Ergonomic advantages of office pods

When people think of working cabins they often think of 'privacy' and 'quiet'. Well-designed and well-made models can of course offer both of these. But they also unlock an incredible but overlooked ergonomic advantage: freedom of movement. Offices equipped with various pods or workspaces allow employees to move freely around the space on a daily basis, thus reaping countless mobility benefits.

With this in mind, work pods allow people to move around and can play a vital role in a manager's strategy to create a more active office.

Work pods allow and catalyse two important types of movement

"... Whether we are aware of it or not, we are constantly organising and re-organising our workplaces to improve performance. Space is a resource that must be managed, very similar to time, memory and energy. When we make the most of space, we can often reduce the time and memory requirements of tasks to a feasible level. We can improve the reliability of execution and increase the amount of work we can handle at one time." -David Kirsh, cognitive scientist and professor at the University of California

When we talk about movement at work, we are referring to two movements that are equally important for well-being, comfort and productivity. Work pods can act as a catalyst for both.

Lift one leg at a time on a footstool to change positions, alternate between standing and sitting, bounce on a movable seat, rock, sway or enjoy micro movements with the help of an anti-fatigue mat. These are all the subtle movements you can perform at your desk when you are "fine-tuned". The goal is to create more opportunities for such movements in the design of the workstation itself.

Don't forget that ergonomics is not only about movement, but also about environmental conditions such as light, sound, temperature and smell, and assessing how well these conditions support comfort and performance. This is why the user can adjust the lighting, ventilation and acoustics in each pod. See our article for a detailed look at the engineering behind pod acoustics: Quiet but not too quiet: the acoustic principles of office pods explained.

Short strolls between pods, quick walks through office buildings, stretching exercises and walking meetings ...... These movements all represent the second important movement that office spaces should promote: in-office mobility.

The key here is to offer a variety of working environments to provide employees with choice in the first place. As each work environment (in our example Pod) provides an environment suitable for a unique task, users are empowered to match tasks to Pods and move through the pods daily - maintaining total traffic. 

From this perspective, the work pods not only encourage work but also promote movement as employees are constantly on the move. The beautiful thing about in-office mobility is that movement welcomes more movement. After all, objects in motion do tend to stay in motion. As a result, your team will become more and more active every day as time passes.