Ensuring Productivity through the Layout of Your Office Space for Lease
A positive and comfortable work environment has benefits that go both ways. The people who work there are happier, healthier, and more satisfied with their jobs. As a result, the quality of their work improves. If you’re struggling to create that kind of environment in your Ottawa office space, you’re not alone. A lot of businesses have a hard time striking that balance that’s just right for inspiring the very best work from their employees. And when you’re using an office space for lease, you need to be extra careful that any changes you make are okay with the property manager or landlord. Here are some changes—big and small—that can boost productivity in your office.
Increased Light
This doesn’t mean shining a spotlight in your workforce’s collective faces! In fact, the best kind of light is plentiful yet soft, and comes from a natural source—the sun. Natural light has a much more positive impact on people than artificial light ever could, but having plenty of both (especially for overcast days or the early sunsets of winter) is always best. If you use an office space for lease, you likely can’t modify the windows themselves, sometimes letting more light in is as simple as changing the blinds (or even just opening them more often!).
The Right Colours
It’s not surprising that colours have a tremendous effect on people, the way they think, and the way they feel. In fact, different colours have been found to stimulate different faculties in people—blue for focus, green for out-of-the-box thinking, pink for calmness, and so on. But before you go ahead slathering your walls in bright swathes of intense primary colours, remember that subtlety is more effective in this regard than an in-your-face approach. Soft blues or greens around your Ottawa office space are preferable to bold, in-your-face colour schemes.
Ergonomic Settings
We don’t need to tell you that an uncomfortable employee is a distracted employee. You already know that you spend more time readjusting and trying to get into a good flow and less time working when you’re uncomfortable—and let’s not forget the lost productivity that comes from repetitive strain injuries. Ergonomic chairs, wrist pads for keyboards and mice, anti-glare screens, and more can go a long way to cutting out distractions.
An Intuitive Layout
The debate of cubicles vs. open plan has been raging since the dawn of the 21st century, and the fact remains that both layouts have their own strengths and weaknesses, and you need to decide what works for your office space. Ottawa businesses should remember however that, despite the importance of independent work, collaboration is a must. If you don’t have a space where employees can easily share ideas and work together, your productivity will suffer.
Whether your name is on the building or you’re a small business renting an office space for lease, these tips can be applied anywhere!
