Just think about how much time your employees spend in the office environment? How can you make this environment more productive, is the secret modern office furniture ?
Here's a quick list of 5 simple things you can do in the workplace to help boost employee productivity.
1. Provide Regular Breaks
Breaks aren't just about
providing your employees with a break from their tasks, it's also a great opportunity for
employees from different departments and areas to bond over shared interests. So through the
installation of a comfortable and relaxing breakout room, two co-workers from different
departments may bond over a television show that they both enjoy. At the end of their break,
they could return to work feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, ready to complete their
remaining tasks. Additionally, this could also provide the opportunity for
inter-departmental friendships to grow, which could aid teamwork if a task needs the
attention of employees for a variety of different departments.
2. Cancel Unnecessary Meetings
Time is essential
to productivity, so it's important to make sure that you're not wasting time at meetings.
After all, a quick 5 minute meeting between a dozen people takes up an entire hour of
company time. Was that 5 minute conversation worth an hour of company time, or could that
have been quickly addressed through an email?
In addition to revising the meeting
schedule, you can also approach this from an office design and furnishing perspective. After
all, instead of placing focus on creating mesmerising meeting rooms, instead you can place
the focus on the working environments and break rooms; prioritising quality office furniture
and furnishings for the areas of your workplace in which your employees will be spending
most of their time whilst in-office.
3. Minimise Interruptions & Distractions
Nytimes.com wrote in an article that “it takes an average of 25
minutes to return to the original task after an interruption". To makes things worse, the
article also says that “a typical office worker gets only 11 minutes between each
interruption".
Furniture is a great tool to help combat
interruptions and distractions, for example many office environments utilise the open plan
design, which can be very noisy, however by installing items of acoustic furniture, you
could create areas for conversation where two or more employees can gather and discuss a
project without disturbing others.
4. Update Your Furniture
Workplace culture affects
almost everything your employees do from the moment that they enter office in the morning to
when they leave at the end of the day. It affects things such as the way they dress, they
way they interact with co-workers, and how and when they eat. As such, it is very important
to consider if your office furniture promotes a positive and productive workplace culture.
However, it's not just workplace culture that furniture has an impact on. It also
has a large effect on motivation and the sense of feeling valued. When discussing reasons
for employee demotivation, Michael Page listed “feeling under-valued" as number three! However,
the solution doesn't have to be too complex, it can be as simple as giving your employees
the option between a sitting or a standing desk, or giving them a choice of multiple office
chairs so that they can choose the one that they find the most comfortable.
Finally, with regards to furniture itself – it's worthwhile considering employee wellbeing and the health of your staff. Inflexible furniture can cause long-term back, neck, and shoulder injuries; employees could need time off to recover, and if this issue isn't resolved, your valuable employees could start seeking employment elsewhere. If you would like to know more about furnishings and seating, you could learn more by reading out blog titled, “The perfect ergonomic office chair".
5. Boost The Presence Of Nature
Did you know that
“workers in offices that offered green or natural features had a 15% higher sense of
wellbeing and were 6% more productive"? We discuss this in more length in our blog Biophilic
office design: A growing trend , however how can a business use furniture to increase the
amount of nature within the workplace?
Well, it's not just about adding a potted
plant into a room, there are lots of ways that you can bring the outside, inside. For
example, whilst there are many interesting and exiting types of artificial lighting, if
you're relying on artificial lights alone, this could be impacting theproductivity of your
employees. According to a study discussed in Psychology Today, “exposure to natural light improves workplace performance" . As such,
it is essential that your office design includes as much natural light into the workplace as
possible.
Additionally, it's also important to consider the way scent has an effect on your staff. Did you know that 75% of the emotions we generate daily are affected by smell? This is another area in which the presence of nature can boost your office. Instead of relying on fragrances to create a pleasant smelling environment, why not use the natural scents of beautiful flowers?
With over 15 years of industry experience, our expert office furnishings team have all the knowledge and skills requires to make your office design project a success.
If you're interested in any of our office interior solutions, please give us a call on 0845 130 9066. However, if you would instead prefer to get in touch with a member of our team using the internet, please make your enquiry using one of the four methods below.
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