A clean workplace is a happy workplace. It makes workers feel better and more relaxed. Not many employers take into consideration the psychological effect the state of a workplace has on the people who work there. Ask yourself - if you were coming into work everyday to an untidy, oppressive atmosphere - would you look forward to it? Chances are the answer is no.
Not only does it effect the attitude and happiness of workers, it can also make a massive impact in productivity. In order for the workplace to be efficient, the absolute core of any office - the workers themselves, have to be motivated and happy to come into work in the first place.
This also applies to when you're looking for potential new employees. If you were given two job interviews, and were given a tour around and witnessed one to be clean, bright and well maintained, and the other being dull dingy, and relatively chaotic - if offered both positions, which one would appeal to you more?
Colour
In order to promote a good working environment, first of all you need to take a look at he workspace itself. Dark and cold colours often give off negative energy, as well as make the room feel smaller and cramped in, especially if it is filled with desks, fax machines, printers and so on. When deciding on a colour scheme, you can't go wrong with white, but try not to use it everywhere - its an office, not a hospital ward. A splash of colour is always welcome to add some vibrancy and contrast to a room.
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| Its surprising just how much a dash of colour can change a space. |
Some areas are better suited for different talks. Reception areas often benefit from reds, as these speeds up the perception of time. Purples and pinks are great for meeting rooms as they promote fantasy and imagination, whilst cooler colours are perfect as accents in offices and working spaces as a stress buster.
In high traffic areas, especially where people congregate often, such as vending machines, drinking fountains and other smaller interpersonal areas, smart use of red will encourage people to move along quicker.
Layout
When deciding the layout of an office, it should be flowing and uncluttered, so that people won't need the agility of a gymnast to make it to your desk. For an office with a single desk, it is always better to have the desk facing towards the door, so that upon people entering you don't lose too much focus from what you're doing due to having to swivel your head around, this also makes people feel easier when entering a room, as they can see your face upon entry, rather than the back of your head.
When incorporating more than one desk, this can be disregarded. Instead focus on positioning the desks in the office so that they are arranged in squares facing each other. This approach forces more face to face contact between employees, and improves their cohesion as a team and as people - ultimately leading to a much friendlier and positively productive office. Having people positioned facing away from one another tends to create a very impersonal atmosphere, and stifles communications between co-workers as hand gestures and facial expressions are taken out of the equation altogether - both of which are common factors in communication.
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| Most companies now go for more open layouts such as this. |
Finishing touches
So that covers the colour scheme and layout. There are other things which you can consider also which can benefit a small workgroup or office. The presence of plants in a room placed just in line of sight, can provide a calming effect on workers, giving them another focal point when feeling worked up. Also artwork on walls can have a similar effect, but this can be further tweaked to suit the workers personalities, little nods in their direction make them feel at ease.
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| Plants and subtle lighting are excellent stress busters. |
Lighting is also another major point. In an office, especially when computers are involved, dim lighting will cause eye strains and make workers agitated, where in direct contrast, but giving a similar effect, when lights are too bright they will cause people headaches - stunting any productivity, so this is something which is also key to a good balance in any office. Free standing lamps are something which can benefit, as not only to they provide subtle lighting, they also resonate a "homely" feeling, which can ultimately have a calming effect.
We hope this small guide will help you on the path to finding the right balance in the workplace. Any comments, feel free to leave some below!
