What your workspace says about your business
According to a study by the Association for Psychological Science, it takes just a tenth of a second for someone to form an impression of a stranger.
If that’s the case, a potential new employee or customer walking into your office for a meeting has been judging your business since the moment they stepped inside. Therefore, it’s important your company’s character and personality match exactly what you want them to feel.
Every office has its own unique purpose and the best office designs are focused on the people using them and enhancing their productivity. It’s a blueprint to maximize workflow and an opportunity to demonstrate your brand identity, company values, and inclusive workplace culture.
As previous blog posts have shown, an office design has the power to change your state of mind. We are highly sensitive to the behavioural cues embedded in our environments and will unthinkingly adjust our mannerisms, mood and body language as we adapt to our surroundings.
Below are some of the ways you can ensure your office is portraying the right message; your message.
Showcase your brand
As we’ve mentioned above, first impressions are hugely important, so careful thought and planning should go into choosing the right colours, lighting and furniture.
The design not only needs to showcase what your brand is all about, but also needs to be attractive to potential employees and customers, in order to generate maximum interest and present the company as an exciting prospect they are going to want to be involved in.
Keep it light, bright and select a few key elements to provide a point of interest and bring personality, such as recycled office furniture to show you’re big on sustainability or sit-stand desks to show you’re forward-thinking and care about your staff.
If creating and building relationships are fundamental to your business, a ‘Resimercial’ office style with its homely atmosphere will show you’re warm, friendly and easily approachable.
And remember, don’t be afraid to try and embrace unusual designs as they express your brand’s creativity. We’ve designed offices built from containers in Bristol port!
Utilise space
If a visitor walks into your office and it’s untidy, it will have a detrimental impact on how they perceive your business. Not only that, but an unorganised and cluttered space can have a negative effect on your employees’ productivity and the way they relate to their surroundings.
By investing in clever storage designs and space-saving solutions, you can create a vibrant working environment that reflects the nature of your business. If you present an image of reliability, an inherent sense of trust is built between you and your employees and customers.
Put your team first
Again, as we’ve touched upon in recent blog posts, employees who are happy and comfortable in their surrounding environment are likely to be more productive.
Creating a safe and enjoyable office space will nurture your employees’ overall health and cognitive wellbeing, while inspiring and stimulating their creativity.
Ergonomic furniture such as adjustable chairs, keyboards and monitors are a great way to achieve this. Ensuring employees are safe demonstrates you care about their overall wellbeing, which in turn boosts team morale and productivity.
Other simple ways to create an inclusive environment include implementing shared tables to encourage collaboration and movable furniture; creativity is an iterative process, so creative spaces should be too.
At Cobus, we design and fit interiors that can make your business a powerful recruitment and marketing tool. If a workplace is visually pleasing and effective in encouraging employee productivity, potential employees, consumers and investors are more likely to recognise and respect your business.
