Inside the Transition From Traditional to Open Office

Companies continue to adopt open office concepts, and for rapidly growing tech companies, open office can be an important tool to accommodate expansion. ServiceTitan, a home service management software and mobile app company, is growing from 40 to more than 500 employees, and it is adopting an open office strategy as part of the transition. Tangram Interiors is developing the company’s new workplace strategy, and has given GlobeSt.com an exclusive look inside the new space and a look at how companies are transitioning to open office formats.

“ServiceTitan decided to embark on designing a new space to solve for the rapid growth happening within the company, and to also provide solutions to issues they had encountered in their open office plan. In four years, ServiceTitan has expanded from 40 employees to 550-plus in their headquarters location with some 75 open positions and expectations for ongoing expansion,” Lupe Morfin of Tangram Interiors, tells GlobeSt.com. “Their office has evolved as the employee base has grown and each department has established its own specific needs. For example, some teams are on the phone more often than others, other teams require more private areas; and some teams prefer a darker environment, while others need brighter lights. In an effort to strike a balance, ServiceTitan conducted employee surveys and through each iteration, made adjustments to actively solve those specific needs. The latest phase received extremely positive feedback.”

Transitioning from a small workforce to one of several hundred is no easy task. Tangram pinpointed current design challenges with their current configuration and created a new format that would better accommodate the current workforce as well as future growth. “ServiceTitan preferred to work with a provider that is innovative and at the forefront of technology, creating and setting furniture trends by constantly pushing boundaries,” says Morfin. “As a flagship dealer for Steelcase, Tangram has extensive experience integrating its solutions for workspace transformation.”

There were several keys to making this new space work. The new office format includes workstations and independent work workspaces as well as flexibility for employees to choose their work environment. To make this work, Tangram was careful to design the space with uniformity and soundproofing to enhance the work areas. “You accommodate future growth by making the space flexible while still solving for the needs of the current employee base,” says Morfin. “Each piece of furniture was intentionally positioned in a place where it noticeably belonged in order to create a clear sense of uniformity and give each space a specific and unique purpose. This approach allows employees to own their areas, while also making it easier on the Real Estate Workplace team.”

An open office format has been popularized as a way to increase collaboration and employee productivity. In this case, it also helped to promote growth and expansion, and the new office format will continue to serve that purpose. “An open office promotes collaboration between different departments if they’re placed in close vicinity to one another,” says Morfin. “Yet, it can also be challenging because these different departments have specialized tasks and therefore, distinctive workday office needs. HED and Tangram were able to help solve for some of the open office issues while also maintaining an open floorplan.”