It is the dream of every boss and business owner to have a team of employees who are not only productive and efficient but also motivated and energised to come to work everyday. Perhaps it’s not surprising that these things go hand in hand. If the office space has a positive atmosphere, from both a visual and emotional aspect, then this can help to boost spirits and in turn increase output.
Doesn’t that sound like the perfect recipe towards business success? Then the next question is, what exactly can you do to give your tired and uninspired office space, and the valued workers who inhabit it, a much-needed refresh?
Even if you are your own boss, and your office space is in your home, these top tips are sure to do the trick.
Plan for your audience
Before you make any decisions about the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of this refresh, you will need to consider who will see and use the space and what type of environment you want to create. Is your business professional and corporate? Or perhaps it is more creative and innovative? That’s not to say that corporate businesses are not innovative or creative businesses are not professional, and there are a million other types of businesses in between. What is for certain is that they are all very different in the messages and identities that they want to communicate to their clients and employees. So, it is important that you are clear about what you want the overall impression to be before you jump into things.
Splash Out
This doesn’t mean spend lots of money (although, go for it if you want to!). Perhaps the single most uninspiring thing about office spaces is the lack of colour and personality. A splash of paint is definitely a great way to add colour. You could create a striking feature wall. It might be branded with your company colours and logo or perhaps it is a mural inspired by the people who will look at it everyday. Remember that paint is not just for the walls. Maybe your cabinetry doors could do with a facelift. Or you could give your essential, but likely pretty mundane looking, office furniture a new lease of life with a splash of colour too.
Obviously, adding paint is our preferred option for adding and changing colours in a space, whenever and wherever we can (there’s just so many things you can do with it!). But it is definitely not the only option. Coloured wallpaper, upholstery and artwork are all great ways to introduce colour and personality to your office space and they are generally relatively easy changes to make. Or for something on a slightly smaller scale, consider branded promotional products such as pens and notebooks. Not only does it add a splash of colour around the place but also helps to create a great sense of belonging and team culture too.
Be careful not to turn it into something that looks like a can of rainbow paint spilt all over the place though. Choose a few key colours and stick to those for a fresh and clean finish.
Turn It On
Natural light does wonders for creating a relaxed atmosphere and helping workers to think clearly. Make sure that you maximise any opportunity for letting in the sunshine and if you are lucky enough to be able to let the fresh air in too, then that is even better.
It is important that the office space is well lit as this is said to help with motivation and productivity. Always use good quality LED lighting to keep things on the bright side, particularly if there is not a lot of natural light available.
Open Up
Another contributing factor in helping workers to be the best they can be in your office space is doing what you can to create a sense of openness and space, even if it’s physically not as large as you might like. If things are feeling overcrowded, it’s definitely time for a clean up and a reshuffle. You’ll be surprised at how much calmer and relaxed things feel once the mountains of archive boxes are moved to storage and the piles of paperwork are nicely filed away.
Look to create communal spaces that colleagues can use for informal discussions and meetings, or lunchtime catch-ups. Encouraging collaboration and fostering positive social behaviour can only bring good things. Having designated spaces for these purposes also creates some guidelines and good habits around these activities, which should minimise disruptions in the “traditional” work areas.
Go Green
Adding indoor plants is another great way to introduce extra dimension and interest in your office space. Smaller plants are perfect on desks and bookshelves. And larger plants can be used creatively as alternative room or area dividers.
Choosing to refresh your office space doesn’t need to be an expensive or laborious task. As you have seen, there are plenty of things that you can do with relatively minimal effort to change up the current environment and reinvigorate not just the physical space, but the people in it too. And there’s no reason that you have to tackle this all on your own. Why not get the whole team involved? Not only will it make light work of things, but by getting your employees involved they are much more likely to welcome the changes.
At Highlands Handpainting we can help to add a handpainted touch to your office space revamp. Contact us on 1300 662 112, submit an online enquiry, or visit us at 12 Graham Hill Road Narellan NSW to discuss your 2019 handpainted projects.