Why A Good Workplace Design Is A Key To Improve Your Team’s Productivity

Creativity is one of those things you can’t bottle up and sell, however, there are ways you can foster it. A great way to do this is by keeping creativity and workflow in mind when designing your office space.

If your employees find their workspace inspirational, it will reflect in their work. According to a 2017 Global Report by American furniture manufacturer, only 13% of workers are highly satisfied with their workplace. In the same year, Microsoft found that 41% of surveyed workers in UK offices blamed their workplace for hindering their creativity.

To avoid the same thing happening to you, take a look at our tricks on how your office’s design can play a key role in improving your team’s productivity.

Open Up The Place

Most millennials won’t remember that not so long ago, cubicles were the epitome of office space. With limited space for working and partitions that hindered communication, it’s safe to say offices looked impersonal and weren’t serving their purpose.

Over the years, offices evolved more into open spaces, dismantling the communication barriers as well as stiff office hierarchy. This change leads to better office dynamics, where individuals felt like they’re part of a team. Also, the higher-ups became more approachable, and sharing information became easier.

The other amazing thing about open offices is the fact that they present a lot of different opportunities. They are spacious and offer a chance for the employees to stretch out, take their minds of seemingly impossible tasks, and get a different perceptive while enjoying a round of foosball or ping pong. According to one study, this also results in better sleep and productivity throughout the week.

If you mix teams and have the sales team near designers, each team gets to learn from another and get a better understanding of each other’s day-to-day tasks and workflow, which will pay off in the future. The best part of open spaces is collaborative places where teams can brainstorm, exchange ideas and learn through in-house educations and training.

Activities like that are great for strengthening comradery, boosting morale and energy in the office. Another great trick is to fill your office with plants since they have been known to reduce stress, tension, and anxiety. Just remember to leave the floor clutter-free, and the workspace easy to navigate. If you want to buy planters, fiberglass planters wholesale are the great place for you to look for high-quality products at reduced rates.

The important thing to remember about open spaces is not to go overboard. An open interior may translate to an open line of communication, but that isn’t always what you’re looking for. Besides the open space designated for teamwork, offices should also offer quiet places like conference rooms where people can focus on their assignments without distractions.

Find Technology That Works For You

Have you heard of connected technology? It references products with built-in technology that allows it to connect with its environment and other products. These technologies have the potential to improve your team members’ efficiency by connecting them in a way that’s never been done before.

The first part of technology you should consider is making your office “smarter” with the Internet of Things. In an office setting, IoT devices can be used to receive and send data and improve efficiency, and the possibilities are endless.

You can keep track of empty conference rooms, automatically open or close doors, change the temperature of a certain room and equip the office automatically with things that you’re running low on, such as bottles for water dispensers, coffee, etc.

This technology also helps you create an energy-efficient office with smart lighting and air conditioning that turns off as soon as the room is empty.

The best use of such technologies lies in the fact that it can reduce the need for office management, and your employees will have more time on their hands to focus on important things, rather than what needs to be done around the office.

Think About Storage

We’re very thankful for Marie Condo and her decluttering techniques, and as we’ve seen her declutter homes, you should use her teachings in your office as well. A clean work station equals a clutter-free mind. Any spacious office should have enough storage space for all its employees’ needs.

If their work stations/desk are full of equipment and materials, they will lose precious time in a day in order to find specific items they need to complete their tasks. Help them preserve their stations clean with filing cabinets, storage units, and lockers.

The important thing is to keep archival and personal storage separated, to avoid any confusion. This could be done by creating a special, collaborative storage, that everyone has access to and can use to share materials such as educational whiteboards.

Choose A Color Palette And Stick To It

Here comes the fun part! Choose your color palette wisely, young padawan. As you may know, certain colors evoke certain emotions, for example, neutral and blue shades improve concentration, while green has a balancing effect and yellow stimulates mental activity.

When it comes to neutral tones, research shows that all-white walls make employees more error-prone, while grey has been found to generate sadness.

If you’ve noticed, a lot of modern office spaces use a combination of neutral and brand colors, mixing the best of both worlds. That way, brand identity gets woven into the workspace and it creates a lot of opportunities to get creative.

Let Your Employees Make Changes

After all, they’re the ones your space should be customized to. Give them the freedom to tweak the place in a way that is maximizing the usability of the office and reflecting the company culture.

Your company landscape will change over time, and your workplace should have the option to change as well. If you present your team with the possibility to make small changes and control their environment, they will have an easier time cooperating, and letting them express their personality through their work station will give them more creative control over their assignments.

If you’ve enjoyed reading about different ways you can improve your workplace in order to stimulate creativity, hop on to our blog at Better Proposals and read more fun articles about business, social media marketing, sales, design, business proposals and so much more!


Author Bio: Petra Odak is a Chief Marketing Officer at Better Proposals, a simple yet incredibly powerful proposal software tool that helps you send high-converting, web-based business proposals in minutes. She’s a solution-oriented marketing enthusiast with more than 5 years of experience in various fields of marketing and project management.