The office is a second home for the modern inhabitant of a megalopolis. The statement that we spend a significant portion of our time at work does not need to be proven, and the activity itself must bring pleasure to the employee and the conditions they spend working hours. You should design the space in a way that would evoke positive emotions to stimulate creativity and motivation.
Working in comfort without headaches is more productive and positive; corporations like Google, Apple, and Microsoft proved it. Even a small office can have a unique atmosphere and meet specific criteria. Such an office will dispose of potential candidates to work not less than high salaries and exciting tasks. And management will provide employees with comfort and coziness. Here are ten signs of a well-appointed office.
1. Good Lighting
Not all employers think about office lighting when improving their offices. Natural light is, in any case, better than any lamp. But, unfortunately, not in the realities of Canada or northern regions of the US, where it gets dark early in the winter, and the sun can be very glaring on monitor screens and distracting in the summer. Many bright ceiling lamps with warm light can cause headaches for employees.
The best way out of the situation is to cool, dim the main lighting in the office space, and install a desk lamp at each employee’s workstation.
2. Climate Control
Comfortable temperature in the office is the key to happy and healthy employees. A properly installed air conditioner can maintain the optimal temperature of the working space, and this device can cool and heat the air in the room, depending on the settings.
According to WHO, dirty air causes 5, 4% of deaths worldwide. Poor ventilation in the room contributes to an increase in carbon dioxide, which causes headaches, absent-mindedness, and irritability in employees.
Also, it is worth providing the office space with a humidifier in winter. It will normalize the humidity level and clean the air from dust in the room, which will have a noticeable effect on the well-being of employees.
3. Open Offices
Offices with many doors and rooms give way to spacious light spaces where all employees sit together. Open office is a stylistic solution and a format for organizing the work process. Relationships between colleagues are more comfortable in such spaces, and the level of efficiency and awareness increases.
Also, an open office is more economical because the employer keeps one equipped and spacious area instead of many rooms for different tasks.
On the other hand, the disadvantages of open offices are lack of personal space and frequent conflicts between employees. It is necessary to provide functional separation of different departments from each other.
4. Huddle rooms
“Huddle” originally is a meeting of players on the field, when it is necessary to quickly, right in the course of the game to find a new solution, to adjust the plan of action. In the corporate environment, unique huddle rooms can serve as a place for meetings with business partners and mass brainstorming, discussions, and creativity between employees.
However, in an open office, huddle rooms are a place of quiet, where one can briefly arrange a work zone and hide from the noise and crackle of laptop keys.
5. Office Lunchroom
Every company has lunch breaks. Many employees order food through delivery services and coffee at the coffee houses closest to the office. But eating at the workplace is unhygienic, and an eating area in the office is necessary. For example, a small kitchen where the employee can drink coffee at the dining table, heat food, and leave something for tomorrow in the refrigerator.
A caring employer worries about the gastronomic well-being of his employees – for this purpose, hot lunches and healthy snacks can be synergistically served in the office. At the same time, the employer can regulate the range of catering, adjusting it to any food habits of its employees. Regular catering will reduce the cost of maintaining a canteen or cafeteria, and employees will eat on schedule with delicious and healthy food.
A company can introduce catering at corporate parties and coffee breaks, general office breakfasts, or internal events such as theme parties and birthday parties for both directors and employees.
6. Recreation Rooms
Spaces for relaxation are relevant in any office. As a rule, it is a separate room or a spacious fenced place with soft couches, books or magazines, and board games.
There are many examples where companies install table tennis tables or a basketball hoop in their employee lounge area. In such spaces, employees can have a relaxed conversation with their colleagues after their lunch break and distract themselves from the tedious work process.
In this way, the lounge area helps office workers have fun between work and replenish their energy and inspiration for the rest of the day.
7. Workplace Organization
Order on the desk brings order to the head as well. For some employees, who are not characterized by creative clutter on the desk, the workplace must have a minimum of things, and all the gadgets, wires, and pens are in their places.
The employer should prepare the employees’ workplace well in advance – equip it with the necessary devices for organizing documents, organizers for stationery, stands for monitors and keyboards, wire holders, trash garbage cans, and shelves for some personal pleasant little things of the employee.
8. Desktop Computers, Sockets, and Wi-Fi
It doesn’t matter what your employees do at work: edit videos, write program code, layout presentations, or write texts. Make sure each employee has a desktop or laptop computer. It will save the resources of personal gadgets of employees, as well as help those who do not have their laptops and computers.
Separately, it is worth mentioning an adequate and commensurate with the number of electronic working devices the number of sockets. At the same time, you should not neglect the electrical safety rules in the office to protect both employees and customers from electric shock. To do this, it is worth using the help of professionals and installing an earthing circuit in the office space.
The ubiquity of Wi-Fi in the office space will ensure the free movement of employees around the office, and if necessary, uninterrupted work during the lunchtime cup of coffee in the kitchen.
9. Office Plants
Any space, even an open office, implies working on four walls. Indoor plants can get rid of the feeling of enclosed space. It is proven that an abundance of green plants in office space has a positive effect on the well-being of employees, has a calming effect, and increases productivity. Moreover, plants in the office make it more aesthetically pleasing.
10. Pet-Friendly Workplace
A fast-growing trend among employers is allowing employees to bring their pets into the office. Provided that the staff does not mind (make sure that none of the colleagues are allergic or phobic) and that such a move will not stress the pet itself.
Trained dogs and cats are usually amiable and should not make you uncomfortable during the work process. If you completed all arrangements, it is necessary to provide the pet with a special place with water and food, and most importantly, attention.
Current studies have proven that communicating with a pet at work relieves stress, lifts the mood, and positively affects work efficiency and employee loyalty.
Conclusion
The task of the modern office space is not just to put a person in front of a computer and make them work. The office’s mission now includes, first and foremost, being a comfortable place where the employee can not get tired of the environment and the atmosphere of the workspace around him. A good employer understands that the key to the success of an entire company depends on the mental state of employees and a properly organized workspace.
The proud owner and lead writer of OFFICE-EQUIP.COM
Office equipment seller since 2011. Started writing in 2018 and sharing his experience and knowledge with love and respect.
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