Office design is about more than creating an environment that provides all the furniture and equipment to support the various types of work tasks.  Great office design goes beyond the physical, practical concerns and takes into account the psychological and emotional well-being of the people who will be using the space.

Here are just a few tips to help you think about what will make your office the kind of space employees love to be in. Even if you’re not designing a new office space, but are contemplating a makeover, these tips will be helpful.  These suggestions are a great starting point, but we’d love for you to contact our team of designers for more ideas.

1. Design in keeping with your culture: Every organization has its own unique culture. You could describe it as ‘personality.’  Great office design recognizes and celebrates those factors that make you different from your competitors. Often it’s these, sometimes very subtle, defining characteristics that attract your best client and vendor partnerships! It’s also what attracts and retains top talent and helps build team spirit within the organization.  Take some time to work with your team to define in words and images what your culture looks and feels like.

2. Observe the office dynamics: The best way to figure out the best layouts and designs is to observe how your team uses space.  How do they interact?  Where are the sticking points in traffic flow?  Where are the obstacles to collaboration?  What is working? What isn’t?  What are common complaints among employees?  Observing with these factors in mind for a week or two will give you insights you might not otherwise gain.  Sometimes we see things on a regular basis without actually ‘seeing’ them.

3. Remember it’s not all or nothing choices. The debate about open plan versus private space has been lively over the past few years.  But who says it has to be all or nothing?  There are a multitude of ways of accommodating both concepts within your office. To make better, more efficient use of space, office designers aim at creating a good balance that achieves that goal without making employees feel like nomads.  It’s true that way we work has become much more flexible. It’s not practical in many instances to have a single workstation ‘belonging’ to a single employee.  Some employees only require a ‘touch down’ space. Some tasks require individual space, while others must be done in a collaborative setting.The key is to re-think space as ‘we’ space, not ‘me’ space, giving people the freedom to work where the task is best done rather than being limited to a single desk within the office. It’s very possible to have a layout that provides both focused work zones and team work zones.  Think in terms of ‘quiet’ and ‘noisy’ zones. Noisy zones are ideal to stimulate conversation and collaboration so necessary to brainstorming. Quiet zones are ideal for those times when you need to focus and concentrate with minimal distraction.

4. Productivity levels are directly impacted by office design. Office design impacts productivity by as much as 20%.   The way employees feel about and perceive the work environment is reflected by how well they’re able to work within it.  The tangible, physical layout, furniture and equipment exert a psychological effect that is manifested by productivity levels.

5. Office design that inspires and motivates helps to make work meaningful. Work/Life balance used to be what we would all strive for as technology began to blur the lines between work and personal time. Now, younger generations entering the workforce see everything as part of a cohesive whole.  Work is life, life is work. They’re not necessarily looking for more personal time, they’re looking for greater meaning in what they do.  They see work as an integral thread through their lives and want to not just enjoy it, but feel that what they do makes a difference to the world.They see their post college lifestyle as being an extension of student life where work and play are inextricably intertwined.  It’s all ’their life.’ Seeing work in this way helps to inspire greater innovation, creativity and productivity. People tend to do their best because they choose to and are inspired to, rather than because they’re given a specific task with a set goal by their boss. While older generations may still regard work as separate to their personal lives, the fact is that the more employees like their work environment, the happier they’ll be. The happier they are, and the better they get along with their co-workers, the more productive they’ll be.

6. Design around light: Access to natural light is a human right. Natural light is essential to quality of life. It has a significant impact on people, both  physiologically and psychologically. Natural light stimulates serotonin production. Serotonin is the chemical responsible for ‘happy’ feelings and for keeping us awake and alert.  Lack of light suppresses serotonin production and stimulates melatonin production. Melatonin is the ‘sleepy’ chemical that our body needs in order to sleep at night. This naturally leads to a loss of energy and motivation which is obviously bad for productivity at work.  Most office designers emphasize the need for everyone to have adequate access to natural light.  Removing cubicle walls, using movable glass walls and more open plan space are all ways to achieve this.

7. Design with visual stimulation in mind. We are visual beings.  What we see has a tremendous impact on our psyche. This is why office design should always be visually pleasing as well as practical. Colour choice is an important part of your design. Choose colors that fit with your corporate culture, the type of work being done and the desired results.Visual representations of the organization’s culture are also important. Creating spaces where employees can display their hobby projects helps reinforce the message that they are valued and their extracurricular achievements are appreciated as much as their work achievements.

8. Room Colour:

The colors around us all have an effect on our moods and brain function. It evokes both a physical and emotional response. So choosing the right colors for your work space has the ability to affect your productivity. For instance, blue has been said ti illicit productivity. Mind you, too much of anything can be overwhelming, even color.

If you work from a company office: Bring in items from home that are a certain color that inspire you and keep you focused. Use postcards, magazine cutouts, even just blocks of color will do.

If you work from a home office: If you work from home, you have much more control over the colors around you. Consider repainting a wall, adding color to the table you work at, or hanging pictures that are dominated by a specific color.

9. Room Temperature:

Most offices keep their temperatures around 65-68 Fahrenheit but it turns out that this might not be good for productivity. Warmer rooms actually make people more productive.

If you work from a company office: Most offices are regulated by somebody else, so bring a space heater, sweaters and blankets to your work space.

If you work from a home office: Depending on the season, open the windows or adjust the heat or a/c so that you’re more comfortable and warm. Pile on the sweaters in the winter or add a space heater to your feet.

10. Room Scents

Like the color of the space you work in, our sense of smell can powerfully affect our mood, mindset and thus our productivity. Consider adding scents to your work space to jar your mind into focus when you start to notice yourself drifting off.

Try using these scents to stay focused:

Pine – Increases alertness

Cinnamon – Improves focus

Lavender – Helps to relax you during a stressful work day

Peppermint – Lifts your mood

Citrus (any) – Wakes you up  and lifts your spirits

If you work from a company office: Most people will not appreciate added scents to their work environment so you’ll need to keep it subtle. Keep essential oils in your bag or drawer and when you’re in need of a boost put a few drops on a handkerchief or cotton ball.

If you work from a home office: Use candles, incense or essential oils. You can also simmer herbs and spices in the kitchen to fill your home with a warm scent.