7 Qualities to Consider When Buying A Standing Desk for Your Office

Upgrading to standing desks for the office is a great way to improve the work environment, especially for your employees.

In the office, employees are often sedentary because of the long hours they spend in front of their computers. Their physical activity during working hours is limited to a few minutes for coffee runs and lunch breaks. Being stationary for hours can affect their physical health over time, impacting their mental welfare.

Having standing desks for the office is a simple but effective adjustment that will help provide more physical activity to your employees. It will improve their overall well-being, which leads them to become happier and more productive members that will contribute to your company’s success.

However, it’s important to choose a standing desk for your office with the right qualities to provide all the benefits that will improve employees’ well-being.

Here are the top benefits you can provide to your employees by getting a standing desk with the right qualities:

  • Corrects Posture
  • Employees who sit for hours tend to slouch, especially when their desks are not arranged at the right height towards their bodies. Prolonged hours of sitting adds more pressure to the neck and back, leading to uncomfortable body stiffness or muscle pain. Using a standing desk helps correct posture by aligning your body as you’re standing, keeping your neck, shoulders, and back relaxed and in proper form as you work.

  • Promotes Weight Loss
  • The body burns more calories when standing in comparison to sitting. According to Healthline, standing can help you burn up to 200 calories, while sitting will only shed off up to 130 calories. Employees who spend most of their time and energy at work won’t be able to squeeze in a workout at the end of the day to keep themselves in shape. Burning 200 calories per day from using a standing desk will help them prevent weight gain.

  • Prevents Physical Illnesses
  • Standing decreases sedentary time that can help prevent physical illnesses such as heart disease, obesity, and severe back and neck pain. One significant physical condition that standing can help prevent is metabolic syndrome, which is when a person develops diabetes, hypertension, and obesity all at the same time.

  • Improves Mental Health
  • Much like adding a standing desk for your office, the simple act of standing can help improve your employee’s mental health by boosting brain function and improving their mood. Engaging in simple physical activities such as standing while working helps maintain focus. It also lessens the countless hours spent sitting, which has been linked to anxiety and depression.

    7 Qualities to Consider in Choosing A Standing Desk for Your Office

    Now that you have in mind the benefits that a standing desk could offer your employees, it’s time to choose the best one by looking at these qualities.

    1. Height Adjustability

    The purpose of having a standing desk for your office is to allow your employees to stand in an upright position, aligning the entire body to have proper posture while working. Height adjustability in a standing desk is important because it allows your employees to choose the perfect height for their workstation, which will enable them to work comfortably while standing. Your employees probably don’t all have the same height, which means they will have different compatibilities in choosing the right level for their desks.

    2. Width Capacity

    In the office, employees have different devices and equipment to accomplish their daily tasks at work. Some can manage by simply using a single laptop and a series of outlets to power their personal devices. In contrast, others need a full computer set up with multiple monitors, a printer, and a wired telephone to fulfill their deliverables. Choose a standing desk that will provide a wide enough space for your employees to work in comfortably.

    3. Speed

    Some like it fast and some like it slow. A standing desk can adjust its height but how fast should it rise and descend? Too fast and you can overshoot your desired desk height, forcing you to be delicate with the controls. Too slow and you feel as if the desk takes forever to adjust. A well designed standing desk ensures that operating it is simple and suited for the average person’s response time. But if you prefer to go ‘old-school’, consider a manual-crank desk. Adjust your desk at your own pace and even give your arms a little workout.

    4. Programmability

    The programmability of a standing desk refers to the feature of how it adjusts the height and width level. Some places will only offer desks with simple motorized controls, but there can be more customized ones. The majority of the standing desks from Anthrodesk already offer motorized and automatic programmability for height and width adjustment. This makes work life easier for your employees because they can easily adjust the standing desk to the height and width they need with a press of a few buttons. It also makes it easier for your employees to switch from sitting to standing without the inconvenience of manually adjusting their desk’s height and width.

    5. Durability and Capacity

    The quality and strength of the materials used in a standing desk is an important factor because they will determine product life and weight capacity. Aside from ensuring that the quality of the standing desk for your office will not deteriorate after a few years, it also ensures that it can safely and securely carry the weight of all the devices and equipment your employees need in their workstations.

    6. Size

    Much like designing and choosing furniture for any other space, the size of your standing desk is an important quality. You want to provide the best standing desk for your employees, but you also have to ensure that it won’t cramp up the office area. Find the right size of standing desks for your office by checking their width to make sure that they can fit the office. Choose the right size of standing desks that will give your employees and their workstation neighbours a free and comfortable working space. Consider the width so that there is ample space for people to move around. Similarly, the depth should provide room for items without compromising others’ space. Thickness is also important as some accessories may be required to clamp to the sides of the desktop.

    7. Design

    Your choice of standing desks should also match the design and vibe of your office. You can buy standing desks without a tabletop, which means you are free to purchase or procure custom tabletops that will match your office’s design. But if your office has a neutral design, you can opt for standing desks that already come with table tops made with natural wood veneer, laminates, or solid wood, much like those from Anthrodesk’s collection. Maybe add an adjustable tray for your keyboard or a wireless charger for your phone. Make your desk your own.

    Final Thoughts

    Finding the best standing desk for your office is easy once you’ve checked off all the right qualities you need from the list above. If you’re still weighing your options or haven’t figured out which qualities should be your deciding factor, check out this recommendation of standing desks for office design from Anthrodesk to help you choose a suitable standing desk for your office. You may just find the right desk for you and your employees, whether it’s the different controls to the overall strength of the desk frames.