Working in an office is probably not every one’s dream but somehow we find ourselves winding in one of these in our lives and there we find meaningful relationships and purposeful activities to do to help others and make an impact in the now fast-paced world.
Comfort in the workspace is crucial to the satisfaction that you will get from working there and the level of service you will provide to your clients. An office with a comfortable set up and a warm welcoming environment espouses improved work force performance as well as efficiency. Increased positive impact to morale to the team of individuals working in that place is a plus when the working environment is good. We will provide you a list of common characteristics of a good workspace to help your employees get better at what they do by feeling comfortable with the way your office is set up to address their needs and to give an ambient surrounding conducive to working.
The first is adequate lighting. We have visited an office or two where we find the vibe that it gives to you is low-energy, sluggish service and gloomy feeling. Unfortunately if the office is set up in such a way where the premises itself communicates dullness and absence of color it is not surprising that this will translate to the attitude of the people
working in it. This can be easily fixed by improving the lighting in all areas in order to give the place a facelift that when people enter into this now vibrant space they will want to work as oppose to zone-out and slack off. If you receive guests they will see the real color values there is in the office and this will instil a positive note in their minds. The comparison is similar to that of visiting a regular cosmetic shop versus visiting one of the more popular cosmetic brand booths where other, more often than not, looks depressing while the high-end shops looks fantastic and it gives a very good impression to customers. Lighting works the same way on employees.
Reduced or No Clutter. This is another important characteristic of an exemplary office. When there are sufficient storage and waste disposal facilities in the office the employees will not clutter their workstations with trash or other unnecessary materials. This includes locker facilities as well as adequate trash bins strategically placed in areas of high traffic so employees have easy access to them. Essentially the workplace need to be highly organized so as documents or other materials are not stacked or set aside in unlikely places. This gives an impression of structure to the company.
Another subject relating to reduced or no clutter, it is also important to take note that unkempt wiring on workstations to LAN cables running alongside the walls haphazardly, more than the actual visual horror that it gives to employees and clients alike, is not a good indication that the company has got things figured out. Making sure that your electrical wiring is properly laid out, consider committing to an effective wiring lay out and purposefully hide those wires from plain sight because they look topsy-turvy no matter how they are arranged. In modernized offices, you will not see a single stray wire running.
Temperature. The right temperature gets the work going. When it becomes too hot, people get really uncomfortable and irritable as well. This is not good for business. The comfort of your employees in relation to temperature is called Thermal Comfort. It has been shown in many studies that with the usual amount of clothing that people wear and they don’t feel it’s too cold or too hot, that is the optimal thermal comfort level. This has been shown to directly affect the employee’s well-being as well as their productivity.
Desks and chairs that are compatible to each other are essential contributing factors to an employee’s comfort. An ergonomically designed chair is a very good form of investment for businesses. Chairs that provide good back support will help avoid back pains and back strains. It is also ideal for office chairs, intended for employees, to have armrests. This will just amplify the comfort level that they will experience especially if the work that they do are not necessarily stress-free. Also, the adjustable height of the chair in proportion to the height of the table can enhance posture and translate to attentiveness by your employees.
Our employees will always bring into their workstations things that they feel will motivate them to work more. This can come in forms of photographs and other personal effects. Do not stop them. They have already identified that this is something they need to be able to optimize their working condition. It will not hurt to have a piece or two of
their own personal effects. Let them be.
Flooring. Like in lighting, an appropriate type of flooring can have a massive effect on the way your office looks and feels. Workspaces need a set up that gives the “we mean business” kind of feeling to all those who will tread in them. There are different kinds of flooring that you may choose from. Essentially, you should consider the amount of traffic the space will have, the kind of regular maintenance that you are willing to do, the difficulty of fixing or replacing it, the expected period of time that it will be used and the long-term to short-term benefits relating to cost before you make a choice as to what type of flooring is appropriate to your office space.
The amount of traffic will determine how resistant to wear-and-tear the flooring should be. Your choices will ranges from carpet flooring-wood-marble-ultimately granite.
Rarely will office spaces use wood, marble or granite. The carpet flooring can come in forms of laminated or vinyl. These choices do not require frequent maintenance, cost-wise they are perfect and if you have to replace them it will not cost as much as compared to the other options. Looking at short-term and long-term benefits, it is important to note that at times the cheaper prices mean shorter life span. If you are looking into not replacing the carpet flooring for a longer period of time, it is essential to invest in the more expensive alternative as they are built for durability.
In closing, your workspace should be easy to work in for your employees. They stay there more than anyone else. They deserve to have a decent workspace. It is critical that the office set up has dimensional stability, a perfect balance between the rigidity of work done versus the ambient surroundings, functional furnishing, a clean-feel and last but not least a warm welcoming look.