As the work culture keeps shifting away from drab, boring, and gray-looking offices, employers and managers are struggling to figure out how to make their offices look fun yet, at the same time, keep the required level of professionalism. “Why do they even bother with this?” you might ask. Well, it’s all about productivity and the workers’ happiness on the job.
To get the best out of people, you need to give them a fun but professional work environment in which they can thrive. You need to ensure your employees feel welcome and comfortable at work. That’s why striking that perfect balance between professionalism and fun is all so important. So, now you might be asking, “How do I do that?”. Well, that’s exactly what we’ll answer.
In this article, we’ll talk about some of the tips and tricks you can use to spruce up your office and make it more worker-friendly while maintaining the obligatory level of professionalism.
Why Make Your Office Look Fun?
Fun is engaging! By creating an environment that engages your employees, you’ll be able to reap a lot of benefits. Some of them are:
- An increase in employee productivity.
- Showing your employees as well as your clients that you care about workers’ well-being.
- Lower staff turnaround and better staff retention.
- By making employees feel more comfortable, you’ll improve their communication and collaboration.
- Improved creativity.
- Reduced stress levels and going to work becomes fun.
Tips to Make an Office Both Fun and Professional
To get the most out of the people you work with, you need to invest a modicum of time and possibly money to make your office space more comfortable and welcoming. By doing this, you’ll not only increase the productivity of your colleagues, but you will also ensure they stick around for years to come.
1. Adding Personal Items
A work environment void of any personality is not fun to be in. Making everything gray and drab is not conducive to teamwork and collaboration. Employees will be less likely to open up to their colleagues and thus less approachable when they’re needed. This can also affect your clients, as putting a face to the name is the most important thing when it comes to building trust.
By encouraging your employees to bring and add their personal items to their workspace, you’ll create ample opportunity for conversations and bonding between team members. By bringing a piece of home with them to the office, your employees will be constantly reminded of what or whom they are working for. This can include photos, mementos, or even house plants.
If you’re unsure about all of this, start with something small. Encourage your workers to bring their coffee mugs to work, and see where that gets you.
2. Use Color Wisely
Color can have a huge impact on how we view our surroundings. Blue is usually connected with calmness, while red screams danger and alertness. The most important thing when it comes to picking the right color for your office is not to overdo it.
If you are unsure where to start, consider the colors of your brand and go from there. If your brand colors are too bright or flashy, you might wanna tone them down a bit when decorating large walls and spaces. Consider going with a neutral color for larger surfaces and office furniture.
Rember, your goal is to make your employees feel comfortable while also having an eye-catching space that will help you get new and retain existing clients.
3. Have a Break Area
A break area can help your workers recuperate during downtime. By creating a space for that, you’ll not only help your employees replenish their energy levels, but you’ll also be in full control of how they do that. Why is that important?
Well, during a lunch break, employees can technically go anywhere as long as they are back on time. You don’t want them going to local bars or restaurants and having a drink with their lunch because that can negatively affect their productivity.
By creating a fun space that they want to spend time in, you can completely control how they recuperate, for better or worse. A couple of things that you should consider implementing are:
- Ensure your break room has ample space and a variety of seating options. Include different chairs and sofas so your employees can take their pick of the litter.
- Have a table that’s suitable for having lunch.
- Have a setup with playing cards or books to help keep your employees entertained during downtime.
- Keep the break area separate but still open.
- A coffee machine, a fridge, and a kettle are a must!
- Make sure there’s enough natural light and clean air.
- Ask your staff what they want and need to properly relax during a break.
4. Make the Most Out of Wall Space
Blank walls are a perfect opportunity to inspire your employees and promote office culture. You could do this by adding art or inspirational quotes that will boost your staff’s productivity and creativity. You could also put up a shelf for plants or pictures.
Involve your employees in every decision you make about the office space. Their feedback is extremely valuable, as they will be the ones who spend the most time around these fixtures.
5. Add a Bookshelf and Encourage Digital Detox
If your staff spends most of their time working in front of a screen, you should encourage them to spend their breaks away from it. And, yes, this includes their mobile devices. To achieve this, think about installing a bookshelf and filling it with various types of books. Basically, anything and everything that can help your workers relax. From cookbooks to comic books, classical novels, and large art books; there are no wrong answers here.
By doing this you’ll ensure your employees get back to work feeling refreshed, relaxed and inspired.
6. Add Plants
We already mentioned plants, but besides their beauty, plants can boost productivity and improve mood. On top of that, they also regulate air humidity and make workspaces more attractive to potential employees.By adding a couple of them all around the place, you’ll reap a plethora of benefits without much investment. Just make sure that everything fits with the overall design of the office, and you’ll be good!
7. Think About Comfort
Most people who work in an office spend their work hours sitting in a chair. Depending on their schedule and if there are some upcoming deadlines, this can mean spending more than 8 hours a day sitting. That’s why it’s extremely important to ensure those chairs offer sufficient ergonomic support.
By getting comfortable ergonomic chairs, you’ll minimize the negative effects of spending too much time sitting and will help your staff keep their physical health intact.
There are many different options on the market when it comes to ergonomic chairs that offer ample back support. Be sure to do your research, as some of them are costly and can potentially break your bank.
Fun and Professional Office – Strike a Perfect Balance
Your goal is to create a vibrant work environment and make sure your employees have everything they need when it comes to essentials in order to do their jobs as best as they can. This includes a fun place to hang out with their colleagues during downtime, as well as a space to have a quiet break. However, while we mostly talked about the “fun” in the equation, you also want professionalism.
Balancing the fun and professional aspects of a workspace can be challenging. Here are a few things to keep in mind to get the best out of both worlds:
- There should be a clear distinction between the break areas and the workspace. You don’t want your staff getting confused and bringing the fun of the break area to their work desks.
- Have a dress code. This doesn’t have to be a typical tie and suit thing, but you should still aim to have a certain degree of professionalism in your dress code. Casual Fridays are great, but they shouldn’t become a regular, everyday thing.
- Have easily defined short and long-term goals. The uncertainty and not knowing the exact goals can negatively impact your employees as well as increase their stress levels. You should strive to avoid that.
- Positive encouragement and rewards. When your team members land a big client or do a good job, you should reward them. This could include organizing an office party or a lunch with the entire team—it’s completely up to you.
- Ensure your office has a quiet and isolated place for more introverted employees.
Conclusion
Modern office trends include creating a vibrant and dynamic place where employees can thrive and improve. It can be difficult to balance vibrant or dynamic and professional or hard-working.
To get the best out of your staff members, you should have a separate break room that’s easily distinguishable from the rest of the workspace. Make room for a couple of fun activities in your break area, such as playing cards or books, to help your employees recoup during downtime.
Don’t waste the wall space by keeping it blank and empty. Instead, use it to inspire and increase the productivity of your workers. Put up modern art and/or inspirational quotes, and you’ll see improvements in your staff’s behavior in no time.
Lastly, add plants. They will not only help in achieving the fun and yet professional look of your office but will also ensure that your employees are in high spirits.
