A lot of us have created the idea in our heads that an office can often mean an unhappy place. Think about all the offices you’ve entered. You see desks, computers, busy people talking on the phones or rushing around. It’s hard to implement the idea that this place, really is quite a positive environment.
When you first walk into an office, what’s the first thing that’s going to come to your attention?
Humans are programmed to use their senses when they’re walking into an unfamiliar environment. This means when we first enter a room, our noses are sniffing, our eyes are lurking and our ears are wide open.
To design the perfect atmosphere, you’ve got to design an office that will positively influence most people’s senses.
Starting with looks
Walking into a white walled, paper scattered everywhere office will instantly have the “bored” affect on our eyes. We’re easily bored. In an ideal world there would be fairy lights and rainbows around every corner just to satisfy our bored eyes.
Avoid naked white walls
Put up pictures that represent yourself, or the people in your business. Make it a little more personal and home like.
Make the most of your printer
Consider having a bulletin board where everyone can pin up their favorite quotes on the internet. Quotes inspire people, having a board with inspirational quotes surely won’t cause the bored eyes!
Don’t be afraid of color or texture
We get it – white is modern. The days of daisy wallpaper scattered around our bedrooms are long gone. However you can easily be modern and add something a little out there at the same time. Check out these snaps from our office.
We like to be a little different around here. Color and texture are great at attracting people’s attention. It’ll just make your office a pleasant vibe – like ours!
Onto the smell
This one can be a little harder. After all we don’t all enjoy the same smells.
I mean you either love or hate the smell of petrol, am I right?
Pick a neutral smell to have scattered around your office. We use these Air Wick Diffuser products which you can pick up at your local countdown in NZ! They smell fab and we haven’t had any complaints thus far. Whoop!
People don’t want to sit in an office and smell people’s feet, or the sweat coming from the guy that hit the gym a little hard before work. Cover up these negative vibes with a sweet fragrance that’ll suit everyone in your office. If you’re unsure which option to go with you could even have a little survey people can use to vote! Easy Peasy.
Check out this fragrance survey – makin’ peoples offices smell sweet with a bit of choice too!
Finally we have ears!
Music, oh how I love music. Can we just go over the fact that music makes EVERYONE happy.
Genre however.. We don’t all like the same stuff. This guy likes jazz, this gal likes pop, and that lady likes rock. We’re all different.
What we hear in our ears affects us all differently.
For me – listening to rock music for 8 hours a day could have the potential to drive me straight towards insanity. I mean honestly headache material. I love me a good rock song however moderation is where it’s at.
Now you’re thinking – so how do we satisfy everyone?
Easy Peasy – depending on how you’re playing your sweet beats. You can create a work playlist. Everyone adds their own music, so everyone gets a choice in what’s playing.
Rather than Taylor Swift for 8 hours straight, you could have a little bit of ACDC, Miley Cyrus and even some Jazz goin’ on. Win win!
If you’re lucky enough to live in little ol’ New Zealand I highly recommend you check out a radio station called The Hits. They’re fab for playing all the different genres that will suit everyone.
So there you have it, sweet beats, delicious smells and great views. The perfect atmosphere!