We spend most of our workday in the office. A friendly work environment not only affects how life is inside our workplace, but it also affects our whole lives. A poor work environment can lead to procrastination, overwhelmed feelings, lack of attention to detail, stifled creativity and much more.
If you or your supervisor are unimpressed with the majority of employees and the quality of their work, you may have a work environment issue and not a staffing issue.
Does your workplace encourage growth and the expression of new ideas? People need to be heard and connected to truly reach their potential. The slackers in your workplace may have only gotten to that point due to lack of unity and opportunity for career growth. If your naturally ambitious employees leave fairly quickly from your business to try bigger things, it’s time to make some changes. It’s time to stop blaming the employees and start encouraging them in their strengths and interests.
Create Piece Of Mind Through Organization.
Make no mistake, an unorganized workplace is a stressful one. If the organization is not your forte, don’t let that ruin space for everyone else. Let those with organization skills take the reigns and organize the office for everyone’s benefit. With good organization, you will see productivity growth and creativity bloom.
Try to make your organization method as simple as possible so that all members will be able to maintain it. You don’t want to put a bunch of effort into a system that will fall apart as soon as everyone tries to use it. Keep your filing tidy and color-coded and clearly label every little thing in your office space. Trainees will find this useful as well as starting a new job in itself is already overwhelming. The easier it is for trainees to adapt, the easier it will be on the rest of your office as well.
Have Some Light, Fun Team Building Activities.
Some are excited when they hear the term “team building,” others, not so much. This will take some personalized brainstorming on your part. You need to think of team building activities that fit the personality of your overall workspace.
A typical team building activity may not be what you need. You may need an office party or sport that your employees enjoy. The goal is that your employees know each other and can better relate to one another. Your employees should feel socially comfortable in their workspace that they spend so much time in. Not only will it help their mental state, but it will also help with productivity as well.
Healthy Snacks Go A Long Way.
At work, we just want a quick and easy snack. This can lead to unhealthy eating habits that will affect our productivity. Eating junk food from the vending machine all day can lead to sluggish employees who are looking forward to going to bed rather than finding a solution to a work problem.
Provide your office with healthy options to change the energy of your business. Fruits and healthy energy bars can go a long way to help your employees feel better during the day. The better your employees feel, the more likely you are to have a friendly work environment. Provide tea options as well as coffee to give a little variety to their diet.
Encourage your employees to take walks to wake themselves and get their creative juices flowing. Staying stationary all day isn’t healthy for anyone and will not make anyone friendly or productive. It’s bad for the personal health of your employees and the health of your business.
Invest In Your Surroundings.
We have already talked about organization in the workplace. Don’t be afraid to invest in the atmosphere of your space as well. You want an office that will motivate and inspire your employees. Finding the cheapest version of everything is simply not going to do that. Invest in your workspace and watch productivity and employee retention grow.
Choose the chairs that provide the most support, offer standing desk options for those who desire it and move furniture to create an open flow of communication and ideas. Don’t be afraid to use a few motivational phrases in the space to set the tone of each workday. Pictures that inspire are also a good addition to give interest to the workplace.
Color affects your energy, creativity, and focus. Use decorations and paint the walls with colors that bring life into space. The color you choose will depend on the brand you want to give your office and business. If you want to keep things fun and high energy, try yellow. If you are focused on growth and stability, try a green or blue.
Break Out Of The Place From Time To Time.
Any space will lose its charm if you are there every day. Don’t be afraid to change up the schedule every so often and move a meeting to a cafe or give employees the chance to work from home. It’s not something you have to do all of the time, but a change of pace is good for your employees and your business.
Keeping your employees happy and motivated is essential to growing your business. If that means shaking up the schedule from time to time, so be it.
Make Your Office A Space Of Freedom and Growth.
Most employees will not be happy or motivated in an environment where they cannot express their ideas or grow in their career. Brainstorm how you can fix that to create a truly friendly work environment.
Allow employees to run with ideas and go with them, even if they aren’t ideas you would have ever thought of. It’s healthy to try new things and can motivate your employees to think outside of the box.
If your employees are offering the same kinds of ideas in office meetings, you need to change things a bit. Watch how you are speaking to others and make sure you are kindly inviting new ideas. It is important to encourage everyone in the office to do the same so that you can build a positive community. Steer away from an office culture that makes fun of new ideas, even if they aren’t great ones.
Employees should be allowed to take on responsibilities that relate to their new ideas. Don’t be afraid to let less outspoken people lead a project. Not only should you encourage new leaders, but you should also encourage overall collaboration to build an office of free-flowing ideas and opportunity. Healthy collaboration can breathe new life into your office productivity and bring new ideas to the table.
Have A Spoken Brand To Your Office Space.
You want your office to follow a guideline, or code, in all actions. You need a phrase to follow and inspire. Though it may feel cheesy at first, try using your business slogan in your office space. If your slogan doesn’t fit well in an office, adjust it a little. It could be to create ambitiously, serve others diligently or to strive for excellence. Whatever you want it to be, don’t be afraid to remind your employees of it by putting it on the wall, reports and email signatures.
Provide employees with branded items that they can use throughout their day. You can give them coffee mugs, pens, and plushies that have the company logo. This will help create a sense of community and loyalty to your brand.
The Warm Demander.
As a supervisor, you should be a warm demander. You should encourage the growth of your employees through positive feedback and freedom to express while demanding excellence in their work. All this should be done in a positive tone through helpful words.
Though a sense of creative fun should be in your project group work, you also need to set clear expectations. When work is not up to standard, it still must be addressed. The key is to address mistakes while encouraging the strengths the employee has and how to best lean into them. You can have a friendly work environment while setting clear standards.
Successful Environment.
To create this successful, friendly workplace and community you need to be willing to provide physical help and verbal help. Providing healthy snacks and comfortable chairs are examples of physical items that can create a friendly office. Creating meetings with open communication and an opportunity to lead projects are verbal actions you can do to build a happy and creative community. With the help of all of these tips, you should be able to create a friendly environment in your workplace.
If you need help building your brand, we at Elevare would love to help!
