Quick answer: A more appealing office combines good acoustics, collaborative tools, comfortable breakout areas and a positive culture. Glassboards, acoustic panels, whiteboards and dedicated collaboration spaces all play a practical role in making people genuinely want to come to work, rather than stay at home.
Why office environment matters more than ever
Hybrid and remote working have raised the bar. If coming into the office feels worse than working from home, people will choose home. The businesses winning the return-to-office argument are not mandating attendance; they are building workspaces that offer something a home desk cannot: great acoustics, collaborative tools, social energy and a sense of shared purpose.
The good news is that most of the changes that make the biggest difference are practical and affordable. You do not need a full refurbishment to shift how your team feels about coming in.
Acoustics: the often-ignored foundation of a productive office
Open-plan offices are the norm, and the noise that comes with them is one of the top reasons employees say they prefer working from home. Background chatter, phone calls and hard surfaces all create an environment where concentration is genuinely difficult.
Acoustic treatment is the highest-leverage change most offices can make. Wall-mounted panels absorb reflected sound without reducing usable space. Ceiling rafts and baffles work well in high-ceiling open plans where wall area is limited.
Our acoustic solutions range includes wall panels, ceiling rafts and acoustic pin boards that double as display surfaces. The Zen Liner achieves Class A sound absorption; the Zen Acoustic Pin Board gives you a functional display surface with genuine acoustic benefit.
Quieter zones are also a signal to staff that their ability to focus matters. That changes how people feel about the office, not just how they perform in it.
Collaboration spaces: give people a reason to be in the same room
One of the clearest advantages of the office over home working is the ability to think through problems together. That advantage only materialises if the space supports it. A room with a small table and a projector that takes ten minutes to connect does not support it.
Meeting rooms and breakout spaces equipped with the right tools change this. A large whiteboard in a meeting room lets a team map out a project, mark up a plan or run a retrospective in a way that no video call can replicate. A glassboard in a client-facing space says something about your standards: clean, sharp and permanent.
The Mood Wall coloured glassboard works particularly well in creative and client-facing spaces, available in a wide range of colours to match brand or interior schemes. For day-to-day collaboration, a wall-mounted or floor-standing whiteboard in a breakout area gives people a place to think visually without booking a formal meeting room.
Small breakout areas with a whiteboard and comfortable seating also reduce the number of conversations held at desks, which reduces the noise levels affecting everyone else.
Visual identity: what your office communicates
How an office looks affects how people feel working in it, and how visitors and clients perceive your business. This does not mean expensive artwork or a trendy fit-out. It means consistency, colour and surfaces that look intentional rather than accidental.
Coloured glassboards are one of the more impactful changes per square metre: a full-height Mood Wall in your brand colour turns a plain wall into a statement, while still functioning as a writing and display surface. Notice boards in consistent framing, positioned at sensible heights, make information feel organised rather than cluttered.
The combination of clean surfaces, acoustic panels in a considered palette and collaboration tools that are clearly available signals to staff and visitors alike that the office has been thought about.
Comfort and the small things that add up
Beyond acoustics and tools, comfort is made up of smaller details: temperature, seating quality, natural light, access to refreshments and a kitchen that people do not dread using. None of these are glamorous, but their absence is loudly felt.
Breakout areas away from desks give people a change of scene without leaving the building. These spaces work best when they feel distinct from the main workspace: different seating, different lighting and a clearly different purpose. A whiteboard or pin board in a breakout area makes the space useful as well as comfortable, which encourages use.
Regular cleaning matters too. A clean, ordered office is not a luxury; it is a basic signal that the organisation respects the people working in it.
Culture: the context everything else sits within
Better acoustics, a glassboard in reception and a well-stocked kitchen will not fix a toxic culture. People want to come into a workplace where they feel respected, where communication is honest and where managers lead by example. The physical environment supports culture; it does not replace it.
That said, investing in the physical workspace is itself a cultural signal. It says that the organisation takes the day-to-day experience of working there seriously. That signal has value on its own.
Browse our glassboards and acoustic panels to see what would work in your space. →
Frequently asked questions
What is the single most effective change to make an office more appealing?
Acoustic treatment consistently has the largest impact per pound spent. Reducing background noise makes concentration easier, reduces stress and is one of the main reasons people say the office feels worse than home. Wall-mounted acoustic panels can be fitted without any structural work and make a noticeable difference within a single room.
How do glassboards make an office look more professional?
Glassboards have clean, frameless edges and a smooth writing surface that looks intentional rather than functional. They can be specified in colours that match a brand or interior scheme, which makes them a visual feature as well as a working tool. Unlike a standard whiteboard, they do not stain or ghost over time, so they continue to look sharp years after installation.
What should a good office breakout area include?
Comfortable seating, a change of light from the main workspace, and at least one tool for visual thinking or display, such as a whiteboard, glassboard or acoustic pin board. The key is that the space feels purposefully different from a desk area, giving people a genuine reason to move there rather than staying at their workstation.
Do acoustic panels help with office productivity?
Yes. Noise distraction is consistently cited in workplace research as one of the biggest barriers to focused work. Acoustic panels reduce reverberation and lower the perceived noise level in a space. In open-plan offices, this means fewer interruptions to concentration and a generally calmer environment, both of which support productivity and wellbeing.
Can office whiteboards really encourage people to come into the office?
Whiteboards and glassboards support a type of real-time, visual collaboration that is genuinely difficult to replicate remotely. When a team knows that the meeting room is set up for productive working, with a large writing surface and space to think together, coming in feels worthwhile. It is not the only factor, but it is a practical one that office managers can act on directly.
What is the difference between a whiteboard and a glassboard for office use?
Whiteboards are lighter, lower cost and available in a wider range of sizes and mounting options, making them a practical choice for meeting rooms and breakout spaces. Glassboards are harder-wearing, do not stain or ghost, and have a more premium appearance, which makes them better suited to client-facing areas or spaces where visual impact matters. Both are dry-wipe surfaces; the right choice depends on budget, location and how heavily the surface will be used.
For advice on which products would work best in your space, contact the Presentation Spaces team. Call us on 01382 913 913 or email info@presentationspaces.co.uk.
