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We found the number one productivity killer in the workplace, and contrary to what you might think, it isn’t social media, hallway gossip sessions, or Friday’s happy hour.

It’s your work space.

About 70 percent of U.S. offices use an open environment, including big Tech companies like Apple and Google. But just because Apple’s doing it doesn’t mean you should.

An open office is rumored to increase collaboration, encourage a good work culture, and decrease costs by accommodating more employees in less space. But in some situations, it can actually be less cost-effective than paying for private employee offices.

To explore how office space and office design affects employee productivity, Commercial Cafe conducted a nationwide survey of 2,107 U.S.-based, full-time employees from across industries.

Read on to find out the biggest dilemmas in open office spaces and how you can solve them without a major redesign.

Problem #1: Open Office Space Doesn’t Always Increase Collaboration

There’s a well-intentioned but not always accurate argument that open office spaces (meaning, no cubicles or walls, just one big space where everyone shares a table, etc.) increase collaboration.

Here’s the problem: it might increase collaboration to some degree, but it also might increase debates about last night’s episode of The Bachelor, conversations about the best Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavors … in other words, distractions.

Not everyone is a fan of the open layouts: “Employees are now stuck in open-office floor plans they hate and cause them to resent their loud-talking neighbors more than want to collaborate with them,” wrote Digiday.

An open floor plan doesn’t just encourage collaboration — it can also fosters frustration and confrontation. It’s important to remember everybody works differently. Your introverted employees might need silence to work through their thoughts, while your extroverts need to talk through their problems out loud. People’s individual work preferences can’t efficiently co-exist in one space, which is why options are necessary.

Problem #2: Open Office Space and Cubicles Could Make Employees Unhappy

42.76% of respondents said a private office is their ideal work environment, and 23% chose their home office.

With more people working remote nowadays, this might surprise you. Despite the comforts of a home work environment, many people still want to come to the office. They just want their privacy.

In comparison, only about 10% of respondents chose open spaces as their ideal work environment, and less than 5% said they prefer working in a cubicle.

Ioana Neamt of Commercial Cafe explains it this way: “Every individual yearns for control, and in an open-office layout that’s usually difficult to attain, as everything is shared: the space, the lighting, the temperature, the noise level, even one’s time.”

People are more likely to be unhappy in office spaces where external circumstances distract them from getting their work done, and they don’t have the power to avoid those distractions.

Problem #3: Open Office Space Can Reduce Productivity

Open offices are not always the most cost-effective option. In fact, they can even diminish employee productivity. You might be able to fit 25 people in one open space, but of those, about 14 of them won’t always be able to deliver their best results.

Open offices can increase employee stress levels, and your employees might also end up taking more sick leave.

Essentially, employees might become too distracted by the things going on around them to get much done, and this consequently leads to stress. They don’t have the luxury of closing their office door and immersing themselves in their work.

The Good News …

Before we get to solutions, it’s critical I mention that although 18% of Commercial Cafe’s respondents are unhappy with their open office space, they are nonetheless content enough to stay at the company. Even though people prefer privacy, there are other factors that play into work satisfaction.

Those other work satisfaction factors are powerful. 64% of respondents said they definitely won’t quit their jobs because of their office layout, and 30% said they probably won’t quit.

While office space is important, it’s really just one way to incentivize happiness and productivity. If you have an open office space and don’t have the budget to redesign, you’re in luck.

Here are our proposed solutions to increase productivity in your office space — at least, the solutions that don’t require a construction company or furniture store.

Solution #1: Allow for a More Flexible Remote Policy

As long as your employees’ roles permit this, there’s really no reason you shouldn’t be flexible with your remote work policy, particularly if your office has limited privacy options.

If your employees are more productive in the solitude of their home office, why not let them work there?

More companies are allowing employees to work remote, and some are even building completely remote teams. If you’re worried about diminishing relationships among employees, try creating more team bonding events. Your employees will probably like one another more if they have the option to interact when they’re not knee-deep in a stressful work project.

Solution #2: Let Employees Personalize Something

Employees working in generic open floor spaces report the highest levels of emotional exhaustion. But the same can’t be said for personalized open floor space.

Researchers correctly suspected that low-privacy employees could regain a sense of control and ownership if they were able to personalize a space. The researchers found employees’ level of emotional exhaustion is mitigated if they are surrounded by personal items.

Essentially, people are more comfortable when they feel like they own space, but this space doesn’t have to be a full office. Offering lockers, a table, a chair, or a designated team meeting spot can help employees feel more comfortable in the open office.

Remember how you used to get really stressed when someone took your usual seat at lunch in high school? Yeah, it’s like that.

Solution #3: Build Privacy or Quiet Centers

If you don’t have the money to redesign your office space and build private offices, that’s okay. Employees can make do with private spaces or meeting rooms.

If you do have the means to build new private spaces, many companies are investing in privacy centers, including Google, which created high-tech nap pods.

You could dedicate meeting rooms or even unused private offices for employees to use. If this won’t work with your space, consider simply designating areas of your office, like a couch near the coffee station, as a minimal interruption zone.

As an employer, it’s important to be empathetic towards different work preferences and remain flexible. No two employees are going to be the same: the guy to your left might wish music was blasting through the speakers, while the guy on your right gets distracted by the coffee machine noises. By providing privacy options, you’re offering helpful and productive alternatives to create an ideal workplace for everyone. 

Running an agency is hard. There are daily growth challenges that need to be overcome. Luckily, you’re not the only one coming up against these problems. We spoke with agency thought leaders and experts about a number of these problems in our monthly webinar series.

The HubSpot Agency Expert Webinar Series is a great opportunity for agency owners to learn from thought leaders in the agency space. This monthly webinar series focuses on a variety of topics from agency growth to brand building to sourcing top talent and winning new clients.

To help start you off the on the right foot, we’ve compiled agency expert advice from 15 different thought leaders and agency experts. If you want to watch any of the webinars in full, you can find them all here.

Click here to register for the Agency Expert Webinar Series to learn more from leading agency experts

The Best Advice for Agencies in 2018

1. Michael Gass, Author of Fuel Lines, emphasizes on the fact that a clear plan and positioning strategy are good growth hacks for a successful agency business.

 “Three things a new business director needs for success – Create a plan, develop a process and have a positioning strategy” (Click to Tweet)

2. Lee Frederiksen, Managing Partner at Hinge Marketing, talks about the importance of brand building, reputation and visibility in the market for getting referrals from top clients.

“8/10 of professional services buyers say they would refer their providers based on good experience and reputation but 81.5% of firms have received a referral from people they have not worked with” (Click to Tweet)

3. Aleyda Solis, International SEO Consultant, advises agency business owners to focus on using best SEO practices to stay on top of their game in the digital world.

“Always prioritize your topics/ terms/ keyword targets not only just based on volume, relevance, competition and seasonality but also their potential profitability towards the business.” (Click to Tweet)

4. David C. Baker, Principal at Recourses Inc., advises marketers to refrain from making business mistakes which can ruin the agency’s reputation in the market.

“Don’t chase growth without understanding the implications of it” (Click to Tweet)

5. Brian Regienczuk, CEO & Co-Founder of Agency Spotter, in this Marketing Trends Report 2018, talks about how agency owners should be aware of seasonal services and how agency selection and search has changed over the years.

“In 2018, the top 5 marketing trends are Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, Search SEO/PPC, Inbound Marketing, and Healthcare Marketing” (Click to Tweet)

6. Peter Levitan, President at Peter Levitan & Co., says that a smarter pitch is very powerful at fetching more clients.

“Pitching your agency is always good since it is an indication that your agency is healthy and exciting, your new business program is working well and makes more profits” (Click to Tweet)

7. Jody Sutter, Owner of The Sutter Company, emphasizes the power of storytelling for attracting more prospects.

“Always choose the right message, have an organising principle and create an emotional connection” (Click to Tweet)

8. Olivia F. Scott, President at Omerge Alliances, talks about best product positioning strategies for building the desired client base.

“The best way for agencies to position themselves in this digital age is to understand their brand, service offering, past client experience and deliverables” (Click to Tweet)

9. Sharon Toerek, Principal at Toerek Law, speaks about how new agency models can cause legal issues for business owners.

“The best legal tools that agencies can include in their work models are Non Disclosure Agreements, Agreements for Freelancers, Collective Participant Agreements, Client Service Agreements, Data Protection Policies, Software-use and originality policies for dealing with remote work issues” (Click to Tweet)

10. Don Beehler, Principal at ABC&D Communications, advises business owners on how to craft a PR strategy to drive new business.

“The quickest path to increasing awareness and credibility is to become a trusted source for the news media and bloggers” (Click to Tweet)

“Identifying the right PR tools to accelerate the process is very vital. Good examples are Help A Reporter Out(HARO), RadioGuestList.com, BloggerLinkUp.com and Google Alerts” (Click to Tweet)

11. John Gleason, Founder & President of A Better View Strategic Consulting, talks about best client practices and behaviors that agency must adapt to engage and win more clients.

“Clients rely on agencies to accelerate their scalability, provide innovative solutions, add value, solve complexities, speed up processes” (Click to Tweet)

12. Kyle Racki, CEO at Proposify, advises marketers on how to increase lead generation and close rates.

“The best working model for lead generation for agencies come via word-of-mouth, inbound marketing, outbound sales and partner referrals like HubSpot” (Click to Tweet)

13. Drew McLellan, CEO of Agency Management Institute, emphasizes on key mistakes which agency owners make which reduces profitability.

“Many agencies struggle with their pricing strategy, it’s not about the dollar amount put on the prices but how the pricing options are presented to the clients” (Click to Tweet)

14. Pete Sena, Founder & CCO of Digital Surgeons, discusses the importance of creating an internal culture of content for driving marketing and business development.

“An internal culture of content will drive awareness, increase revenue and level up teams in their learning process” (Click to Tweet)

15. Doug Kessler, Creative Director at Velocity Partners, talks about the unique concept of honest marketing and its benefits towards building a better brand.

“Total honesty surprises and delights customers, signals confidence, builds trust and attracts ideal prospects” (Click to Tweet)

In this digital age, running and growing your agency is a tricky business. The HubSpot Agency Expert Webinar Series gives business owners an opportunity to soak up fresh ideas from industry thought leaders and experts to identify new growth opportunities for achieving long-term business success.

Register for the HubSpot Agency Expert Webinar Series to find out more about the strategies that have worked well for leading agency experts and thought leaders.

Big brands realize they need so much more than a picture and description to sell products. They’re all about selling a lifestyle, and that means bigger, better content is needed to engage shoppers.

If you’re not sure what that looks like, or how you can use creative content in your ecommerce website, we have seven spectacular examples for you from real ecommerce campaigns.

1. REI: Expert Advice

Content Idea: Native How-To Content

Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) is one of the most popular camping and outdoor sports retailers in North America. No, its lifestyle blog isn’t the difference-maker for them — it’s how the business natively builds this content into the shopping experience.

The company sorts its products by type of outing, and includes expert advice on each product as a resource in the dropdown menu so you’re learning as you buy. Browsing climbing shoes? There’s how-to content linked to the bottom right for you to learn which shoes you need and even how to use your carabiners once you hit the mountain.

Check out this guide for even more ecommerce content ideas.

2. Target: Finds

Content Idea: User-Made Instagram Posts

The power of social is real, and Target knows it. That’s why they have their Finds page, with information about the most popular items their customers have posted to their Instagram Story. At a glance, buyers can see what others are in love with at the moment, and that “Insta” proof goes a long way toward prompting a conversion.

3. The GoPro Channel

Content Idea: User-Made Video Content

Like Target, GroPro has a huge following of self-motivated content creators too. But while Target’s customers take to Instagram to show off their purchases, GoPro’s fans are uploading some of the coolest action videos on YouTube — all from the perspective of GoPro’s famous Hero camera.

The company engages its users to collaborate and even republish their video content to the GoPro YouTube channel — as well as GoPro.com. When your customers shoot video for you, using your product, it’d be foolish not to turn it into an ecommerce content strategy.

4. Burberry: Acoustic Series

Content Idea: Musical Influencers

Music is the universal language. Kudos to Burberry for speaking to all through their Acoustic series. Not only do they entertain and delight page visitors with the sweet sounds of popular musicians, but they also get a lot more credibility for their brand. After all, every artist who agreed to perform for the acoustic series was pretty much saying “Burberry’s cool in my book.” And that’s hard to ignore.

5. Best Buy: Buying Guides

Content Idea: Product Tutorials

You can’t think about tech-based ecommerce without thinking about Best Buy. This consumer electronics giant nurtures its website visitors through “Buying Guides,” allowing users to start with a tech tutorial before entering the product’s purchase page. The company educates users gradually with calls to action (CTAs) carefully placed throughout each web guide.

6. Lane Bryant: Video Models

Content Idea: Video Product Demos

Most consumers’ pet peeve would be receiving a product and finding out it just doesn’t look the same in real life. Video is a great way to show buyers what they’re really getting. Lane Bryant has put video to work within product descriptions, showing what the clothes look like while in motion. It’s information buyers need before they make a final decision.

7. Woot.com: Product Descriptions

Content Idea: Entertaining Product Copy

Using a bit of creativity with something as simple as your product descriptions can really add some excitement to an otherwise run-of-the-mill ecommerce site. Woot.com is well known for their silly product descriptions from some of the most creative copywriters in the business. Even the smallest injection of humor can bring visitors back every day with hopes of seeing something new and different.

Which of these creative content ideas would work for your ecommerce company? Have you put some of the ideas into practice in the past? We’d love to know what brings you results, so let us know in the comments.