Monthly Archives : September 2015

Employees will work eight hours a day in their office for five days a week, typically; this is a great portion of their life being spent in a certain workspace with a certain group of people. As a result, an office will organically create its own culture as people with different backgrounds, values, and work ethics dwell in the same company and in the same environment.

If a business is just starting up, it’s important that its culture is carefully designed and guided to benefit all parties included. For businesses already established, it’s even more crucial to begin evaluating and adjusting the already present culture to benefit the business rather than hinder it. The culture we experience in our free time determines everything we do – how we create, how we manage problems, and how we address tasks. An office is no different. For employees to produce at a fast pace, solve problems efficiently, collaborate well, and address the public in a positive light, the culture must encourage the proper traits.

Here is how to determine what office culture fits your business, and how it can boost productivity, morale, and profits.

1. Determine Your Business Type

When beginning this task, you must first evaluate your field, as the culture for each type of business is diverse. Encouraging a culture which better suited for a different business can end up hindering your production rather than help it.

Take a moment and think about the image other companies project to the public. If you were to apply for a job in a law firm, you would come dressed in a suit, presenting yourself professionally to match the professionalism of the business. However, if you apply for a job in a local video game store, you may feel more comfortable attending in casual clothes in your old tennis shoes; dressing simply would be acceptable because the business projects a relaxed atmosphere.

Do you run a “ma and pa,” themed shop selling pastries or other food? Do you run a web design business focused on coding and such? Do you run a graphic design company that specializes in unique and original styles? Decide on the sort of image your business currently projects, or the image many companies in your field project. Then you can decide on the culture which would best suit your office for the greatest results.

2. Determine What Hinders Your Business the Most

If you’ve worked in an office before, then you’ve no doubt encountered a coworker who just “rubbed you wrong.” Perhaps they didn’t reply to emails or messages promptly, instead forcing you to wait hours, if not days, for a response. Perhaps they made a verbal agreement to handle a task and then put it off until it was too late, leaving the repercussions to you. Perhaps they handled their tasks out of order, making the collaboration processes difficult if not impossible for you and other workers.

To determine what traits are beneficial to your business — therefore deciding on the best culture — you must first know what traits to avoid. Is a lack of communication slowing down production? Is an employee’s unwillingness to collaborate making the products low quality? Evaluate these current or possible issues and think of how they can be reversed. In doing this, you can encourage an office culture which values prompt communication to boost production, reliability to create trust among employees and boosting collaboration, or a strong work ethic to elevate the quality of your services or products.

Now that you have decided what you don’t want, you can focus on what you do want.

 3. Determine the Traits Most Necessary to Your Business

Different businesses require different specialties and strengths. For a business which manages others’ funds or important data, having an office system which is focused, efficient, and nearly automated is an important strength. For an artistic business in the entertainment field, originality and creativity is a crucial strength. These strengths would not compliment the opposite style of business, so determine what traits would be most necessary for your office.

For example, in an artistic business, a great deal of collaboration may be needed to produce the most original products or services. In order to achieve this, it’s important for employees to feel comfortable and secure in voicing their opinions and trying out new techniques. It’s common for bosses or even other employees to act rash and angry if they are presented with bad news or a form of failure, but what does this encourage? It encourages employees to keep their mouth shut – who wants to be yelled at for an idea that is generally good but undeveloped? In a creative industry, the ability to freely discuss themes and ideas is key. By regarding each other with patience and an open mind, it encourages all the workers involved to speak up and try new things – which could lead to a unique and profitable creation.

However, in more technical fields where a single process is followed and repeated, it’s important to be strict. Technical businesses that deal with valuable information or resources hanging in the balance may be unable to afford a creative mistake that leads to great loss. The strength in this business would tip towards strong communication, as technical tasks require information to be transmitted regularly and efficiently. The office culture which would best benefit this style of business should encourage employees to communicate promptly to ensure information is up-to-date, rather than discovering a crisis once it has already unfolded. Additionally, an employee’s ability to work independently and solve immediate problems is important to avoid disaster.

Evaluate your business and what it needs most to run efficiently; then encourage these traits in your employees.

Rather than allowing the organic creation of an office culture to hinder your business, or bring it to a chaotic stop, evaluate what traits should be encouraged. Then you can create an office culture which boosts the success of the employees and the business as a whole.

New techniques, tools, and methods for boosting employee productivity are being discussed, argued, and decided on every day. One tool in particular is being hailed as an effective method of helping employees avoid distractions, feel more comfortable in their work environment, and work harder – producing work that is fast, efficient, and quality. The tool in question is privacy panels; compact and often stylish boards that make each individual desk into a working office without the impersonal look of a cubicle.

Here are five ways that privacy panels can make employees work harder, work better, and work happier:

1. Less Visual Distraction

No matter your working style, the human mind is designed to pick up and respond to movement in our area, even if it has nothing to do with you. Some argue this is an engrained cultural habit brought on by many flashy billboards, colorful screens, and constant entertainment, while others say it is a primal trait designed to keep us alert to predators or nearby danger. No matter the origin of this habit, as a worker, you’ll naturally be distracted by a coworker rising to copy a paper, retrieve a cup of coffee, or signal to another coworker. Although there’s very little entertainment value in these visual distractions and your coworker is probably not a tiger is disguise, trying to keep your attention on your work with these little disruptions is difficult.

The quality and speed of your work production relies on your ability to focus and build momentum, completing more tasks at a faster rate. By installing privacy panels around your desk, you are able to block out these little things catching the corners of your eyes and focus solely on your working tasks. This will boost productivity as well as the quality of work you can create.

2. Less Noise Distraction

While privacy panels mainly serve as a visual block, they also block a certain amount of sound. Although you won’t be spared the noise of a coworker shouting across the office to signal another employee, the small clicking of fellow keyboards, your coworker gathering together their paperwork, or the shifting of chairs on the floor will be canceled out. So if a coworker seems to be taking out their passive aggression on their innocent keyboard one annoying clank at a time, a privacy panel can dull this distraction – if not eliminate it entirely. This may seem like a small advantage, but your ability to block out all forms of distraction to focus your mind on your work will make a significant different in your productivity.

3. A Sense of Privacy

Privacy panels serve to seclude you and your desk away from the rest of the office, and by doing so, make you feel secluded in your personal area. With this new solitude, you can focus on your tasks and complete projects, knowing that there will not be a curious coworker glancing over at your computer screen or a bored intern wanting to watch you work.

Additionally, privacy panels serve as a visual barrier between you and your coworkers, encouraging them to leave you to your work, rather than disturb you. You are less likely to enter your boss’s office if the door is shut, and this same instinct will be placed on fellow coworkers with the panel’s advantage. When you settle down at your desk for the day, having this block tells them that you’re not to be disturbed. This can prevent a bored employee from deciding to stop by for a chat when you have a deadline, or a well-meaning coworker interrupting you with matters that could be handled at another time. This allows you to focus for longer periods and complete more.

With this peace of mind of knowing you have reliable privacy, you can shut off that portion of your mind that expects to be distracted at any moment. This reserve — similar to the mental trait that makes your eyes sharp to catch sight of a stalking tiger — ends up becoming a distraction of its own, and a privacy panel eliminates the issue.

4. Customized Work Space

Privacy panels, though minimal, serve as a set of walls between you and your coworker’s office space – creating a small and efficient “office” of your own. With this new privacy and sense of ownership, you can feel free to add personal decorations to your area without fear of disturbing other workers. These personal touches are known for boosting productivity, as they make workers feel more comfortable in their space; this confidence allows them to think creativity and concentrate on their work. These decorations can vary from family photos on their desk to large cat posters on the panels to a range of hanging lights or trinkets.

This also serves the rest of the office, as these little accessories are hidden from view and do not provide distraction for other workers. Perhaps your coworker has that trademark “Hang in There,” cat poster that grates on your nerves; there’s no need to suffer the sight of that every work day. Each employee will have the ability to customize their own personal office space, and not be distracted by each other’s additions.

5. Wall Space

Privacy panels, in addition to serving as stand-in walls for customization, can also serve as wall space for work-enhancing objects. You can place corkboards on the panels to schedule out the day’s work or place important reminders, or charts which gauge the progress and tasks of a recent project. Additionally, the barrier allows employees to place file cabinets near their desks without degrading the look or style of the office as a whole. Then they can store important files, objects, and tools to continue their work without having to pause and retrieve these items from another location.

This simple addition to any office space can make an employee’s work day more productive and far more enjoyable, benefitting the business and the workforce combined.