The appearance of your office matters in two ways. First, it’s the place where your employees spend half of their waking hours. This means that you should focus on making it feel like it’s their second home – pleasant and taking care of their wellbeing in every possible way. Second, your office is where your current and potential clients come to do business with you. It is a fact that first impression means everything, so your office needs to be in top shape so that it reflects how professional you are and how much you care about both your business and the people you work with.
Make it easy to breathe
The quality of air and ventilation in your office means a lot. It has an effect on the productivity of your employees, as well as on how comfortable anyone feels in your workspace. On one hand, it is necessary that you install high-quality air conditioning, ventilation and heating systems. However, you could also focus on placing indoor plants. They are more than just there for décor, but to improve the air circulation throughout your building. This works wonders for your employees’ health, reducing the possibility of headaches, throat irritations, fatigue and dry coughs. Furthermore, plants make your offices look representative.
Green walls for improved creativity
Studies have shown that the color green improves creative thinking. It goes without saying that creativity in the workplace is essential, no matter what the task at hand is – coming up with a new marketing slogan, or deciding how to best analyze data. What you need is a color that is bright enough and not too saturated, in order to induce a relaxed mental state. Your walls will do miracles with a calming hue, such as sea-foam or sage green. If you are unable to paint your space, you can go for the alternative solution of using green wallpapers or simply implementing green elements into your workspace. Make sure that you go for green instead of red, as it is proven to have the opposite effect.
Turn the volume down
Your employees are going to have a trouble concentrating if there is a lot of noise around them. If there is a phone constantly ringing near them, or too many people passing by and talking, it is bound to make it hard to focus on the task at hand. Noise creates distraction, and therefore leads to people being much more irritated. However, you can easily fix this issue via smart design and choice of furniture. There needs to be a proper balance between open and closed spaces. You can choose materials for the surfaces which absorb acoustics, and furniture that decreases the amount of noise that is transmitted. And, of course, avoid having a phone in the middle of an open office.
Make your office reflect your vision and values
The way that your office is designed has an important job to do – it has to reflect what your company’s vision and brand values are. This is important for both your clients and your workers. Philanthropy is the first thing that you should think of, as it’s going to mean a lot to your employees. If your brand carries values of the likes of a haughty boardroom, it’s going to work quite the opposite way. It’s a good idea to discuss this with your employees. Learn about how they feel in their current workspace, and gain feedback on how you can improve it.
Make sure that the light is just right
Providing natural light for your employees is essential. Daylight is important because it highly affects stress levels, enables your employees to be more active during the day, and in the end, get more sleep when they come home from a busy day at work. However, you should also enable them to have control over how much light they have in their office. They certainly don’t want the sun to shine straight into their eyes while they are working. Look for roller blinds online, and choose the best ones for your office space.
In the case that you can’t provide windows to your workers, then make the best out of your office lighting. A cool, blue shade improves analytical thinking. On the other hand, warmer colors work well for socializing with co-workers. You should also provide your employees with a desk lamp, in order to battle eyestrain.
In summation
Your office space is where your employees spend most of their day, so it is essential that you make the best out of it. Think about noise and light, paint the walls so that the colors improve their creativity, and install office plants to improve air quality. Finally, it is essential that your office reflects your vision and brand image. This way, it promotes the right values among your employees and is also representable to your clients.
