Often, offices can be known as rather a stressful, negative place to be. However, it doesn’t have to be like that and there are actions you can take to make sure your employees have an enjoyable and relaxed experience when coming into the office everyday.
Try encourage a relaxed atmosphere
Encouraging a relaxed and casual environment can have a large effect on employees productivity and motivation to succeed and do well. As employees can sometimes get bogged down with all the rules and regulations that are often put in place to make sure everyone is treat equally and to make sure the office runs smoothly, however rather than forcing rules on employees, building good relationships with them and making sure everyone works as a team can have larger, more positive effect on employees productivity, rather than just setting lots of rules and not making effort to get to know your employees.
Casual Seating area
Whilst being sat upright all morning, sitting in a comfortable seat will definitely be appreciated. Perhaps beanbags, or a comfortable sofa for your employees to lounge on for an hour at lunch time to give their back a rest. This will also remind them and encourage them to have a break from their work and having regular breaks is an important part of keeping productivity levels high.
Having the WiFi password clearly on display and making sure the connectivity is good will also increase a more relaxed atmosphere. It will also be a place for employees to get to know each other, which is essential as it will help them to work as a team when they’re working and to support each other, rather than working against each other which is what can sometimes happen.
Start conversations
Again, I can’t stress the importance of having good, strong relationships with your employees, especially if you’re going to go for the relaxed approach within the office, as there will be fewer rules and regulations to keep your employees in line.
Therefore, asking if they had a good holiday, what they do in their spare time or if they have any hobbies, will help you get to know your employees, and build those all important relationships. Also if you have good relationships with your employees, you will become much more approachable, which is an essential quality to have.
Encourage equality
In the office, sometimes, people with a higher name tag within the business can sometimes start acting superior and this can cause conflict as it can frustrate other colleagues and can sometimes make them feel less superior or under appreciated.
So doing things such as washing up or completing some basic admin work, offering to take out the bins or making the teas/coffees can help to increase the mindset that despite the fact that some employees might be higher up the hierarchy, we are all equal and nobody is better than anyone else, which can decrease any big headed, haughty, thinking within the office, again increasing the thought process that the office is one big team.
