The workplace can feel dull and demotivating at times. But being surrounded by four walls and working inside is a joy, especially when the weather is cold and unforgiving. Nevertheless, a poorly done office setup can make employees feel stressed, isolated, or contribute to mental health issues.
Ensuring you have the perfect work environment is integral to having a happy and productive workforce. Given this, we shall highlight several tips on setting up your office, transforming it into a place that promotes mental health and increasing your team’s productivity.
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1. Maximise Natural Light
Improve the lighting by allowing more natural light into the office. Studies show that natural light can help improve mental wellness by lowering stress and depression. It also is an essential element in our sleep-wake cycle, meaning it can help you fall asleep without struggling.
While LED lights are a cost-effective alternative to other options, they have been found to flicker at a rapid tempo that causes eye strain which can be damaging if exposed to such lighting for prolonged periods. Therefore, consider making changes that reduce the dependence on LED lights during the day by allowing more natural light into the workplace.
Arrange the desks to ensure your workers can access a healthy amount of natural lighting. And if you work at home, pick a room with the biggest, open window, and set up your desk near it to enjoy the natural light.
2. Allow Multiple Ways Of Working
People have different ways of handling tasks, so you will get the most out of your employees when accommodating their different approaches to work. Tracktime24.com will help to monitor staff and their strengths. According to research, there are four types of workers: social, focused, leaner, and collaborative.
• The social workers are more productive when interacting with colleagues, meaning creating a social workspace is ideal for such employees.
• The focused workers are productive when allowed to work on one task/project at a time and in a quiet area where they can concentrate.
• The learners are often driven by gaining new knowledge through experience or training. Therefore, you should give the members of your team who work like this the necessary resources and opportunities to learn if you want to bring out the best of their abilities.
• The collaborative workers prefer connecting with others, be it a group or a fellow workmate. Collaborative employees are active team members and are productive when they have resources like skype and office packages that allow multi-teamwork.
3. Separate Work And Social Areas
According to surveys, one-third of workers in the United Kingdom eat lunch at their desks, meaning they do not benefit from the allocated lunch breaks. Eating in an office exposes your employees to different unsociable eating habits, food smells, crumbs, and other issues that can be a nuisance.
Therefore, encourage your staff to take the allocated breaks and spend the allotted time in the designated social areas where they can de-stress as they eat without being distracted by work.
4. Provide The Best Technology
Invest in the latest tech solutions that allow your team to work effectively to keep them happy and more productive. Doing this also helps lower the chances of having a stressed or depressed staff. Dated software and hardware can prove counterproductive, increasing cases of unmet deadlines therein a slump in productivity.
Investing in the last equipment, software, and other tech solutions does come at a cost. However, you cannot compare it to the overall benefits of ensuring that your team has the best of the tools they use. You can counter the expenses that go into this with the increased productivity that translates to more profits.
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