How Office Design Affects Employee Well-Being and Success

During an average work week, you and your employees will spend roughly 40 hours or more in your office. That’s a lot of time, and it might even be more than you spend in your home during that same week. 

Given the hours that are logged in most offices, investing time and effort in carefully designing the space is a worthwhile endeavor. A smart design can positively impact employee well-being and the success of your people by making the time spent in the building more enjoyable. 

InReach is proud to have helped improve the design of many office buildings through the use of some of our innovative, practical features. If you’d like to add food and beverage services to your office in a way that contributes to the quality and comfort of the design, take a moment to chat with our team today.

What to Keep in Mind About Office Design and Employee Success

The Layout Needs to Be Functional

First and foremost, all office design choices need to be rooted in a foundation of functionality. There are other considerations to be made, but at the heart of it all, an office is a place where things need to get done. Design decisions that get in the way of functionality are sooner or later going to wear out their welcome. 

So, what does that mean in practice? It starts with providing the people who work in your office with easy access to the things they need to use. That could mean the basics like office supplies and a spot to get some water or coffee, or it could mean meeting rooms where they can collaborate with others. If the layout of your office is such that it is hard to get around the space and hard for your people to find what they need, frustration and stress are sure to mount. 

Natural Light Can Bring an Office to Life

Most office workers have had the unpleasant experience at one point or another of working in a building that felt like it blocked out the natural world. In an office where windows are few and far between and the only light is artificial, it’s hard to remain energetic and engaged in your work throughout the day. 

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be like that. With an office design that brings in as much natural light as possible, things look and feel a lot better. Even if the weather outside is less than ideal, having daylight coming into most of the spaces in the building will provide many benefits for your team. This is particularly valuable during the winter months when the days are short. If employees are coming in before sunrise and leaving after sunset, getting daylight exposure in the form of natural light feels great. 

Green Elements Stand Out in a Good Way

The standard office tends to contain a lot of white and beige tones throughout the design. Neutral is often the go-to choice for office designs, and to a certain extent, that makes sense. Picking bright colors for office finishes, fixtures, and furniture would be a bold move that could soon backfire when the team gets tired of the chosen decor. 

To brighten up the layout while still keeping much of it pretty neutral, go for green components that are growing inside the office. Plants that live in the building will bring a pop of natural color that no one is going to tire of anytime soon. Also, indoor plants have excellent air cleaning capabilities, promote a calming atmosphere, and may help to make your people more productive overall. 

Integrate an Activity Zone

There isn’t a ton of physical activity involved in working in a modern office. Most of the time, today’s office workers are sitting at a desk, looking at a screen, and perhaps typing on a keyboard or moving a mouse. These tools allow workers to be incredibly productive during the day, but they don’t do much for physical activity levels. 

This is why physical activity zones in offices have become more and more popular. It feels good for people to have an opportunity to move during the day, even if it is only for a short period of time before getting back to work. What the activity zone in your office looks like can vary depending on the space you have available; it could be a room with standing desks so people can keep working, or it could even be a space with exercise equipment for quick workouts during a break. 

There is also an office culture element that comes into play with regard to physical activity. For example, your company could promote walking meetings as a way to make sure everyone is getting regular activity during the day while still keeping work on schedule. In a big building, a designated walking path could be marked out through the office that is used for getting consistent exercise.

Include Access to Healthy Food and Drink Options

No discussion of employee well-being would be complete without covering the kinds of food and drink options that are available in the building. Designing an office that promotes success for your employees means including at least one area where food and beverage options are available. When this space is conveniently located near where most of the employees are doing their work, and when the space is open and attractive, it will become one of the most-used locations in the entire office.

Some businesses hesitate to lean into food and beverage services out of fear that the project will be more than they want to take on. This can easily be overcome with a single phone call to InReach for assistance. As experts in this space, we’ll make sure your food and beverage programs are as convenient as they are useful.

Is There a Quiet Space in Your Office?

One of the benefits of good office design can be creating a variety of spaces that serve different needs throughout the day. In the average office, there is a general background “hum” of noise. People typing on keyboards and talking on phones make up much of the sound that bounces around in the building, along with the occasional printer chugging away or actual in-person conversation between coworkers. 

Such sounds are natural, but they can sometimes make it hard for an employee to sink into deep focus for a particularly difficult project. This is where quiet zones can be useful. When someone in the building needs to really think about a tricky problem, or when they simply need to get away from the noise for a mental health break, a quiet zone is the answer. These are dedicated spaces in the office where no conversations are permitted, comfortable seating is provided, and focus is easy to achieve. 

Is It Time for an Office Upgrade?

How does office design affect employees? In nearly every way possible! As you think more and more about office design, you may come to realize that there are things about your building that should be upgraded right away. Don’t be intimidated by the prospect of taking on such an endeavor alone—the InReach team is here to make it as approachable and convenient as possible. The first step is to get in touch with us today to go over your goals and discuss how we can help bring that vision to life.