Crazy cables running all over the office OR remain completely cut off from the world: conventional wisdom says you can only choose one. Until now. Here are some cable management ideas you can adopt for your work space.

An open office concept must have cables in order to be functional. However, the messes of wires tangled up all over the floor are not conducive to companies looking to make a clean, professional-looking space where employees can actually accomplish work and get things done. But, you need cables to stay connected. 

The good news is: there are solutions to help provide employees with the cables that they need to get their work done while still keeping the office space clean and functional while you are at it.

When it comes to cable management, there have historically been two key schools of thought in business.

One school of thought is necessity which focuses on cable as something that must be present in the everyday workplace in order for it to function and allow employees to get things done. In this kind of set up, cables generally get bundled which can ultimately lead to the issue of cables tangling.

While this works wonderfully while employees use these cables, however., eventually it makes a big mess.Ultimately, everything must be untangled and redone so that everything is neater and not getting tangled while employees move throughout the office and complete their daily tasks.

The second school of thought is the way of design thinking. This school of thought also believes that cables are necessary to an office space, it recognizes that there are better ways to organize cables than to braid or bundle them all together in a design that will eventually tangle up.

This model thinks about the cable needs of employees during the construction of the office. This means that the cables that are needed for employees to work on a daily basis and for the office’s equipment to run are built right into the floor. They are essentially made part of the floor plan and are out of the way of employees throughout the day and are kept safe as they are run under the floors and therefore better protected from damage.

Mobility of Cables is Key

No matter which method of cable management your company uses, there is one thing that is for certain: We live in a day and age where modern workforce is always on the move!

This means that ensuring employees can take their cables (and thus their electronics) with them wherever they go is vital to ensuring that your office space is productive as possible. Employees will be going from one meeting to another or moving from place to place to work with different people on projects throughout the day. If they cannot take the cables they need with them as they go their equipment will not operate properly and their ability to work effectively as possible will be greatly hampered.

Two Solutions: “The Band-Aid” Vs. Modern Solutions

Method #1

“The Band-Aid” method is all too often used in office spaces. “The Band-Aid” method is essentially what it sounds like. The solution that is reached works in the short-term, however, in the end it’s not going to solve the problem of tangled cables that plague many modern office spaces today. These “Band-Aids” often applied by offices include things like:

  • Concealing cables behind under or under work surfaces
  • Zip Ties/Braiding Cables
  • Running the cables through the floor or ceiling
  • Foregoing convenience and just using the closest outlet or running clunky power strips throughout the workspace to provide outlets for all equipment needed

While the “Band-Aids” may help fix things short term, in the long-term the lack of ownership that is taken over the cable management situation means that nothing is really solved. It’s just “fixed” till next time a problem arises.

Method #2

Integration Design Thinking is a longer-term solution for cable management that will allow employees the flexibility and aforementioned mobility they need to work while controlling those pesky clusters of cables that end up around the office. These methods create aesthetically pleasing looks that allow the employee to continue to do their work and provides them with cables without cluttering the office while doing it. These Integration Design Thinking tactics include techniques such as using things like:

  • Office Benching Systems
  • Energy Chains
  • Raceways
  • Work Surface Outlets

These Integration Design Thinking tools allow for the use of all kinds of tools in the office, including personal and mobile devices. They also provide a place to plug everything in without the cable management issues that come with the aforementioned “Band-Aid” method.

Clean Up Your Office – and involve cable management experts

Remodeling your office to meet the Integration Design Thinking ideas might seem daunting to many business owners, however, the good news is that there are cable management professionals such as Artham Construction and we can help! We will be happy to help you clean up your cable mess and your office space by designing and implementing an Integration Design Thinking system that works for you.

For more information on how Antham Construction can help come up with a cable management system for your business please feel free to contact us to get started today.