From lighting to layout, many factors that you may never have thought of can have a huge impact on office happiness and productivity.
With help from the experts at London Offices, we’ve compiled seven excellent tips to help you create a happier, smarter and more productive working environment.
1. Use natural lighting
Did you know that artificial light can be a huge drain on the health and happiness of your workforce? Swiss researcher Mirjam Münch has found that natural light is a far more effective choice for keeping your employees productive, healthy and happy.
Try replacing your artificial lighting system with a skylight, or keep the blinds open to allow extra light to travel into your office. Workplaces lit using natural light tend to be more productive, as well as far healthier places to work.
2. Avoid unnecessary paper
Paper is a necessary evil for running an effective office. While efforts to reduce total office paper usage to zero have been largely ineffective, getting your paper usage as close to zero as possible is always a good strategy.
Encourage your employees to use email for sending out messages and memos, and use paper only for to-do lists and quick reminders. Paperless (or almost paperless) offices tend to be less cluttered and far easier to work in.
3. Focus on single-tasking
Multitasking may seem like an advantage, but it can quickly become a distraction in then fast-paced, modern office environment. Instead of telling your staff to juggle a long list of tasks at all times, instruct them to focus on one core task at a time.
Single tasking reduces stress and increases output, especially in situations in which your business needs to focus on shipping a product or completing a project within a tough deadline.
4. Keep your office green
There’s more to ‘being green’ than just recycling. Research has shown that buildings filled with greenery are happier, less stressful environments than the typical boring, drab corporate office.
5. Be flexible with breaks
Breaks are for more than just eating lunch – they’re an opportunity regain focus on the most important tasks of the day. Letting your employees take long and flexible breaks helps them avoid ‘burning out’ and increases workplace happiness.
6. Buy comfortable seats
When it comes to seating, comfort and health should be your top priorities. Invest in high quality seating for your office and you’ll avoid common back soreness and long-term health issues that could affect your workforce.
There’s no need to purchase expensive leather seats –ergonomic, comfortable office chairs are more than enough to keep your workers happy and healthy while they’re busy at work.
7. Find a good location
More than anything else, the location of your business will have a huge impact on the happiness of your employees. Long commutes and difficult journeys can lower happiness by a huge amount, even with the most impressive office environment.
Choose a location that’s convenient and accessible, allowing your employees to get to and from work easily. It’s worth choosing an office location that’s close to eating options to give your employees a reasonable level of choice about where to eat.