You may have heard it before, but the workplace environment is one of those deal makers or deal breakers when it comes to worker’s productivity. If you want to make your employees more productive and boost their creativity, you should start by now to redesign your office space and give it a little extra pampering and cleaning treatment, because according to multiple studies, this is the easiest way to tackle this.
Interior designers certainly have plenty of information available on how to optimize the workplace in such a fashion to make your employees’ time there more enjoyable, creative and productive.
Follow the tips below and test those theories yourself.
Plants and greenery.
Plants are an inexpensive and effective way to beautify all spaces. And expert interior designers and psychologists advise business owners to bring in some plants if they want to register higher rates of workplace productivity. This research paper shows that those employees that work in office spaces where plants and greenery is part of the environment are 15% more productive.
If you think that keeping plants alive in office spaces if more than difficult, remember that you can always choose out of various species that react differently when exposed to different levels of light and care. After all, there are plants that don’t need to much light to thrive. On the plus side, you can always invest in plants with air-filtering properties and make sure that your employees are not only more productive but also healthier.
Succulents are those types of plans that are very low-maintenance and widely available. However, note the fact that these plants require plenty of light. For lower light requirement plants, opt for water lily. These have incredible air-filtering properties, while not demanding plenty of natural light.
Natural light.
Another must-have element in an office space is natural light. Thus, when selecting your office space, make sure that you choose one with wide windows that are south-oriented. This way, your employees will feel more relaxed and creative in the workplace.
Low natural light levels can deregulate one’s circadian rhythm and make them feel progressively more tired and depressed. Those winter months when the hours of natural light are fewer are more likely to make your employees less creative, continuously tired and sick. If you simply can’t offer your employees natural light, consider investing in SAD lamps to compensate. This is an affordable and effective solution which you have to consider.
Offer your employees noise-cancelling headphones.
We all have different working styles, depending on our personality. Some of us love some music in the background when working on an important task, other might simply get lost in information whenever they are disturbed by various office noises, even small chatter. To make things easier for everybody, you want to invest in some noise-cancelling headphones and offer your employees the opportunity to choose the way in which they are more productive.
Plus, putting headphones on will make certain employees more productive because, in this way, they let others know that they’re not particularly up for a chat. This is a win-win situation for everybody in an office!
Keep it clean.
Clutter is killing you mentally and your productivity levels at the same time. If you want to have more creative and mentally relaxed employees, consider a closer collaboration with a professional commercial cleaning team, the experts at WeCleanIt advise. Clutter and dirt are not only visually unappealing, but they might make your employees depressed, fall out of focus easily and get stressed.
There are many negative results from working in dirty, cluttered spaces.
Clutter is a focus killer. Clutter of all kinds (mental, physical, or digital) can make you fall out of focus progressively and it always makes it more difficult to organize your daily tasks. In dirty and cluttered spaces, this is one of the biggest productivity killers out there. So, make sure that your employees enjoy a tidy and clean office space.
Clutter and dirt will make you feel stressed. When you’re surrounded by clutter and dirt, your mind is bombarded with information from multiple sources which will overwork its processes. Most frequently, dirt and clutter will make those living or working in similar conditions feel like they are more stressed than they actually are.
You’re slower in dirty workplace environments. Dirty workplaces make us work slower and deliver poor-quality results. Even the slightest stressor will cause us to take longer to accomplish even the simplest tasks.
Offer your employees small perks.
Free snacks, a relaxation room and a lounge area, maybe a workplace gym are all environmental factors that contribute to making your employees more productive and happier, overall. You don’t know when a wave of mid-day hunger will strike your employees and make them less focused and less productive. Plus, employees who enjoy similar perks in the office are more likely to deliver more because they feel valued and cared for. Make sure to show your employees that they are more than a simple mean of boosting your company’s revenue. Show them that they really matter and that they are valuable to you and your establishment as individuals.
Have some fun at work.
The workplace environment is more than the way in which you decorate your office space and how clean it is. It’s also about the company culture and the way in which you allow your employees to interact and socialise. Multiple studies have shown that employees that work in fun and entertaining workplace environments are more likely to be not motivated but extremely motivated. Dedicate a day per month in which you allow your employees to have fun at work in a commonly established way. Whether is having fun with snacks or play dough, there are many options out there in which you can establish a similar culture in your workplace.
There are so many great ways in which you can turn your good employees into great employees. Simply make sure that you create all the necessary physical and cultural adjustments that will make your employees feel appreciated and healthier than ever before.
