When you run a small business, you want your workforce to be as productive as possible. After all, you’re paying them to help bring your business forward. Now, there are various things that you can do to ensure that your employees are proactive individuals. A lot of the work lies in the recruitment process. You can interview, receive references, and take a look at potential employees’ previous track record in order to gauge whether they will be a hardworking individual. This is logical. But there are certain aspects of encouraging productivity that lie entirely in your hands as a small business owner and manager. One that we will focus on for now is creating a positive work environment for your staff to work in. Believe it or not, features of the space that employees engage with on a daily basis can have an astounding impact on the quality of work that they produce and their attitude in general. So, if you want to make your office space as positive as possible, read on for a few tips and tricks!

Declutter

Offices can easily become overrun with clutter. Anyone who has ever worked in one will be able to vouch for that. When you combine numerous individuals’ paperwork, stationery, and other essentials, you quickly end up with messy desks and drawers. Now, it’s up to your employees themselves to keep their personal working spaces tidy. Whether they choose to keep their own space clear or not will be down to personal preference. But it’s up to you as a leading figure amongst your workers to keep communal spaces clean and tidy. This could include meeting rooms, storage cupboards, and break rooms. So why is it so important for communal spaces to be neat? Well, studies have found that mess can provoke feelings of stress and irritability, and if your workers are stressed and irritable, their minds aren’t going to be focused on their work. It’s as simple as that! Simple storage solutions could include organizers in drawers, shelves in cupboards and other areas, and filing cabinets. But if you have larger belongings that you need stored off-site, make use of secure local business storage solutions.

Lighting

Now, lighting doesn’t tend to be the first thing to spring to mind when you start to consider productivity. But it can massively impact your worker’s output. Research has shown that the harsh, bright lights that are so often used in many major corporations’ office spaces invoke feelings of stress and depression, while “cool light” can actually trigger productivity and creative thinking. Luckily, natural light is a form of “cool light,” so you’re not going to have to invest in any expensive specialist lighting! Just opt for office spaces that have large windows and ensure that they aren’t blocked by blinds or curtains. It’s as simple as that.

While these are just two methods of instilling a productive vibe into your workspace, they are extremely effective, and both should be seriously considered, as they could create a harder working staff base and significantly boost your profits!