The right workspace is one of the most important things that improves productivity and gives employees peace of mind. A few small design tweaks to your current office layout will get the job done in enhancing the creativity of your employees.
Using a few simple design fixes will have a great impact on your employee’s health, happiness and productivity in the long run.
This article highlights some of the most important tips for designing a productive office for your employees.
1. A clutter-free desk is one way of guaranteeing peace of mind and relieving stress for employees. Encouraging your employees to maintain a paperless desk is one way to achieve this end. This would help to organize your things better and avoid endless searches for important documents.
2. Ergonomics plays a big role in increasing employee productivity in an office. No employee can be productive when their back is killing them due to improper adjustments to the chair or computer desk. The chair should be comfortable and placed at the right level to your table. After all, no employee would like to become terminally ill because of their job. But this is what really happens to most employees nowadays. They retire with severe back and spine pains because they have been using an uncomfortable chair for decades. Everything should be within easy reach to avoid muscle strain.
3. Small potted plants are one of the best ways to relieve stress and calm the mind during office hours. This will help to enhance your creativity and productivity at the office. Studies done on the subject in 2013, reveal that having a small plant on the desk helps to increase cognitive attention as well as productivity of employees. Plants also help to filter bacteria and mould from the air. This would help to guarantee the health and wellness of employees.
4. Natural light helps to increase creativity, productivity and energy. Natural light also encouraged customers to spend more time shopping in stores, according to a recent study. Arranging the desks of your employees within view of the windows is one way to maximize the amount of natural light in an office. All windows should be cleaned on a regular basis to maximize natural light intake.
5. The colours of a building can have an effect on employee productivity. Green would create a calming balance while blue would stimulate the mind. The colour yellow is said to stimulate creativity in a person. Choosing your office colours accordingly will help your employees immensely. Brighter colours are important for increasing energy levels in an individual. Sober colours, on the other hand, will soothe a person.
6. Contrary to popular belief, the open space plan has been cited as a negative feature in enhancing productivity among employees. The faculty of architecture at the University of Sydney recently conducted a research on this subject. They found that workers, who were lumped together in an open space were less satisfied with their working environment. The reason cited by most of them were “lack of privacy”. Hence going ahead with the open floor plan is not a good idea for increasing productivity in the workplace.
7. A clean space in the middle of the office is mandatory. This area should be allocated for people to sit and talk. A place with a fewer distractions will allow employees to meet and discuss things quite leisurely. This would open up their creative juices and help to increase their productivity as a result.
8. Have a play area in the office. This would help the employees to relax and get out of the 8-5 mentality. A relaxed employee is always better for the productivity of the company. If the office space is small, you can encourage indoor sports like table tennis, carom and other indoor sports. It would help the employee to release the pressure that is being built during the working hours.
The above listed tips are some of the most important things to remember when designing a productive office.
