The spaces we occupy, be it residential, or the place of work, define who we are, how we behave, and how we perform. These spaces, especially our workspace, play a major role in our psychological well-being and affects our overall productivity. Given that we spend over 3600 hours a year at our workplaces, in the same room, the same work station, it only makes sense to optimize the area in ways that are mutually beneficial to the employer and employee.

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A well thought out, well laid out office is a prescription for positive returns. There are still companies that look at people as a cost, but the winners are those organizations that look at their employees as long-term investments. This investment will reap benefits only if the employees are happy and comfortable. To achieve this an activity-based office setup is necessary, and it doesn’t cost much if proper research is conducted in advance. In other words, a good workspace is an investment in higher performance, in engagement, in recruiting and in training of top-quality staff.

The ideal office space should empower employees and subsequently help businesses grow and thrive.

First and foremost, each employee needs to understand what are the expectations from them and organize their workspace as a reflection of that understanding. This not only has an empowering effect on them, but also research has shown, is directly proportional to their productivity.

So, what does the ideal workplace look like?

On average, we spend almost 2500 hours per year of our adult life in an office, and that is a big share of the life! Not all offices are well laid out of ergonomically designed, which leads us to the question, “What an ideal office space should have”? The workplace isn’t just restricted to the decor but the overall ambiance, and every minute that you connect with space.

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Workplace Design & Decor

The design should always be one that has been tried and tested, never assumption based. Workspace too, like all other spaces of our life, is governed by energy. A productive office is one that has an open space design. One that has done away with cubicles and is an open space where all that’s there are comfortable tables and chairs, ample arm space and leg room. This improves inter-employee and inter-departmental communication and thereby developing a strong bond amongst each other. Besides, the office should also have a recreational room with couches, television, coffee-maker and maybe a table tennis table or a foosball table.

Performance Improvement

These open spaces should preferably have big windows that let in natural light, proper ventilation, temperature control, after all, employee comfort is your primary objective. While this may sound cliched, proper lighting and temperature control has proven to have a positive impact on team morale. This translates into higher levels of productivity. Lighting is also key because it is only good when you are on the computer but the moment you take your eyes off the screen you won’t see a thing if space is poorly lit. Employees may find it hard to move around, bump into things and even have a hard time finding things on their desk. Hence, a good lighting system or table lamps that don’t hurt the eyes can do much for productivity.

Working Environment

The atmosphere in any office is directly proportional to productivity. It also has a strong effect on team building and team bonding. The atmosphere needs to be such that people take an interest in knowing about each other thereby leading to a culture conducive to relationship building. Workspaces need to be fun and relaxed, not intense and depressing. You could also plan periodic team building activities, weekend treks, etc. If you are tight on budget you could just do it within the premises of your office. You could conduct innovative contests, or host a foosball/table tennis tournament. All these contribute to creating a strong employee bond. Add food and drinks to the scheme of things and you have a sure shot winner on hand.

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Employees Choice of Design

Any company that is conscientious enough to provide its employees with the aforesaid facilities is bound to grow exponentially. No company that invests on people resources has ever failed. Research clearly indicates that employees experience higher job satisfaction and thereby exhibit higher productivity when they are given an option to choose an office layout that suits their sentimentality. How they wish to sit, where they wish to sit, furniture design all these play a key role. This gives them multiple options to choose from and a layout they prefer. For instance, one employee might like to answer emails in a meeting room or café in the morning and venture into a shared space to collaborate with coworkers later during the day.

As you can see, there are things you can do to improve the workplace for your employees. These are simple things you can do, but you can ask them for opinions to help make everyone’s day at the workplace something they look forward to. The key factors that shape the ideal workspace are;

1. 1. Ambient Lighting
   2. A green environment
   3. Temperature control
   4. A little color
   5. Provide employees with a choice of design and décor

1. Ambient Lighting – Choices of color, light, and space

Selecting the right mix of color and lighting scheme is one of the easiest ways to increase the morale of the team. While it adds a sense of vibrancy to the whole atmosphere it also has a direct impact on enhanced performance. The light and color mix can be so chosen that you have the luxury to alter the hue and brightness of each workspace based on the kind of work that’s being executed.

2. Choose rounded furniture and arrange it wisely

If you have the liberty of designing your workstation, it would be wise to select a layout and corresponding furniture that is rounded around the edges and curved. Rounded-edges have been linked to the creation of a positive frame of mind amongst employees. While they bring out the creativity in the employees, there’s also a reduced chance of any form of grievous injury that sharp-edged furniture is known to cause.

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3. A green environment – Go Green

Employees, when allowed to place plants around their work areas, were shown to exhibit higher levels of productivity. Many companies lately have started allocating a small budget for each employee to furnish their work stations according to their own tastes and sensibilities. Research has shown that the presence of office plants is widely considered to be beneficial to the employees. While it helps reduce stress levels, plants also affect help to neutralize office pollution.

4. Temperature control

An office can neither be too hot, nor too cold. Extreme temperatures are a distraction and prevent your team from functioning effectively. While it is hard to please everyone, at once, it is advisable that you find the optimum temperature that the team finds comfortable to work. Research has shown that office temperature has a greater influence on women than men. The ideal temperature for maximum productivity has been shown to range from 22-24°C.

Too often, when people design an office, they get stuck on the idea that there should be optimum usage of space without knowing the ideal office space. But if you believe in spending quality, productive time in your office, make sure that is a perfect mix all the ideas mentioned above, a perfect mix of functionality and personality.