Negosentro.com | 5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Work Environment | You and your employees spend a lot of time at work. Working conditions can dramatically improve for everyone in five simple ways if you think of the business as a home away from home. Traditional home services and comforts can dramatically transform your business environment.
1. Keep Your Home Away From Home Clean
Despite the occasional clutter, it’s important to keep some areas of both your home and office clean. We all know how quickly germs spread in an enclosed area. You wouldn’t want your home kitchen to be dirty and germ-infested, so make sure this is not happening at work either.
Instead of cleanliness becoming one person’s responsibility, encourage staff to clean up after themselves. If that doesn’t work, a chart may be necessary to make sure everyone helps.
All employees should have disinfecting wipes at their desks to keep their keyboards, mice and phones clean. The kitchen area should be stocked with dish washing liquid, sponges and plenty of paper towels. It’s also important to have water hot enough to properly wash with.
If your water never seems to reach even lukewarm temperatures, consider calling in experienced professionals like the ones at this water heater company in Topanga.
2. Provide Some Comforts of Home
The things that make a house a home are the little things: comforting food and drink and attractive surroundings.
If you don’t supply this already, consider bringing in a coffee maker and hot water kettle. Tea and coffee go a long way towards keeping staff motivated and happy. Snacks are also a great idea. If this is not something you want to invest in on a regular basis, look into having a vending machine installed. If your employees don’t have to leave the office for a snack, they will be able to spend more time involved with their tasks.
Also consider obtaining and hanging attractive artwork. Purchased in the form of posters, it is an easy and inexpensive way to instantly make your space more attractive and homelike.
3. Make Sure the Lighting is Sufficient
If the lighting in your office is not the best it could be, staff may develop vision problems and tire easily. Over time, poor lighting can even affect mood and health.
Although we all know natural lighting is best, and may be enough at home, it is rarely good enough for an entire office to work by. Bright light without a glare should be used in work areas, while dimmer lighting, maybe even lamp lighting, should be used in relaxation areas. Consult an electrician if you are unsure about the quality of the lighting in your office.
4. Check to See if Work Spaces Are Ergonomic
Sitting improperly for long periods of time not only causes aches and pains, but also permanent problems.
There are charts obtainable online that demonstrate the positions various body parts should be in relation to chairs and desk. A desk chair will never be as comfortable as your reading chair at home, but it shouldn’t cause injuries either.
If you can’t decide if the seating is ergonomically correct, there are consultants that can be hired to come in and check.
5. Create a Relaxation Space
Even if your relaxation area is just a comfy chair next to a window, it will still serve as a space for a much-needed break from desk time. Try to find a small area away from the busiest part of the office; it does not need to be fancy.
If, however, you want to refresh your staff with some high tech equipment, a nap pod might be just the thing. Studies now show that even a ten minute nap can go a long way towards better thinking and concentration skills. These pods have timers and will gently wake the napper up to make room for their next occupant.
The office will never be quite like home but these five things can definitely make it a better place to work.
