Monthly Archives : May 2015

It’s a well-known fact that different colors influence mood, behavior and feelings. All colors have a psychological affect on everyone, whether you’re aware of it or not. People also make different decisions and choices based on the color of their immediate environment. The colors you choose for your business help with the behavior of your employees and clients alike.

Color choice should play an important role in decorating an office space in particular, because of the impact it has on employee’s productivity rate, interaction with other co-workers and on the general mood of everyone in the work place. There are different ways to play with color tones and accents to get the effect desired, but there is one steadfast rule to remember when decorating; over-use of any one color has a negative, and sometimes, an opposite effect than what was originally desired. That being said, here are some tips on choosing a color for an office to bring about the most positive working environment for your business:

• Strong, bright colors of any shade will energize, whereas the softer shades of pastel will calm and soothe.
• Blue’s and green’s aid in decision-making, and it’s also good for keeping a calm atmosphere.
• Subdued orange and peach create a warm, welcome feeling; a great choice for lobbies and reception areas, but it can create a chatty feeling in a workplace.
• Too much yellow can cause more anxiety in a stressful workplace, but small amounts can increase productivity.
• Using too much red can cause aggressive type feelings.
• Turquoise creates a creative, communicative atmosphere.
• To balance out the effect of any color, use a color that compliments it, i.e., blue with yellow, red with green, etc.

If you place to upgrade your work place with privacy panels or custom extenders, Obex Panel can help you with any color scheme you choose. From custom panels to the many fabrics and colors that are already in stock, Obex will be happy assist you with choosing the right product to satisfy your needs.

To see how Obex can save you time and money with easy-to-install extenders and panels, please feel free to contact us.

This would be a perfect reason to consider installing a table mount in your office space, or several table mounts, if the area calls for it. Some office spaces are certainly larger than others. There are many benefits to adding table mounts, some of which have already been mentioned. In addition, it is a known fact that when people are working in close quarters, they are going to either become very close friends; or they are going to clash. Either way, it doesn’t make for a good office situation, and in turn, decreases overall productivity. If you become friends with the person you are confined with, there will typically be random conversations that have no business entering the office. It may be talk of what happened last night or what shows are all the rage this season. On the other hand, if you clash; then every little detail that’s overheard could be a cause for scrutiny. What’s worse, this could end up costing one or both of your jobs.

If you feel like us here at OBEX, and you know what great things could come from installing table mounts in your office; contact us for more information. We will be happy to assist you with making your office more productive.

While the definition of poor work performance changes, the causes of the performance gap seem to be universal no matter the industry, company, job description, or typical group of people. Some causal factors of low or high performance are employee – centric issues and others are organization issues. These tend to overlap. Most issues are influenced by both the employee and the organization. For example, if Employee A’s manager asks him why he has only been averaging seventy – five phone calls per hour, he could hear one or both of the following reasons:

Example #1: “I am distracted because my wife is due to have a baby. Every time I hear a phone ring I think it is her calling to tell me that she is going to the hospital.”

Example #2: “My coworkers are bothering me. The one on my left keeps laughing really loud and the one on my right asks me a question every few minutes. I can’t concentrate on my own calls with all of these interruptions.”

The first example is an employee issue. His life at home is leaking into his life at work. In other words his work / life balance is off. The organization can do little to help him. He is in control of how distracted he is or is not. Example #2 is an organization issue. Because of the way the office set up its employees right next to each other, and because of the managers’ ineffectiveness to keep his coworkers quiet and train the rookies, he is distracted by factors he can’t control. Because companies have little to no influence on what is happening in the employees’ life that might cause disruptions, they have to focus on the organization’s factors. Below are the top five causes of poor work performance, specifically ones that companies can cause or allow to happen, and therefore they are the ones that can be fixed.

1. Lack of sound privacy. Every worker is unique. Employee A might be productive when there is loud music in the background. That same music might be distracting and annoying to Employee B. Employee A could train himself to hear his coworkers conversations as simple white noise in the background while Employee B can’t help but listen intently to whatever is being said. Additional noises such as tapping on computer keyboards and squeaking chairs are also big distractions. This cause can be fixed with additional partitions and noise-cancelling headphones.

2. Lack of visual privacy. No employees have reported that they like it when someone is looking over their shoulder. Those who have their desks set up right in their manager’s line of sight say that adds additional, unnecessary stress. Managers typically think that their presence makes employees more productive but the result is the exact opposite. Workers are less likely to play online games and surf social media sites when someone can easily see them, but studies show that does not improve work performance.

3. Lack of personal space / Overcrowding. Open office models typically put four to ten people around one table. They each have their own chair, their own computer, and their own basic office supplies like pens, but nothing else belongs to them. They are literally bumping elbows and they do not have the opportunity to make the space their own. No pictures of their kids and their pets, no calendar with quotes from their favorite comedian or politicians, and no jar of their favorite candy. When an employee feels “at home” at work, he works better. Companies need to give employees the opportunity to personalize their space.

4. Inability to control the environment. An employee who is shivering because he is cold, or sweating because he is hot, is an ineffective worker. The same employees need to be able to adjust the curtains or shades on the windows when the sun is getting in their eyes. He needs a chair that can be adjusted up and down, left and right, and is not different the next day because someone else sat in it after he did.

5. Second – guessing, or excessive mistakes due to poor training. A company’s first priority should be making sure that their employees are well trained. That way they will not be interrupting each other with questions, or doing their own work slowly because they are struggling to remember what to do next or how to do it.

In order to get ideal work from their employees, businesses must create the ideal work environments. This goes beyond ensuring occupational health and safety. It goes beyond making sure that the workplace is clean, beyond having water fountains and bathrooms that work, and beyond managerial accountability. With so little influence over an employee’s ability to balance work and life, work must be the focus. Recently big name companies like Google, Facebook, and Square have been praising the open office model. In order to improve managerial accessibility, transparency, and employees’ opportunities to collaborate, their workspaces have done away with enclosed offices and individual cubicles. They have literally taken the walls down between their employees.

Those same employees agree across the board that the open office model does get them more face – time with their coworkers. However, they also report the following negative consequences of it: lack of sound privacy, lack of visual privacy, overcrowded workspaces and an inability to control their personal space / environment. Only twenty five percent, that is one in four workers in the United States, say that they work in the ideal environment for peak job performance. The causes of poor work performance are not a problem for that twenty percent because they have sound privacy, visual privacy, and their workspaces are not overcrowded. Companies must prioritize and invest in creating these ideal environments not only for their employees but for the business at large.

In 1967, two designers, Robert Propst and Herman Miller ventured to improve the privacy and lower the buzzing level of confusing distraction that office workers had been living with. They invented what they called, the “action office.” Recognizing that people are more productive working within their own territorial enclave that they can personalize, the inventers found a way of making walls around desks to provide flexible mini-office spaces.

Propst’s concept was to structure desk space with two or three-sided vertical divisions that defined a territory and provided walls for privacy and without hindering the ability of workers to view and participate with others. These walls were are also entirely flexible and adaptable allowing for multipurpose use. The idea of the “action office” was nearly universally adopted by 2005.

The desk mount allows offices to construct privacy spaces around the structure of individual desks flexibly and without damaging the furniture itself. Desk mounted privacy panels easily attach to the desks themselves using special mounts. They come in a variety of custom colors, frames and fabrics to enhance and match any office décor. The desk mount system quickly transforms open office designs into mini-office space which a person can call their own.

The carrel structure afforded by these desk-mounted panels also provides privacy for study in libraries or special classrooms or test-taking environments. Recent studies have shown that students with certain forms of learning disability function much better within structures defined by carrel spaces that cut off peripheral distraction.

This year marks 45 years since the invention of the “action office.” The concept has revolutionized the work environment of millions of busy offices. OBEX desk mounted panels can improve any open office environment. Please contact us to explore the options we offer.