Is Your Office Design Affecting Productivity?

If you pride your business on its exceptional and fun company culture, you want to make your workplace match this vibe. But, with so many contrasting personalities, ensuring an enjoyable and productive workplace is not always simple. You need to accommodate everyone and their needs, yet there could be several office essentials that impact their workday negatively. If you feel your team is not reaching the heights it should, your office design could be the problem, so here are some potential issues to consider. 

Seating and Furniture 

You expect most of your team to spend all day at their desks aside from lunch and the occasional opportunity to stretch their legs and get some fresh air. Sitting in the same place all day is one major reason for a drop in productivity, but it could also relate to how the seating and furniture are designed. Uncomfortable chairs put pressure on the neck, shoulders, and lower back, so it could be worth considering standing desks and their benefits as an alternative. Don’t force employees to use them, but make it possible where necessary. 

Overhead Lighting 

Humans work better in natural light, but offices can not always offer this benefit, especially during winter when the days are shorter, and even daylight hours are dark and overcast. Fluorescent lighting can wreak havoc on an employee’s productivity because of overstimulation, so it’s worth carrying out indoor light testing to gauge how impactful your overhead lights are. You can purchase light bulbs and strips that mimic natural light even during winter, but a large window is always more effective and can make the office feel larger and brighter to boost productivity. 

Ventilation 

Similarly, there are few things worse than a stuffy office. Your office could lack sufficient ventilation due to poorly maintained HVAC systems, or merely having too many bodies. To make matters worse, too many people crammed into one space contributes to unpleasant smells, which can distract your employees. If you have received any complaints surrounding the ventilation and air quality, get your heating and cooling system services to unclog filters to make the unit more efficient. Open windows during summertime and improve ventilation to prevent mold and mildew from sprouting around damp areas, such as window frames. 

Desk Layout 

Whether you work in a fast-paced environment or a slower, more manageable office environment, the desk layout can make a huge difference. Ideally, you need to position departments that frequently interact with one another as close as possible to prevent lost time getting from one side of the office or premises to the other. You should also consider how the desk layout can affect safety. Untidy offices or desks placed haphazardly could increase the risk of trips and falls, especially if employees do not keep their space organized. A workplace injury can grind everything to a halt and should force you to rethink your office layout, so get it right the first time and you’ll have nothing to worry about. 

Break Room

The break room is an excellent place for your team to unwind when they have lunch or even feel overwhelmed after dealing with a stubborn customer. You can check out these ideas for break room essentials but remember that you don’t need everything listed, and you should match your office’s needs, interests, and demographic. There’s no point installing a ping pong table if it takes up too much space on the main floor and no one ever uses it, so be diligent when choosing accessories. Instead, pay closer attention to what your employees expect from a break room. Comfortable sofas and tables, refreshments, and maybe a TV can give them a welcome break from their work without being too distracting that they take forever to return to their desk.

Network Connectivity

Office productivity does not solely relate to the furniture or the lights and other factors. Your connectivity and wifi speeds may also contribute to poor performance at work. Understanding the most common reasons for slow wifi in an office environment will help you make changes that ensure better efficiency and less frustration as employees wait for webpages or your office systems to load. These improvements could include upgrading your wifi to accommodate more users and increased bandwidth, or simply relocating the router to allow the signal to spread further without interruptions or obstacles. 

Productive 

A productive workplace does not just ensure everyone finishes their work on time and to a high standard. It can also affect employee happiness. These issues may not always be obvious but they can have a devastating impact on morale that causes efficiency problems, so learn to identify what is not working as well as it could and make changes that benefit everyone.