It’s one thing to locate the perfect piece of commercial real estate for your small business, but it’s quite another to turn that office or building into a productive space.
The solutions vary from business to business, but here are three tips that will help create a productive office space for many of you:
Let in more light. Allowing your employees to stare outside might feel like a move that would reduce productivity and increase their frustration with being trapped inside, but according to a 2014 study conducted by Northwest Medicine and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Workers who had access to windows and natural light scored 36 percent lower on measures of daytime dysfunction and 36 percent higher on measures of vitality, among other things.
Although the number of people involved in the study was relatively small, the results were clear: letting in more light has the potential to make workers significantly more productive. If there’s no way to increase natural light, try replacing all the light bulbs in the office with sources that emit cool or daylight colors to help mimic the effects of the sun.
Provide a quiet room. With the cubicle out and natural light in, your workers may find times when they really need some personal space. Open format offices can encourage collaboration, but they can also make deep thinking and focus difficult. Set aside a couple of offices or conference rooms to be used by employees when they need some quiet time to think without distractions.
Encourage free communication. When designing your work stations, group employees who often collaborate or who are working on the same type of problem together. Remove any high walls that block their view of one another and encourage them to help one another whenever possible. According to a Cornerstone On Demand report, 72 percent of workers want to participate in face-to-face collaborations. Save time spent waiting for email replies by cleverly encouraging free communication and collaboration.
Creating a productive office space doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. For many offices, it’s just a matter of rearranging the furniture, turning on the lights and having somewhere quiet to think. When you’re looking at buildings or offices for rent, keep these concepts in mind so you can choose the commercial real estate that’s the perfect setting for your team to function at their very best.