By Smith Willas

Your office is the place where efforts are made to turn your dreams into reality, a precinct where your vision finds a way through to make a difference in the world, and a destination where your employees make collective endeavours to put your business in the growth trajectory. For all these aspects to function smoothly, your office environment needs to be great.

Today, employees are under pressure from the kind of workload they handle and the amount of information they process. Thus, it is important to create an atmosphere where people want to come, do their work efficiently, and interact heartily. Good employee engagement helps break the monotony and spreads the positive energy, which further makes employees productive. If your employees work in a dull office setting with unfriendly coworkers, they likely won’t feel motivated to give their best efforts. On the other hand, a positive workplace environment boosts camaraderie, engagement, and overall productivity. Moreover, the right equation between you and your employees is the key to a successful professional relationship.

Here are the tips to create a productive and engaging workplace environment:

Create a warm work culture

The culture of your organization can be deciding factor for the overall success of your business. The culture decides the way employees interact with each other. A healthy culture encourages your employees to stay motivated and loyal towards the management. A healthy culture breeds healthy competition, and your staff will try their level best to perform better and earn recognition and appreciation.

According to a report by Pew Research Centre, 35% of the workforce is now made up of Millennials, which is the largest generation in the US labour force. Millennials want to work for companies that share their same values; they want to work with a purpose to make a difference.

A warm and friendly culture increases loyalty among your employees. They enjoy coming to office and value the work they do. It connects your management with the rest of the staff and binds them with a set of shared beliefs. So treat your employees like they make a difference and they surely will. Furthermore, employees who align their beliefs with those of their organization tend to be more productive.

Make the most of your workplace

To infuse productivity among your employees, workplace design efficiency should be one of your topmost priorities. Whether you are a startup or an established business, there are advantages to using every square inch of your office to its fullest. Putting walls, large furniture, and unnecessary partitions increases isolated work, covers more space, and can prevent collaboration. On the other hand, lounges, and group seating, increase creativity and encourage collaboration.

Get rid of all the unnecessary clutter at the office as it keeps your employees constantly distracted because it’s constantly in the line of their vision. Poor lighting can adversely affect workplace productivity and can lead to headaches and eye strain. Make sure there is ample lighting. If possible, give a touch of nature and greenery to your office.

These days, interconnected technology is making office life much easier for everyone, so invest a little on technology as well. Whether you use integrated programs or a single operating system in your office, make sure every employee can use the tech your workplace has to offer.

Introduce occasional fun activities

Due to heavy workload, stress, and deadlines, your employees can get bogged down easily. This can hugely impact their energy level and productivity. So you need to keep them entertained every now and then. Games, celebrations, and other fun activities help them socialize and lift their morale. A fun environment uplifts employees’ spirits and reminds them of their value to your organization. This will positively impact your company by enhancing the sense of community. Providing your employees gaming rooms can greatly reduce their stress, boost concentration, and increase talent retention.

You can also throw occasional office parties to your employees. Whenever a monthly or quarterly target is met, you can celebrate it with your staff. Make a toast with personalized wine labels that depict your organization’s value system. Let them know the importance of collaborative efforts towards achieving success. This will bring them closer, increase cooperation, and enhance engagement.

Improve communication

Good communication is an essential tool in achieving productivity and maintaining strong working relationships at all levels of an organization. If you lay down clear lines of communication, your employees effectively interact with colleagues, managers, clients, and customers. Poor communication, on the other hand, will inevitably lead to unmotivated staff who may begin to question why they’re working for your company. It is generally been noticed that employees who were graded as highest in production had received the most effective communication from their superiors. Employees feel empowered if they are able to have upward communication.

A better workplace communication enhances transparency and reduces misunderstandings. Most conflicts in the workplace are caused by communication breakdowns. Sometimes conflicts and misunderstanding can arise because of workers belonging to different cultures and backgrounds. So an effective communication in such instances can help ease all these potential problems. Furthermore, healthy, open communication enables you to provide specific feedback to employee on how their work is feeding into the broader business objectives.

Encourage employee wellness

Your employees are among your greatest assets, so your workplace needs to incorporate programs that address their health and wellness. There’s no point in subjecting your employee into mental trauma in terms of their work; rather make sure they remain physical and mentally fit. According to a report, 9.5% of US adults suffer from depressive mental illness. The mental health of your employees is extremely critical when you are trying to improve the office environment. When your employees aren’t in the right frame of mind, how would you expect them to be productive?

Wellness programs, therefore, will help your employees make smart and healthy choices that can reduce health care costs, increase vitality, and diminish absenteeism. You can provide staff training, employee seminars, or even hire a third-party that can provide a range of wellness programs. If you take care of the health of your employees, in return they will take care of the health of your business.

Final Words

Every small business is different and there is no one-size-fits all solution to workplace harmony. But by fostering a positive office environment, you can help employees be happier, more productive, and more efficient.

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Smith Willas is a freelance writer, blogger, and digital media journalist. He has a management degree in Supply Chain & Operations Management and Marketing and boasts a wide-ranging background in digital media.