Don’t Neglect These Elements Of A Productive Office Workplace

Office productivity should be very high on your list of priorities. When the office is productive, your business moves with such synergy. Everyone’s working to the best of their abilities, things are being done efficiently and it will mean you complete more work every day. 

This translates to a host of benefits for your company. Most notably, you could make more sales when you’re being more productive. You’ll also provide a better overall service for your customers/clients, which has a positive impact on your reputation. 

This creates the big question: how do you create a productive office workplace? Many businesses struggle with this, largely as they neglect the following essential elements: 

Ergonomics

Most of you are more concerned with the economics behind your business rather than the ergonomics. 

That’s understandable, but ergonomics must be considered when you wish to create a productive work environment. To begin, this refers to the way your office is designed in relation to the people inside it. An office that prioritises ergonomics will create workstations that are made for efficiency. 

In short, everything from your office desking to the chairs – and even the computer monitors – should be organised with ergonomics in mind. This means that your employees feel comfortable when they’re working. The seats don’t cause pain or irritation, which leads to distractions. Everything is designed to help them remain focused at work without suffering from postural pain or other long-term problems. 

As a result, productivity goes through the roof as people find it easier to get in the zone. They won’t need to stop and stretch or feel a nagging pain distract them from work anymore. Too many companies neglect office ergonomics; make sure you aren’t one of them. 

Temperature

You’ve heard the term “hot-headed” but did you know that your office temperature can impact people’s ability to work?

This isn’t some wild claim, there is genuine evidence to back it up. A study once concluded that the optimal temperature for peak productivity is 22 degrees Celsius. As your office creeps higher and higher, it gets too hot. People become sweaty and agitated; they can’t focus. There’s an urge to leave the office for some fresh air – or everyone keeps taking breaks from work to try and cool down. 

The same happens when the temperature drops considerably below 20 degrees. If it’s too cold, your employees become more distracted. They start shivering and try to walk around more to warm up. People may go and get their coats or keep making countless mugs of coffee/tea to stay warm. 

See, it’s not as far-fetched as you think. Keeping your office at the ideal temperature at all times will remove another distraction from your employee’s minds. They can sit at their desks and work without feeling uncomfortable. It’s such an easy thing to take care of too; just install an HVAC machine so you have heating and cooling abilities when you need them. 

Noise

Thirdly, you can’t afford to neglect noise in your office workplace. The noisier an office is, the less productive it will be. Research has shown that loud intermittent noise leads to a drastic reduction in cognitive performance. 

You have probably been in many environments where it is too noisy to concentrate. Perhaps the noise comes from within the environment, or maybe it stems from outside. In either case, it’s wildly distracting and makes it impossible for people to focus. 

Instead, you have to focus on dealing with noise in the office. Make sure your employees aren’t loud or rowdy – they shouldn’t be if they’re doing work. Having separate areas in soundproof environments can be really handy if some employees need to work together without distracting everyone else. 

Speaking of which, soundproofing your office is the first thing you should do. It keeps any unwanted noise away from the area, so you shouldn’t be distracted by noisy traffic or loud offices nearby. Some people find success through white noise machines as well. You can use them to play relaxing or calming sounds in the office, creating a better noise environment that encourages focus. 

When it comes to office productivity, most business owners/managers concern themselves with obvious things. You focus on the office layout or the itinerary for the day. Both are important – particularly the latter as giving employees a list of tasks can aid productivity. But, you can’t neglect the three elements spoken about above. They fly under the radar, yet have significant impacts on office efficiency and productivity. 

Don’t Neglect These Elements Of A Productive Office Workplace