Whether you’re looking to woo a new client, recruit talent, or energize your staff, putting effort into designing a welcoming office space will pay dividends. Company culture obviously comes first, but a good workspace should reflect defining principles and morale. You needn’t have a multi-million-dollar “wow factor” overhaul to create a more enjoyable, productive place to conduct business. With these five easy changes, your office will be a sanctuary where people feel at ease and able to work to their best abilities.
1. Use an accent color.
Rooms look brighter and larger with a splash of color. A neutral scheme can be livened up with the use of a bold accent. You can inject a bit of personality into the wall behind the front desk, in chairs for guests, on lampshades, or in artwork on the walls. Try yellow to create a more creative, social environment or red to encourage focus. More commonly, offices employ tranquil blue or green to make their spaces more welcoming and calming.
2. Install privacy pods.
How many minutes throughout a typical day do we waste switching tasks? Interruptions cause overwhelm at work, not to mention a decrease in productivity and job satisfaction. Encourage employees and visitors to hop in a privacy pod to attend to important tasks – be it a conference call, writing up a report, or a training course on the laptop. For instance, at Salesforce, one floor is a blend of conference and training rooms, while another mixes phone booths and privacy pods. Each floor features a meditation room and social lounge with exercise equipment, snacks, and grass. You can think of the one-person privacy pod as a “micro-environment” for users – a cockpit where they can fire up their engines and make real progress.
3. Bring in more nature.
Living plants like fresh, fragrant orchids naturally filter the air and add freshness to the room. As long as there are not concerns of allergies, edible plants like lemon balm, lavender, or eucalyptus can add relaxing scents to the air. Some offices add aquariums filled with fish or fountains to add a water feature to their environments. Decorating with wooden shiplap planks, seashells, and stone rather than plastics or metals can be a subtle way to make the office feel more natural.
4. Brighten the room.
If you’re not blessed with floor-to-ceiling windows pouring the natural light in, there are several easy, affordable work-arounds. A transom window placed over a door frame, above an existing window, or along the horizontal ceiling line adds light, without requiring huge holes in the wall or opening up the room to scrutiny from next-door neighbors. Many modern technologies work to add natural lighting to an otherwise dark room. CoeLux uses LED technology to reproduce the look and feel of a sunny skylight. Caia is a solar-powered robot that directs sunlight into dark rooms with no installation necessary. Tubular Daylighting Devices like Solatube use plastic domes connected to reflective pipes installed between the roof and ceiling to filter sunlight into the room. Mirrors are yet another way to reflect daylight.
5. Create a new break area.
Just as a friend would offer you a snack and a drink as a gesture of hospitality, you can create a welcome “brain break” corner that appeals to guests and staff members. Snack stations may include healthy snacks like fresh fruit, mixed nuts, and protein bars, or sweet cakes and chocolates. In Europe, employees grab a tea or a beer from the community fridge. Here, we’re more likely to offer soda or coffee for that late afternoon pick-me-up. You can add specialty mugs and glassware and cozy “campfire” lounge seating. This space should be set off with a small partition wall and feature relaxing music that melts stress away.
If you’re looking to re-imagine your workspace, it’s worth a call to Emagispace to see how our affordable, modular products might suit your needs. We offer everything from custom accent barrier walls to soundproof privacy pods that truly transform your workspace.
RESOURCES:
- Facility Management Magazine – 10 Simple Ways To Make An Office More Inviting, https://www.fmmagazine.com.au/sectors/10-simple-ways-to-make-an-office-more-inviting/
- Budget Glass – Natural Office Light, https://www.budgetglass.com/natural-office-light/
- My Turnstone – 10 Simpel Ways To Make Offices Inviting, https://myturnstone.com/blog/10-simple-ways-make-office-inviting/
- Huffington Post – 5 Simple and Cheap Ways To Make Your Office More Inviting, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/businesscollective/5-simple-and-cheap-ways-t_b_10739022.html