Every boss wants their staff to be more productive, and there are many ways to achieve this. Part of it involves keeping them happy and motivated in their jobs, and part of it involves making sure that the place in which they work is sufficiently inspiring. If you want to make some changes in your office to improve the environment and encourage staff to be more productive, here are a few things that you can do.
Choose an Office with More Natural Light
No on likes to work under artificial lighting for eight hours a day and this is one surefire way to reduce productivity in your staff. Making sure that there is a lot of natural light in your office is an important thing to consider when renting a new office space. Companies should ensure that this is right at the top of the list of features because if there is plenty of natural light making its way into the office, your employees are sure to feel more motivated. It also won't hurt to have a pleasant view from the windows, but this is not always possible.
Make Sure the Office Is a Comfortable Environment
By ensuring that you are all working in a comfortable office, you will be far more likely to get the best out of your staff. There are a number of factors that go into this, including making sure that the heating system is efficient so that it is warm enough in the winter but cool enough in the summer, providing your staff with ergonomic furniture so that they do not develop aches and pains after spending hours at their desks, and generally ensuring that the office is a pleasant place to work.
Create an Inspirational Design
A dull and boring office environment is hardly going to provide the inspiration that your employees need. Instead, try to convert your office space into a more inspiring environment through the design. Consider putting up some artwork on the walls, add some natural touches with plants and flowers to improve the atmosphere and help remove toxins from the air. If you can, paint the walls in a cool, relaxing colour. All of this will go a long way to making the workspace more inspiring.
Get Rid of Clutter
When clutter builds up in an office it can get in the way of productivity. If your office is full up with books, boxes and files that do nothing more than get in the way, try to get everything organized. A minimalist environment will allow people to focus on their work without constantly trying to find their way through all the unnecessary clutter.
Find Out What Is Important to Your Staff
The most important thing that you can do is to find out what it is that your staff really wants. They may want to work in a more environmentally friendly office, in which case you could start recycling paper and using the printer less. They may want to work flexible hours, or even work from home, which could work out well for you as well.
Remember that happy staffs are more productive, so start looking for ways that you can make them happier at work through making a few simple changes, and you could find that these simple changes have a noticeable effect on productivity levels.
Gareth Stevens writes on various issues surrounding office space. Wimbledon, which is where he lives and works, is the main area that he focuses on.
