The actual office space can influence a lot of factors in your business: how people move, how clients perceive your company, and even how comfortable you are at your personal workspace. Perhaps the most impactful effect of the office environment is on employee morale. If you want to make sure that your team feels happy, satisfied, and motivated, consider these when designing your office space:
1. Work Tasks
When the working environment makes it easy for tasks to be accomplished, employees don’t just become more productive, but also feel a greater sense of fulfillment with being efficient. When arranging your workspace, think about how exactly your employees execute tasks.
Does your team need more collaboration? Then an open-office layout, coupled with flexible furniture and retractable walls, is what you need. Do employees require more hours dedicated to individual work? Then make sure to install independent work surfaces and storage spaces. Of course, if you can have separate spaces dedicated to both work styles, then that would be better. When scouting for office space for lease, look for a space that can support different layout configurations.
2. Stress
It’s not unknown that office environments are the most stressful places, but there are ways to curb stressors in the space. Noise, for instance, can be reduced with the use of acoustic panels on the walls. There are a lot of interesting designs, geometric patterns, and colors for these fixtures, so you would likely find one that would fit your brand personality.
Clutter is another stressor. You can lessen this by adding cabinets or shelves to your design. Be smart in storage areas, though. You want to keep them away from plain view, so you won’t populate the floor space with just cabinets. In office spaces that have the luxury of space, businesses assign spaces for relaxation. For example, an area where employees can slip in to escape from the pings of e-mails and ringing of different phones for a while. If the office you rent has a huge space, prioritize having this area.
3. Colors
The hues you choose in your office makes a great difference in employees’ moods, performance productivity, and job satisfaction. Be extra picky when considering colors to add in the space.
Green boosts creativity, so you might want to add touches of this hue in your conference room. Blue prompts relaxation, so it’s good to have it in your relaxation areas. Red energizes, but too much of it can reduce the level of concentration at work, so you probably should tone it down a bit if you plan to use it.
Of course, take note of your brand colors, as well. When such hues are reflected in the office space, employees pick up on this unconsciously, instilling in them the values the brand represents. A greater loyalty to the brand translates to better employee morale.
The ideal working environment is the one that boosts the job satisfaction of employees. Design your office space with the mentioned factors in mind to boost employee morale.
