10 Tips For A Better Work Environment

10 Tips For A Better Work Environment

There is an ulterior motive behind all companies trying to promote positive work environment in their office. And that is – success and achieving goals. Creating positive vibrations within the office will encourage everyone to work more and the employees will work as a unit to help the company grow. Physical and emotional, keeping a positive energy is important. Here are some simple and easy tips for you to do that:

• Keep the office clean, spacious and well decorated

It is important to keep the office space clean and well-decorated because a strong, positive vibration comes out of it. When everybody has their space and working convenience, it will encourage them to be more productive. There will be a change in attitude when you allow employees to have their own workstations, kept apart from each other. You can try this, provided your budget allows. Similarly, make sure your office is well-lit. Poor lighting can zap energy, so spend a few dollars out of your budget and revamp the lighting style in your office. The other flip side to bad lighting is that it can cause eyestrain in your employees, hampering productivity and affecting morale.

• Communication

There is absolutely no alternative to communication. When you communicate timely and honestly with your employees, it encourages them to work more. It is motivational when you communicate each and every change that happens within the company because employees feel that they are really a part of the company and this would encourage them to really work hard rather than think about money in the bank.

• Try the old-fashioned communication for a change

What do you prefer? An email congratulating you for a work well done or the boss himself coming down and doing it himself? Definitely, you would like the boss himself coming down and congratulating, right? It is the same way for everyone. For every important event or change in the company, it is important that you try the old-fashioned method rather than emails and chat messages. Face-to-face communication generates a world of difference.

• Understand and respect cultural difference

Geographical barriers are negligible in a work environment. Whether you are outsourcing or hiring in-house, you will most definitely have employees who follow different cultures and ethnicities. The world is shrinking so it is important that you be aware of the cultural differences and act accordingly. What may be humorous in one culture may be offensive in another. Some people will never forget the harm done to their cultures and beliefs, so be aware of the cultural intricacies before communicating with employees from various cultures.

• Nothing beats the “pat on the back” technique

Positive feedback is quite important to get things going. Even if you don’t hold regular meetings to congratulate employees, you need to do it personally when there is some great achievement. It gives them a boost and the motivation to perform more. Praise and recognition is more important than anything else because it makes them feel important and there will be positive vibrations all around.

• Giving into reasonable demands

Well, if you feel the demands of your employees are reasonable, then by all means fulfill them. It could be a raise, a promotion or even a vacation. If they have earned it, they have earned it, period. True, raising salaries may be taxing on your budget, but if it is time for them to get a raise, then don’t delay. The motivation to work is praise and monetary benefit; if you delay either of those, their work could suffer.

• Personalization works

We have already explained that having a clean and spacious office is a boost to good working ambience. Now, go a step further and give each employee the opportunity to customize his or her space. Let them fill their space with comfortable goodies; it would give them that homely feeling. Personal preferences go a long way in keeping them happy.

• Fun activities and eating out

You can improve the relationship with your employees if you engage in fun activities with them. It wouldn’t do your company good to be high and mighty and be the boss, and not participate in any of the fun activities organized by your employees. You can also have eating out once in a while, especially when there have been accomplishments made by your employees. Fun shows and activities can be arranged at resorts making it even more interesting and inspirational.

• Make sure your employees are well rested

This might seem unimportant but most people fail to understand the importance of sleep and rest. It is quite common to work hard through the night and weekends to meet deadlines. At the end of it, you may meet the deadline, but at the cost of your health. This is the same for your employees as well. How long do you think this would go on? Until you reach the end of the rope? Make no compromises on your health or that of your employees. You can create a better work environment if you give sufficient resting time for your employees; overtime once in a while is alright, but not always.

• Make sure your emotions are on the back burner

It is quite natural to feel all worked up when something goes wrong. Perhaps, it was something wrong with the presentation prepared by your employee, or perhaps it was something else. Tempting though it may be to get emotional and to point fingers, understand that it won’t get you anywhere. Apart from mud slinging and a disgruntled employee, you will have created a lot of negative vibes that will take a long time to go away. So keep your emotions out of it and deal sensibly.

Interesting links about the topic:
Tips To Improve Your Office’s Work Environment
Expert Tips To Build An Healthy Office Environment

Pictures: Flickr.com/ Cydcor | Graham Hills | tec_estromberg | Scott Schiller

The author: Reema Oamkumar is engaged as a thought leader at Software-Developer-India.com which is a part of the YUHIRO Group. YUHIRO is a German-Indian enterprise which provides programmers to IT companies, agencies and IT departments.