One of the biggest misconceptions about productivity in the workplace is the fact that it’s A) completely motivation driven and B) a subjective feature. Now, while motivation is subjective, there’s so much you can do as an entrepreneur in order to allow your team to do their best. This ranges from creating an environment that is optimized for work, all the way to providing the equipment that will make it easier for them to perform some vital work-related tasks. With this in mind and without further ado, here are several tips to help you equip your office for increased productivity.
Work area
The first thing you need to organize your office is furnishing the general work area. This should start by you making a layout and finding a way for all your employees to have at least 11 square meters of workspace for themselves. Then, you need to order work stations accompanied with ergonomic chairs in order for them to benefit the posture of your employees. Finally, those who want to go a bit outside-of-the-box might even want to consider the concept of standing desks. This is a bit unusual method but it really does boost one’s productivity.
Equipment
The next thing you need to consider is the electronics in the office. Most importantly, we’re talking about laptops, tablets, desktop configuration, etc. A lot of businesses nowadays rely on the BYOD business model, at least in some way. Think about it, even if your employees aren’t bringing their own laptops (which is what can boost their productivity substantially), you at least need them to log into the work-related app from their smartphone. Naturally, there are some pieces of equipment that they can’t bring along, most commonly we’re talking about electronics like scanners and printers. Fortunately, it’s quite easy to outsource this function and find reliable OKI printers through agencies that specialize in printing solutions.
Breakroom
While it is true that taking a break is necessary for one to stay focused, what they don’t tell you is that in order for this to work, the quality of a break is just as important as its duration. The first thing you need to do is organize a great breakroom. Make sure that it’s nice, quiet and organized, as well as that there’s enough room there for everyone. Other than this, you also might want to work on your kitchen area in order to expand your fridge capacities. One more thing that you need is a reliable coffee maker.
Reducing distractions
Another thing you need to do in order to make the office more productive is to start handling the issue of distractions. The first such type of distractions is visual in nature, which means that in order to reduce its impact you need to keep the place as tidy and organized and possible. Other than this you also need to worry about the issue of noise, which can be handled in several ways. First, you need to make the place acoustic and soundproof it to reduce the amount of noise coming from the outside world. Second, you can invest in silent peripherals and encourage your team to be a bit quieter. Provided that you’ve given each workstation enough space, the number of tactile distractions should be brought down to a minimum.
Improving air quality and temperature
The last thing you need to do is improve the quality of air in the office, which can be done in two ways. The first one is to invest in office plants and the second one is to rely on air purifiers. Ideally, you would go for both. Finally, by setting the office temperature between 22 and 25 degrees Celsius is known to affect productivity in a positive way.
By creating an ideal work environment, you’ll give your employees all the tools they need to unleash their full potential. Sure, it’s true that some employees are just more productive than others but the only way to see which are which is to give them all work conditions and observe changes in their performance. In other words, equipping your office, when used correctly, is also a personnel management method.