6 steps to creating a great working environment

If you want to start, own and lead a successful company, you’re going to need motivated, happy and energetic staff. Building a team takes more than just a few office social events and trust exercises, to keep your workforce content you’re also going to need to create a great working environment.

Once you’ve established your company ethos and culture, you’re going to want to choose a team that fit the bill, but you’re also going to want to engineer an environment which motivates them. CNM Online, a provider of heating and washroom products for offices, have shared their experience on what makes a workspace exceptional.

Good organisation is essential

Everyone needs to know where everything is, files need to be carefully organised so they can be easily located, schedules for work need to be in place and the office needs to be well maintained. Hiring an office or admin assistant with some real experience could be a great idea if this isn’t your strong point, as good organisation is the glue that keeps an office together. Organised mess just won’t cut it!

If you’re going for a laid back culture, try to have an open plan office

Offices without segregated offices tend to promote a more collaborative workforce and build stronger team relationships. It is becoming more and more popular within modern working environments for the managers to sit amongst the rest of the workforce, making communications much easier and improving employee relations. With this being said, still make create bookable office spaces for anyone working on specific tasks who may need some downtime.

Try to create strong communications between your workforce

Building a strong team is about more than just being a good leader, you need to open decisions up to everyone and give each member of the team a say. Also, try to get staff away from their desks throughout the day. Productivity will increase if they have a chance to refresh throughout the day. A good way to do this is to keep any water machines and tea making facilities a short walk away if possible.

Keep it comfortable, make it personal

In the modern day and age a lot of office space is rented, so companies tend to take a bit of a back seat when it comes to personalising and maintaining it. This shouldn’t be the case. The office should reflect the company, and you should try to make it stand out and feel as comfortable as possible for your employees.

There is more to keeping a comfortable office than just supplying a nice desk and a computer chair, you need to think about lighting, heating, ventilation and the washroom facilities. You don’t want your staff to be eager to leave because they’re too hot or the bathroom isn’t well maintained. You should regularly check how your team are feeling by creating anonymous questionnaires for them to fill in.

Create a relaxation space

This can be doubled up as a staff room, but have somewhere people can go to just put their feet up and switch off from work for a while. Encouraging regular breaks and having somewhere to escape for a short while could massively improve moral and help productivity.

Be flexible

Even when you’ve created an amazing workspace, there is no harm letting staff have a few days away from it a month, or allowing them to book an afternoon Dr’s appointment. Odds are, if you’re flexible with your staff they’re likely to be more flexible with you, and if you go the extra mile for them they’ll feel more valued and work harder.