Reginald Chan

Tag: workspace

  • How Workplace Design Can Impact the Success of Your Business

    How Workplace Design Can Impact the Success of Your Business

    When it comes to running a profitable business, what do you think of? Most people will answer with productive employees, smart business models, and competitive pricing. While all of these answers are correct, they forget one major area that impacts success. This is your workplace design. While it might sound strange, studies have shown that a good workplace can greatly increase the profitability of your business. In what ways can it do this? Here is how your workplace design can impact your business and make it more successful.

    Open Layout Boosts Morale

    The first thing to look at when it comes to workplace design is the overall shape of the office. Are you having your workers work in cubicles? Are they segregated off from everyone else? While you might think this is a great way to minimize distractions and increase productivity, statistics have shown the exact opposite. Offices that are more open concept allow employees to feel more free to get their work done. Instead of feeling imprisoned, they can move around and work. Having the ability to speak with one another will greatly boost morale, which will keep your workforce happy.

    However, accomplishing these goals might be difficult as there is plenty of furniture in the office along with desks and files that will have to be taken care of. In certain situations, a lot of this stuff might even be destined for the garbage. If you are unsure what to keep and what to get rid of, you can get some experts to assist you in the matter. Replacing this furniture and equipment is a great start, according to the experts at Vestra Workspace fitouts, who continue to add that clearing everything up is the first step to achieving the design that you are looking for. The best part about bringing on a team is that they can help fulfill the vision that you have. They will consult you every step of the way and work with you, so the space that you are creating is one that you will truly be happy with. An open concept will be great and will increase the morale of your staff.

    Better Productivity

    The next best thing about improving your workplace design is that you can expect better productivity as a result. As morale gets boosted, so does your employees’ drive to work. They will complete their tasks that much faster, and the quality will be higher as well. A properly designed workplace will also have a breakroom, which will help with this.

    How does a breakroom help with workplace productivity? Employees are not mindless workers who have the ability to slave away all day. They will burn themselves out if they work too hard, and their productivity will greatly decrease. Having a breakroom will give them the chance to step away from their desk and refresh themselves mentally. It will also give them the opportunity to catch up with their coworkers and have a conversation. After their break is done, they will return to work and jump right into things. The break will do wonders for their brain, and they will once again operate at high efficiency for the rest of the day.

    Improved Communication

    When it comes to running a business, you have to make sure that all departments are in constant communication with each other. If there are any setbacks, people have to know early so they can react accordingly. A well-designed workplace allows people to communicate easily with each other, allowing for important information to be delivered quickly and effectively. The faster information can be conveyed, the better it will be for your business.

    A Safer Environment

    Worldwide, there are hundreds of thousands of work-related injuries each year. A lot of these are caused by the workplace being designed improperly. Taking the time to come up with a design to make things safe will allow your employees to feel much safer when they are working around the office. You’d be surprised at how much more success a safer business can bring.

    What are the repercussions if you do not do this? If your employees are nervous about their work environment, they will not output work at an acceptable rate. An even worse situation would be if an employee were to get injured at work. You will be held responsible for the injury and will have to pay a large sum of money to the employee, putting your business in a financially dangerous situation. Safer workplace design is a better workplace design for both you and your employees.

    Better Mental Health

    An office that is full of clutter takes a mental toll on those around it. A mess creates stress, and as it continues to build up, it will affect your employees more and more. By taking the time to clean your office, you can keep all of your employees relaxed and feeling good. What are the other benefits of this? Employees who feel healthy and fit are much less likely to take sick days. This means that you will be operating at 100% each and every day instead of having to worry about who is going to call in sick. Proper workplace design will enrich your employees’ mental health and keep them in the office.

    Drive Sales

    If you deal with customers who come to your business, you want to ensure that it is presented in a way that is conducive to the business that you are doing. If your customers are unhappy with your layout, they might end up taking their business elsewhere. Everything matters when it comes to closing a sale. Find a design that is welcoming towards your customers so that they are more willing to speak with you and purchase from you.

    All of these are great reasons as to why you should improve the design of your workplace. By taking the time to implement some of these tips, you will notice that the productivity and morale of your employees will improve greatly. A final recommendation is to speak to your employees about what changes you can make around the workplace. As they are the ones working in it every day, they will know what is best for it. What changes do you plan on making to the workplace?

  • 8 Cheap Ways to Personalize Your Workspace

    8 Cheap Ways to Personalize Your Workspace

    Designing your workplace is one of the best things you can do to improve your comfort at work. Feeling like your workplace isn‘t just a dull area where you get work done can improve your productivity as you‘ll feel like you‘re in your own little world. 

    Designing your workspace is also very inexpensive, as there are a lot of different ways to personalize it just the way you want while hardly spending at all. Here are the top 8 ways to personalize your workspace:

    Add Some Plants

    Any type of little plant can brighten up your workplace significantly. There‘s something about plants that brings in simple elegance and a spark of life to your desk. You should keep in mind the amount of sunlight, certain plants need and if your desk is located near a window or not. If you get a large amount of sunlight in your workplace, get a plant like a small cactus that requires little-to-no maintenance, other than a little water every few days. These tiny plants generally cost less than $5 and last a very long time. They also provide you with something to do when a little bored at work; you can take a short break to water your plant and then get back to work feeling a little relaxed.

    Have a Color Scheme

    The best way to make your workspace look really good with very little effort is to simply decide on a color scheme and incorporate it all over your workspace. This allows you to make everything on your desk look nice and organized.. Once you‘ve decided on what colors you want, you can start looking for office supplies that share the same color palette and eventually, your desk will start looking magnificent. Just make sure you take into account your entire office‘s color scheme as you don‘t want your workspace to stand out in a bad way.

    Decorate a Shelf

    If you can afford to place the giant folders on your shelf somewhere else, you can repurpose one of your shelves specifically for decoration. Placing some objects like crocheted balls can bring some curvature to a desk filled with angles. This can help put some of the boring, old folders somewhere less obvious all while making your desk look more dazzling. This can also help you feel a lot less clumped at your desk as having shelves full of nothing but folders can start to feel a little stuffy.

    Place Some Framed Photographs

    Framed photographs carry a very strong, comforting feeling as having some of your fondest memories with you at your desk offers a sense of relief. A small frame barely costs anything but the impact it has on your workspace is huge. You can also use the frames to place some of your favorite artwork around your workspace to brighten it up and make it more elegant.

    Get a Chair For Your Desk

    The chairs in your office can be a little annoying as they‘re most likely a regular, uncomfortable one-size-fits-all type of chair which, ironically, doesn‘t fit most people. Being a little too tall or too big for a chair can be very annoying, especially if you sit on that chair for long periods of time. Searching online on chair review websites can help you decide which chair you want for your office as some websites give detailed reviews for every type of chair they sell. You can also find chairs with really good deals so that you never face any comfort issues at work while barely paying a thing.

    Place Some Wallpaper Around

    Wallpaper is one of the easiest, cheapest things you can purchase to bring a very noticeable change to your surroundings. Installing some wallpaper can help you create a theme for your workspace and requires minimal spending.. This method can also go hand-in-hand with your color scheme as you can easily design your desk in a way that complements your wallpaper and vice versa.

    Bring in a Nice Calendar

    Having a decorated calendar on your desk can bring in a lot of your personality to your workspace. You‘ll be constantly checking it and adding new things to it, so you might as well have some fun. You can either look for a really cool calendar online or design one yourself. DIYing a calendar will help you personalize your workspace to a whole new level as you‘ll create a calendar with all of your favorite movie references and TV characters and be looking forward to every new month, with all the surprises you‘ve placed for yourself along the way.

    Bring Your Favorite Books to Your Shelf

    Shelves at work shouldn‘t strictly be for folders and work documents which can be very dull. Bringing your favorite books along to decorate a shelf in your workspace can be a really nice way to personalize your surroundings while giving you something to look forward to during your lunch break. If you‘re lucky, someone in your office may also share your taste in literature and you get to finally talk to someone about the books you love.

     

    Your workspace should be a very obvious portrayal of who you are, so use that opportunity and bring out all your creativity so that you create a place where you can feel energized, motivated, and, most importantly, comfortable. All of the methods listed above barely cost anything, but the difference they make to your workspace is immeasurable. Take a little time to map out what you would like to see in your own workspace and you‘ll find that there‘s still room for improving a lot of things around you. The best thing about personalizing your workspace is that the methods used can also be implemented at home, so learning new skills like how to install some wallpaper can be something you use more than just once in the future. But, be warned, catching the decorating bug is highly infectious and before you know it you’ll be giving ever part of your life a makeover.