In recent years, the open-plan office environment has helped to improve team communication, raise staff morale, and increase overall engagement, but ironically, it’s these same qualities that make it so successful – the lack of physical boundaries – that can cause problems of their own.

Indeed, whenever people work in close proximity to each other, background noise, distractions and unwelcome interruptions are all-too common, especially in call-centres or ‘telephone-based’ customer support teams – ‘Focus spaces’ provide a quiet, alternative setting that’s located far away from the hustle and bustle of the main office. It’s a place where people can go to work and concentrate on complex tasks – or meet a tight deadline – with less chance of interruption or distractions, but in recent years, these spaces have become popular for another reason too.

With ‘one-to-one’ video apps (such as Zoom and Teams) now becoming an established way of getting business done, more people than ever are seeking out quiet spaces far away from the background noise and ‘hubbub’ of a busy main office to make ‘one-to-one’ video calls.

‘Focus spaces’ come in many guises but one solution that’s gained popularity in recent years are ‘work-pods’. These are similar in many ways to the larger upholstered ‘meeting pods’, but their more compact size is designed to accommodate a single person rather than a group, allowing privacy on demand. With tall, generously upholstered panels to help dampen ambient noise levels and reduce visual distractions, built-in worktables, comfortable sprung seating, and mains power on hand for charging laptops and mobile ‘phones, they can provide a surprisingly pleasant ‘Focus Space’.

If concentration, detail, and accuracy are an important part of your work, then a focus space will prove invaluable. They’re perfect for anyone who’s project has a fast-approaching cut-off date, or for those who check data or undertake market research, or simply those who need to complete an important task without any interruption.

One of the real benefits of having dedicated Focus spaces are their versatility. They’re a valuable personal workspace when concentration is needed, or as a discrete place to work at those times when you need to jump on a ‘Zoom’ or ‘Teams’ video call… They can also provide a surprisingly practical, yet alternative solution to existing ‘hot-desk’ arrangements for those who don’t have a permanent desk-space… This might be an off-site engineer who needs to write a technical report, or a salesperson who only comes into the office occasionally.