DRIVERS AND WORKSPACES
Better outcomes of an optimised work environment such as improved motivation and productivity are far from the real reasons as to why Finance Directors, Facilities Managers or Office Managers are crying out for the assistance of an interior designer. That is because not everyone is educated enough to understand the actual benefits of improved office space and also the causal impacts behind the choice to take the step towards change.
THE REAL REASON YOU’RE GETTING A NEW WORKSPACE – PRESSURE
Though many industrial interiors business will avoid questioning their clients’ desires to optimise space at work and create assumptions that their motives are just like the next persons, it is imperative to challenge the mindset of any client who had asked for interior design consultations or want to do a project with you, but failed say that they want to get better workplace motivation and staff productivity out of the project.
Degrees of anxiety, tiredness, boredom, illness and unhappiness experienced by employees in the workplace are classic causes of a bad working environment which may be affected by a poorly designed office. This subsequently makes them apply pressure on others to make modifications to the workplace — the choice maker. Stress in the work environment is generally a fantastic indication that the business is not prioritising the wellbeing of its employees and the impact they have on company success. Ultimately, pressure is the real reason driving the company’s decision maker to make changes to the office interior design. Nevertheless, that is where mistakes happen because in their endeavour to fulfil their own personal need for heightened motivation due to their own feeling of unhappiness and being unappreciated, this motivates them to focus less about team motivation and more about their own self-fulfilment.
Education around the importance of implementing an optimized work environment and the advantages it can bring before the pent up pressure explodes is vital for the sake of team motivation, continued health and staff productivity. Although this might seem cringey, remember that the word ‘Team’ does not include ‘I’.
Communication is your golden ticket to always ensure that no one ever has to feel like they are put under pressure at work or as if they must cope with the environment by themselves.
NO ‘I’ IN TEAM
The journey of producing a brand new, fully optimized workspace to help your company and your staff succeed should not just be a worthy, long term investment for you but one which will also continue to cater for the needs of your staff, motivating them to help drive your company forward.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
On certain occasions, it is hard for the decision makers of an organisation to measure why it is important to look into revamping the office area. The false assumption that a brand new office is only about a fresh paint colour on the wall and a waste of cash, makes it harder for other people higher up to validate the cost of interior designing. If you take a look at corporate event venues and offices in Melbourne, you would see that the more popular ones are the ones that are well-designed.
Below, we have listed some of the methods to ensure that making the decision to revive your office interior will not be a headache for anyone involved. The reason these are done is to find out the underlying problem currently occurring in your working environment. Interior design can then be used to solve some of the underlying issues being faced by your employees. Here is the list of things to be done:
- Engagement poll – asking your employees to routinely fill out engagement polls can help alert you to some problems in the workplace which are about to happen
- Meetings – be sure that you have regular meetings with your staff, both as a staff and one-on-one to ensure that everyone is given the chance to air their ideas on any concerns they might have with respect to work, including their career development
- Team days – involvement with your staff is a major part of learning their distinct personalities, their strengths and flaws
- Sickness evaluations – making sure managers conduct an unassuming sickness report on every employees’ return to work after a period of ill health is important and may potentially reveal problems within the office
- Feedback – ask your workers to comment on you and your performance – that could potentially highlight things that you may be doing wrong or things you could improve on that are influencing the morale of your employees
- Health and safety examinations – make sure your workspace and people’ workstations are frequently assessed in accordance with health and security regulations to make sure that individuals aren’t suffering in silence. This is more commonly seen in food courts or restaurants under shopping centre management, where the health and safety of the staff are equally important to the health and safety of the patrons.
AN INTELLIGENT WORKSPACE
Upon having made the decision to go ahead with a new workspace, knowing the kind of distance you’d like and what will work best for the organisation could be a minefield. Obviously, it’s the role of the interior designer to help you with your decision except to give you a sense, there are a number of examples of the different kinds of workspaces you might have.
Taking the opportunity to regularly understand the changing needs of your company is vital. Your people are the most important asset of your business so treat them with the respect they deserve and do not leave the quality of your workplace to chance. This applies to all kinds of business environments. It does not matter whether you are a six-members-architecture studio, or if you are managing the staff that handles your venue for hire in Melbourne, or if you are the founder of a multi-national corporation, the ability to treat the people who work under you with respect is of utmost importance.
INTERIOR DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
Considering how technology has changed over the years….the mind truly boggles! Although in many circumstances there is an intense deficiency of people racing around their office on segways, lots of organisations are now beginning to show an appreciation for the level of available complex devices that are proving to help enhance the lives of working people.
Obviously, some of the very best office inventions are the ones which have served to meet a purpose in the working environment for decades, such as the anxiety toy. The stress toy helps employees to alleviate tension in the body whilst working and as an easy yet effective invention, it delivers a solution to minimise the ramifications of a frequent health-related pitfall that all these people find themselves in as a result of the intensity of the workplace. It is thus important that things of a bigger investment, like the iPad, are also integrated into the office.
The planet is changing, competition is fierce and brand loyalty is flailing. So whether you define your USP as being able to offer outstanding customer service, delivering a fast and accurate property valuation, or guarantee the best value for money product, your success is limited unless you invest in the tools your employees have to perform the job properly.