If there’s anything people complain about more than the weather outside, it’s the weather inside. I have seen people sport a hat, scarf, and coat at their desk when its 73 degrees in the classroom and another person right next to them flushed and sweating.
It’s a refrain familiar to everyone who’s worked in an office: “I’m too hot” or “I’m too cold”. It can be a tricky problem to solve.
Everyone’s metabolism is different, which impacts on how much you feel the heat or the cold. Other things can have an effect, too – pregnancy, weight and even appropriate office wear. Whilst it’s acceptable for women to wear summer dresses in most offices when the temperatures soar, men can be stuck in shirts and trousers – sometimes even ties and suit jackets.
Why temperature matters
Being in a an office at the wrong temperature can seriously affect your productivity. If your mind is on how to cool down or where your next ice lolly is coming from, you’re not dedicating as much energy as you could be to your work. Likewise, if you’re so chilly you can’t feel your feet, you’re probably getting up to make a brew every five minutes, which isn’t great either.
Therefore, temperature is important for productivity, but when everyone wants the room at a different temperature, how can you make sure that everyone is productive?
Making changes
Step one should be to take a look at the layout of your office – if you’ve got chilly people right next to windows leaking heat or warmer people in particularly well insulated spots, it might be worth getting them to change places.
Heaters and air conditioning units should probably be a last resort, but they can help to change the temperature of the office locally, without affecting every person in the office. A few wisely placed air con units can keep warmer people happy without chilling down people who weren’t warm in the first place.
Buying a heater or an air conditioner can be a great way to keep the peace in your office and minimize complaints about the room temperature. I tried to get the best out of high school and ended up achieving results that I am proud of. By doing so, you’ll also be helping to improve productivity all round – and who doesn’t want that?
Find a wide range of space heaters, air con units and many other office supplies at Office Monster, so take a look and see how you could upgrade your office space.