Monthly Archives : May 2016

Say what you want about the importance of choosing the right office furniture for your company. Even the best chairs and desks can’t curb the effects of bad relationships.

Employees can tolerate Spartan office accommodations, but bad blood and conflict between colleagues are stressors that can push people away from their work. And it’s not just bad relationships. Gossip perpetuates the pain, distance or frustration an employee may be experiencing.

Here’s the good news: Bad relationships don’t have to remain that way. We’ve compiled a list of four tips to help you improve your workplace relationships. These tried-and-true bits of wisdom are a solid foundation for boosting morale. We are, after all, relational beings, right?

A little courtesy goes a long way

For most of us, office relationships are mostly limited to a quick “hello.” Even if we ask “How’s it going?” we don’t’ really expect a genuine response. We expect a reply like “Good, you?”

We’re not saying you need to become the nonstop chit-chatter of the office; nobody likes the person who can’t keep quiet. But we are suggesting, as Tech Republic writer Scott Matteson said in a 2013 article, that you should make an effort to connect with your coworkers.

“Make eye contact and refer to people by name,” Matteson wrote. “This is the oil that keeps the engine of cooperation running smoothly.”

As you know, courtesy is more than just polite conversation and eye contact. One place where a courteous gesture is often lacking is the coffee pot. Either the pot is empty or half-full of stale coffee. And if it’s not one of those two, the pot itself is coated in residue from dozens of brew cycles.

A simple refill or pot cleaning benefits your coffee cravings, but it’s also a nice gesture for your colleagues.

Share the glory

We all hope our bosses see our hard work and reward it; nothing wrong with that. But when we start taking credit for team efforts, our relationships can sour quicker than you can imagine.

Doing so gets at the heart of what most of us want from others: appreciation. We’ve all been in those positions where we work extra hours, solve problems under our own initiative and produce work that’s above and beyond what was expected of us.

In this situation, the last thing you want is a supervisor or team leader taking all the credit. When that happens, your work is cheapened and disrespected.

So, when you have a chance to elevate the work of your colleagues rather than cheapen it, take advantage of the opportunity.

As Kelly Services wrote in a recent article about coworker interactions, “it’s fair to share credit with others who’ve worked on a project with you or who assist you in other ways. Plus, when people feel respected, it helps create better working relationships in the future.”

Focus on clear communication

Have you ever been in one of those meetings where the person leading seems totally unprepared, and what was supposed to be an on-point, 10-minute briefing turns into a 30-minute whirlwind of rabbit trails and wandering thoughts?

Like most people, you probably hated the fact you were wasting time in a meeting rather than working on projects at your desk. Here’s the question: How would you make the meeting go faster?

Our guess is that you’d be more prepared and definitely more focused. And you’re right.

Kelly Services highlights this when they talked about communication in a recent post.

“If you’re going to a meeting or have to give a presentation,” they said. “Note your points and arguments ahead of time and review them shortly before the event.”

Also, think about who you’re talking to when you lead a meeting or have a one-on-one. Personality types (introvert/extrovert) as well as if they’re creative or analytical should influence how you craft what you’re going to say.

Knowing when not to talk shop

As employers look for new ways to build a better team mentality and morale, encouraging employees to mingle outside of work has become more popular.

Company-sponsored events at a pre-determined location or a spontaneous happy hour get-together are two ways employees can build stronger relationships.

The catch here is that it’s pretty tough not to talk about work when you’re hanging out with people from work. But if relationships need to get stronger, complaining about new policies or bad bosses during happy hour isn’t really going to cut it.

Getting around this is as simple as barring work talk from an event. But be savvy here – you don’t want to act like a dictator trying to quash complaints and criticism. You want to create an environment where team members can express their personality in a way that reveals more of who they are outside of work.

Forbes contributor Nicole Liloia put it this way: “Making friends with your co-workers and spending time with them outside of work can also lead to better relationships in the workplace.”

What comes to your mind when you think about the color of an average office?

White? Grey? Maybe the occasional taupe?

It’s not out of the ordinary for traditional offices to feature drab colors on the walls and carpet. The modern movement for open workspaces tend to feature vibrant colors. It’s easy to assume that today’s offices – their reds, greens and blues – are more conducive to productivity, but is that just a feeling or is it science?

We wanted to get the bottom of the question of office color, so we sifted through a few articles and research to come up with a definitive answer. Over the next few minutes, we’ll talk about a study from the University of Texas that offer pretty convincing data about how colors can boost or burden your employees.

The Basics of Color: Why Blue is Different than Orange

Color is a matter of wavelengths. “Wave” should be a familiar term…radio waves, microwaves are just two examples. “Ray” is also a popular word for waves – gamma rays and x-rays fall into this category.

The rays have shorter wavelengths. Think of them like waves in the ocean. Shorter wavelengths are like waves moving toward the beach rapidly with just a few seconds between them. Longer wavelengths are like waves coming to the beach I slow intervals, like maybe one wave every 15 seconds.

Now, let’s bring this around to specific colors. Violet and blue have shorter wavelengths than red and orange, and, for some reason, have a completely different effect on our minds.

That’s right, the color of your office is literally (and scientifically) a mind-altering experience.

Which Colors Help Us Work Better?

Back in 2004, a team of scientists from the University of Texas at Austin observed workers in three different offices. Each office featured a different combination of colors. During the study, researchers recorded their productivity.

You might think that these kinds of studies happen all the time, but up until 2004, they weren’t that common. Here’s what the introduction to the study said: “The importance of environmental effects on employees’ productivity and morale has been suggested, yet very little experimental research on the long-term effects of interior color on workers’ productivity in the office environment has been reported.”

So, to get to the bottom of the color conundrum, they painted one office white, one mostly red and one mostly blue green.

They split the employees into three groups based on how well they could block out distraction. To measure their performance, they had employees check lists of zip codes for errors and perform typing tasks each day for four days.

At the end of the study, they found some interesting things:

• Red room: People who could block out distractions (“high screeners”) got increasingly better at their jobs as compared to those who had a hard time blocking out distractions (“low screeners”).
• White room: Results were very similar to the ones observed in the red room
• Blue-green room: Everyone performed the same, with those who were only mildly distracted (“moderate screeners”) scoring slightly better than their counterparts.

Make sense? We’ll put it another way. The blue-green room seemed to have a calming effect on everyone, no matter how high or low their tolerance was for distractions.

The red room seemed to have a negative effect on workers who were easily distracted, but not so much or employees who can block out distractions while they work.

The white room had a pretty strong effect on the low and moderate screeners – they made significantly more mistakes in checking zip codes or errors than high screeners.

What Does All This Mean for My Office?

Let’s begin by saying we’re not suggesting you have to hire a contractor to come in and repaint your walls a soothing blue-green. However, science says that might not be a bad idea.

And the experts at task management company Taskworld agree. In an infographic that appeared in an Entrepreneur article, they said blue “is universally known for productivity” and is a “stable and calming color that helps workers focus on the task at hand.”

They also give high praise for green, which isn’t a surprise in the context of the study we just looked at.

“Green is a good color for people who work long hours,” they said. “It does not cause fatigue and helps you remain calm and efficient at the same time.”

Red, as you probably guessed, isn’t the best fit for an environment where you’re sitting for long hours. However, “if your job or task involves physical activity” red is a great color because it has been shown to “increase the heart rate, blood flow and also invokes emotion and passion.”

Have you recently changed your office color or worked in an environment where the color seemed to affect employee performance? Tell us about it in the comments section below.