How do you feel when you enter your office? It’s important to know because the way you feel is probably the same way your employees feel, and if that’s more negative than positive, you could have a problem to deal with.
As a business owner, you need to be aware of how your employees feel, and you need to ensure they are as happy as possible in order for them to be as productive as possible. It might be that you need to design a more comfortable office to help this happen. If so, here are some ways you can do it.
Add a Break Room
If the entire office space is designated for working and employees have to go outside or stay at their desks when it’s time to take a break, this is something to work on. The issue is that without proper breaks, employees will become less productive due to being overtired. They might even eventually burn out.
By offering them a break room where they can go to take their break, they will be able to relax. They’ll also be less tempted to do any work, especially if they’re not at their desk.
You could turn an old storage area into a break room if you don’t otherwise have the space. Hire a storage unit from StorageArea.com to hold the things that were in the room, and you’ve automatically gained some space.
Have an Open Place Office
The days of everyone having their own cubicle are long gone, and it’s much better for your team to work in an open-plan office. Not only does it feel more spacious and therefore more comfortable, but it also means that collaborating is a lot easier. This is even more true if you set the office up as a hot desk or co-working space. People can then move around as much as they need to and get their tasks done more easily.
Ideally, everything in the office should be open plan, which means that as the boss, you should be working in the same large room as your team. Having an office just to yourself can put a barrier up and make communication hard, both literally and figuratively.
Have Quiet Zones
Having just discussed how an open plan office can be an ideal way to keep people productive, it’s also important to understand there will be times when people need some quiet space to get things done. This is why it’s worth looking into how to make some areas of the office quiet zones. You might cordon them off in some way or put up signs that no noise should be made.
Your team can choose where they want to work, and that not only helps them complete tasks but it also gives them a sense of ownership over the office as well.
Natural Light
Natural light is a crucial component of a comfortable office, so if you have windows, it’s important that you maximize the light coming through them. To do this, you can paint the window frames a lighter color, as this will reflect the light as it comes through rather than absorb it.
Another idea is to remove any curtains or dark blinds. You can still have blinds, but make sure they are a light color, and curtains should be avoided at all costs as they take up too much of the window to allow enough light in.
