Ideas to Improve Workplace Environment

10/20/2018

7 Creative Ideas to Improve Workplace Environment

If you could improve the overall happiness, productivity, and well-being of your company with a few small changes, would you?

It’s been proven time and time again that a positive work environment can be vital to the overall performance of a business. Your employees are the backbone of operations, so why not leverage some of these creative ideas to improve workplace environment at your office or place of business?

Here are seven of our favorite creative ideas to improve the workplace environment for your team and to build the company atmosphere and culture that will help your business thrive.

Improve Your Lighting

Improve Office Lighting to Upgrade Your Work Environment

If you have windows, open the blinds and let that natural light in. If natural lighting is not an option, invest in some decent daylight bulbs. Using bulbs that are in the daylight spectrum in your office will make your workplace a lot brighter (and more productive).

Studies have shown that a poorly-lit office is not motivating, and can actually decrease productivity. Your employees will be much happier in a well-lit office, as opposed to feeling like they’re walking into a cave of doom-and-gloom every day.

Make Your Office Comfortable

Provide a Comfortable, Welcoming and Creative Workspace

Provide nice office chairs for your employees. Have a nice break room with some decorations. Make every room inviting with a few healthy office plants, (or even artificial plants for added greenery, a color which has been proven to improve focus and productivity). And don't forget about meaningful artwork ... something which speaks to your business' core values or which highlights the area where you work (by supporting a local artist).

These small changes can combine to go a long way. A more comfortable office will allow for your employees to be proud of where they work, and remain focused and positive throughout each work day..

Raise the Bar (and the desks)

Improve Your Work Environment with Standing Desks

There are many options when it comes to desks, and upgrading where your employees sit and work can have a big impact on their happiness and job satisfaction. They will feel valued.

The latest technology trend that offices are crazy about is adjustable-height desks. With desks that offer sit-to-stand technology, you’re giving your employees the best way for them to stay comfortable throughout the day. Standing desks help prevent you from slouching and give workers the opportunity to change positions throughout the day. Even if your employees sit all day, an adjustable height desk can help improve office ergonomics throughout your company by allowing each person to dial in their workstation to the perfect seated height for their body.

Improve Air Quality

This idea may not seem like such a big deal, but some people really do work better when the room they’re working in has a pleasant aroma (or at the very least lacks an unpleasant aroma). Too often we think about how our office looks, and neglect our other senses. Taking steps to improve the air quality and the way your office smells to workers and clients is one of my favorite creative ideas to improve workplace environment conditions.

There are several options to achieve this. You have your wall plug-ins, automatic spray air fresheners, essential oil diffusers, and HEPA air purifiers. Large office plants such as parlor palms and fig trees are easy to care for, and can help to freshen and filter the air naturally as well.

If you’re investing in a few diffusers or air purifiers for the office, these can be aesthetically pleasing to the workplace as well.

✔ View My Favorite HEPA Air Purifier for Offices on Amazon

Improve Coffee and Water Stations

Improve Your Office Environment by Upgrading Coffee Bar and Water Cooler Areas

An office isn’t complete without a coffee pot and water cooler dispenser. But let's face it ... your bland water cooler and that Mr. Coffee carafe in the break room could probably use an upgrade.

Spruce these areas up with a fancy coffee sign, a nice coffee station or table, and add a few plants and a piece of art near the water cooler dispenser. Employees may spend a few minutes by these areas chatting if they’re aesthetically pleasing areas, which can improve the sense of community in your office, and is an easy way to encourage people to get up from their desk and change positions regularly (a great way to avoid injury from repetitive movements). Those short breaks throughout the day can really boost productivity too, according to Psychology Today.

Encourage Employees to Personalize Their Work Areas

Let Employees Personalize Their Workspace

When an employee spends 8+ hours in an office every day and there’s no reminders of the outside world, they could start to feel detached from their personal lives. They could also then start to resent having to come into work every day, or face emotional exhaustion from time spent in what they perceive as a cold, stark space that is not truly "theirs."

According to the Association For Psychological Science, "Creating a place of one's own in an otherwise public workspace environment should ... contribute to individuals' positive cognitive and affective states, resulting in enhanced mental resources." Support your employees by encouraging each employee to personalize their work areas with pictures, a few plants of their own, or some creative pieces of office artwork that they love could go a long way. It is one of my favorite ideas to improve workplace environment conditions for your employees.

Invest in a Unique Conference Room

How to Improve Your Workplace Environment

If it’s possible in your office, make your conference room unique. Instead of the standard rectangular table, chairs, and white walls, consider some more dramatic options that speak to your company culture.

If you're a creative company that uses your conference room to win contracts from clients, hire a local woodworker to create a one-of-a-kind live edge or river table that will make an incredible first impression.

If your company's conference room is primarily used for creative brainstorming sessions, Paint one of the walls an accent color that’s bright and welcoming and feature your brand's mission statement or core beliefs as a decal or piece of 3D artwork.

Perhaps you could have a few coffee tables available, with more comfortable seating than the typical conference room options, encouraging your employees to be comfortable in these important team strategy meetings, and more apt to speak their mind.

How Will You Improve Your Workplace Environment?

Personalize Your Work Areas to Improve Your Workplace Environment

Remember, happy employees come from positive work environments! A happy employee is more likely to take pride in the work they’re doing for your business, are more likely to engage in strong team building, and are more likely to inspire other employees to grow and prosper in the office.

Did we miss some ideas to improve workplace environment conditions that you've leveraged in your office? Please share them in the comments below so others who read this post can get inspired! And if you're looking for upgraded office furniture, start with our curated, in-depth desk reviews where we give you the best options in every category of office desk.

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