4 Ways To Create The Perfect Work Environment – MyDeal.com.au

By Alan J. McDonald

The perfect work environment is created not only through aesthetics, but also ensuring clear internal policies to create a safe working environment.

McDonald Murholme Senior Associate, Bianca Mazzarella talks to mydeal.com.au about the importance of transparency and a safe working environment.

See below article for more information.

4 Ways To Create The Perfect Work Environment 

There are endless factors that can create the perfect work environment. Depending on whether you work at home or you work in a packed office, your work should help you feel motivated, inspired and get the job done faster. Of course it’s tricky, but there are several ways you can create the perfect work environment, and here are a few tips to achieve it.

Make Your Office Different

Whether you’re the boss or the employee, it’s imperative that your workspace makes you want to actually do work. Repetition in office spaces can become tiresome, and can in turn cause damage to your work ethic.

Steve Schmidt from BRM Projects offers his advice for those who would like to make their office stand out from the crowd.

“BRM Projects is dedicated to creating functional and thoughtful spaces…uniting design and accommodation strategy to encourage cohesive workplace cultures that ultimately drive growth and success. We are constantly asked what makes for the best environment – one that is comfortable, productive and promotes collaboration and innovation.”

Before you begin planning your office space, you should consider the acronym NOTICED.

Maria Pomella from Get Noticed Digital Agency helps break down this acronym for us. “Before I even opened the doors I established the values which are: NOTICED

• No nonsense:we don’t talk business clichés, but realistic strategies that work
• Original:this reminds us to be authentic and stay true to what we believe in.
• Transparent:We are always transparent with our partners. A successful business is first built from trust.
• Inspiring:We find inspiration in different angles of life and love to share that with you.
• Creative:Creativity is at the heart of everything we do.
• Effort:There’s no job ever too big or too small. We put 120% effort in every task to deliver your results.
• Different:the secret to get noticed? Be different and stand out.”

Grand Design

Designing the perfect office can be tough, but there are a few ways you can keep your workflow up and also make the space stylish. Colours that are known to increase creative thinking include orange; colours that are known to improve focus levels are blue and orange; green is an ideal colour for those who like to work long hours.

If you’re hoping to create an environment of workers who put a bit of extra effort in, why not introduce some artificial grass to an area of the office? Sounds weird, but plant life is an essential office tool to create a lively, hard working environment. The pros of artificial grass are that it’s low maintenance and offers a different texture for your employees to enjoy underfoot.

Another huge point to keep in mind is how comfortable your employees are. Opt for furniture that is comfy over stylish, because no matter how pretty an office chair is, if you can’t sit in it for long, there won’t be much work done.

Open Plan or Private Office?

A huge trend in work spaces have been open plan spaces. The Google offices around the globe have been seen with bright colours, napping pods and even slides. This office is one of the most iconic open plan offices and has inspired offices from all over the globe to follow in their footsteps. How do open plan offices affect those how work there, though?

Leah Lambart from Relaunch Me offers her advice for those who are considering an open plan office space.

“Creating the perfect work environment is very much dependent on personality and what type of environment suits you best. Extroverts tend to prefer to work in an open-plan office where there is activity, energy and noise. They find it difficult to work in a quiet environment without the background noise and stimulation.”

“Introverts don’t often work well in a fast-paced, noisy environment and usually prefer to work in their own office or at home where they are free from disruptions and noise. For some individuals who are more compassionate and empathetic in nature, their work environment needs to be very supportive and friendly in nature. They need great relationships with their colleagues and manager to be happy at work.”

“For other people who are more analytical and task-focused, their happiness at work depends on working in an environment with competent and reliable colleagues and concrete evidence for decision-making. They want fair policies and procedures and for people to be held accountable. Finding the right work environment is very important to ensure longevity in a role. In many cases, people are unhappy at work, not because of the role, but rather that the work environment does not suit their personality.”

If you’re planning on keeping your office private, it’s important to keep it feeling fresh and open.

Maggie Georgopoulos, from Mag Inspires, has the perfect advice for those who need help designing their private office.

“Fresh, light and airy which enables people to work at a workstation which suits their needs, ie: Swiss ball seats or standing desks if need be. Access to healthy food, exercise encouraged and most importantly open and meaningful conversations around mental health so that people are comfortable sharing as needed.”

The Big Picture

A huge factor to remember when creating the perfect work environment is those who are around you. Bianca Mazzarella from employment lawyers, McDonald Murholme, offers advice for those who are creating the ideal office environment.

“In order to try to achieve a happy working environment, employers must first recognise that they have a statutory obligation to provide a safe workplace to their employees.”

“By creating a safe working environment that encourages communication, transparency and support, employees are likely to work more productively and inclusively with others.

“This can be achieved by employers adopting clear policies and procedures that clearly state that an employee’s privacy will be maintained when discussing sensitive issues and concerns with management.”

“In circumstances where an employer takes adverse action against an employee for exercising a workplace right, such as raising concerns of safety, bullying or discrimination, a claim may be available for the employee to make under general protection provisions detailed in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).”

The perfect office environment can be hard to create, so it’s important to factor in every aspect, as well as every employee that will be sharing the space. Take into consideration not only style, but practicality and the job at hand. You can find a balance if you combine all three. 

Reference: ”4 Ways you can create the perfect work environment’, mydeal.com.au, 10th July 2017, https://www.mydeal.com.au/blog/post/the-perfect-work-space.