Let’s face it – not all offices can be as cool as Google offices, right? Right. Plus, not all business has that amount of money to spend on decorating. Still, that doesn’t really mean they should not pay attention to the interior of their business space as it’s well known that office design much contributes to increased or decreased productivity of the employees.
Office design is of supreme importance. Naturally, you can’t blame every failed deal on the looks of your office, but it sure does have an impact on how you work and the results you bring to the table. And, when things need to be done – they need to be done! Meaning – read this tutorial and get some amazing ideas that’ll help you re-design your current office space in a way it increases productivity and alleviates stress of both your employees and you.
Lighting
Proper lighting is surely one of the most important factors in feeling happy, productive, inspired to create and work and above all staying focused on what you do. For some reason, lighting is one of the invested in and most overlooked traits of a business space. Bad lightning doesn’t only cause eyestrain, but fatigue, headaches and overall irritability. It is known that badly lighted and dark spaces produce depression.
So, do whatever you can to let the sunshine in – keep shutters open during the day and minimize artificial light. Consider replacing your current light bulbs with natural light bulbs.
Clutter
Sure, you’ll hear plenty of people say they don’t mind the mess and even find it inspiring for work. These people are a minority. Clutter prevents focus and productivity and is pretty distracting.
Make sure you install shelves and cabinets for storage and keep all documents, papers, and other stuff neatly away. Rely on your employee’s inner decency that they’ll keep their work surfaces clean and clean after themselves (it wouldn’t harm to tell them to do so once, just to avoid confusion or misunderstandings). Have everything put away, organized, filed, organized and generally out of sight.
Furniture
The importance of proper furniture is immense, especially considering that most of the work we do nowadays is focused on hours of sitting at the desk. Too much stretching, adjusting, moving around will not only distract your work but cause pain in your spine on the long run. Hence, it is of utmost importance to invest in proper, comfortable office furniture! If you are not sure what fits best, consult experts. Don’t buy something that looks good yet feels horrible. For increased productivity of your employees, you need to provide them a proper throne to sit on and a correctly fitted table.
Room Color
Colors have a huge impact on our psyche – our moods, functions throughout the day and general behavior are affected by the colors that surround us. Psychology of colors has much helped fast food chains advertise and gather as many customers as they have (did you know that yellow color causes thirst, while red one causes hunger?), so why wouldn’t it help you too?
Choosing the right colors may also affect your productivity. Still, too much of anything can cause an absolutely opposite effect to the one you wanted, even with colors. So, before you decide on the wall paint, think of the emotion you want to evoke in your colleagues and the overall style you’d like to achieve. Studying psychology of colors is advisable. You can also hire industrial builders who will give you great advice on re-doing your office space!
Nature
Often, we forget that we are biological creatures and that in our genetic DNA lays the need to connect with nature. Lack of natural world around us affects us on many levels – both psychologically and physiologically which is further connected to our desire to be productive.
Bringing plants into the office will inject life into the space. In case there are no many windows through which the light would feed the greenery, bring in plastic plants (just pick those that look natural). These will visually stimulate everyone and give sense of nature. Also, whenever possible, keep windows slightly open for the fresh air to get into the office.
See? It’s not even that hard. Re-arranging and fixing your space to increase productivity in both your employees and you is a pretty easy task – you just need to be open to change.