipment needs, both present and future,
should be considered when determining space requirements
and layout.
16. Water fountains, bulletin boards, and vending machines
should be placed where they will cause the least congestion or
distraction.
17. Rest rooms and lounge areas should be conveniently
located.
 OFFICE LAYOUT –
RECENT TRENDS
1. LANDSCAPED OFFICES
• Landscaped offices look pleasant and attractive.
• A landscaped office is an open office that the arrangement
of straight lines of desks divided by straight gangways.
• Landscaped offices are well suited to the requirements of
technical specialists, management information services, etc.
 OFFICE LAYOUT –
RECENT TRENDS
2. MOVABLE PARTITIONS
• Used in establishing private offices.
• Movable partitions of ceiling, partial or counter height made up of metal,
wood, glass or plastic materials are used to segregate private office areas.
• The movable partitions may be of varied types as outlined below:
• Ceiling high partitions
• Half partitions up to the height of door
• Folding partitions up to the ceiling
• Counter high partitions that segregate general office from the private
office.
 OFFICE LAYOUT –
RECENT TRENDS
3. MODULAR UNITS
• They occupy less floor space, enhance work efficiency by
eliminating unnecessary motions.
• The most popular type of modular desk id the L-pattern
desk unit with a flat surface.
• Modular desk units are composed of different furniture
units, writing table, machine desk, etc. that are joined together
to form a single unit.
 OPEN OFFICE AND
PRIVATE OFFICE
a. OPEN OFFICE

refers to a large room where all the departments man and

equipments are housed under a single roof without partitions
or walls separating them.
 OPEN OFFICE AND
PRIVATE OFFICE
ADVANTAGES OF OPEN OFFICE
1. Better space utilization is possible, because space has not been
lost by partitions.
2. The section heads or supervisors feel easy to watch the office. It is
also possible to reduce the number of supervisors.
3. The layout of the office can be altered or changed without any
expense.
4. There is more economy in arrangement of light.
5. Easy communication from department to department is possible.
 OPEN OFFICE AND
PRIVATE OFFICE
DISADVANTAGES OF OPEN OFFICE
1. Work will be affected by visitors and movement of the staff
themselves.
2. There will be internal noise, because of the conversation in the
office by staff themselves or visitors.
3. Infections and disease may spread quickly.
4. A big hall may not be efficiently supervised.
5. The office will appear to be a crowd place.
6. Secrecy cannot be maintained.
7. Top executives may not feel comfortable in the open office.
 OPEN OFFICE AND
PRIVATE OFFICE
B. PRIVATE OFFICE

are small rooms occupied by departments.

 OPEN OFFICE AND
PRIVATE OFFICE
ADVANTAGES OF PRIVATE OFFICE
1. There is increase in efficiency on account of absence of
noise.
2. Confidentiality can be maintained as greater privacy is
possible.
3. It promotes personal atmosphere.
4. It adds value and prestige to the individuals.
 OPEN OFFICE AND
PRIVATE OFFICE
DISADVANTAGES OF PRIVATE OFFICE
1. Lot space is wasted for partitions.
2. It affects the flow of work.
3. More supervisors are needed to watch the work done in
office. Thus supervision becomes more separate offices.
4. It is more expensive to build separate offices.
5. There will be more expenses to provide adequate light.
 OPEN OFFICE AND
PRIVATE OFFICE
DISADVANTAGES OF PRIVATE OFFICE
6. Cleaning of the office becomes a tedious work.
7. The office layout will be a complicated one.
8. More expensive furniture arrangement is needed that the
open office or general office.
9. Extra means of communication is needed for each room.
10. Assistants, messengers have to waste time to see whether
the concerned man is there or not in the private room.