April 2nd 2022
In today’s business world, innovation and creativity are at the forefront. Companies rely on their employees to collaborate, bounce around ideas and be at their creative best every single day. This can be impacted by a number of different factors, such as a boring work environment which can stifle that innovation.
We believe that the work environment can have a huge impact on the creativity of your employees. So, we’re going to outline some of our best tips for ensuring no good idea goes to waste in today’s fast-paced business world, and what you can do to create that sought-after highly effective and creative work environment.
The Impact of Office Design
Humans are more inclined to be inspired by visuals. You’ll need to create an environment that promotes creativity and collaboration. Whether it’s the eye-catching art on the walls, decorative objects around the office or even photos from home, you should try to cultivate a space that allows your employees’ creative juices to flow.
Consider lighting and how it can affect the office mood, invest in standing desks to promote freedom of movement, and even place plants around the office to help the space breathe more easily. All of these things can help to bring comfort to your employees, allowing them to focus on each of their tasks at hand with their entire creative brain.
Ensure Comfort
Beautiful surroundings are almost useless if, when sitting at a desk, your employees are uncomfortable. Invest in high-quality chairs and desks with enough space to combat this issue. We’ve all had the awful experience of sitting in a chair that begins to hurt after a while, and you don’t want your employees to suffer in silence. What about dress code? Are there steps you can take to eradicate the suit jacket or high heels, and allow for a more relaxed work attire?
It’s not just physical comfort that we suggest improving though, you should also focus your efforts on providing a warm and welcoming atmosphere in your office. Comfortable workers, both physically and emotionally, will always produce better ideas. Allow space in your office for sufficient movement throughout designated areas, such as break-rooms, meeting areas and free-seating areas to help contribute to overall positivity and a more creative work environment.
Ideation and Brainstorming
Ensuring creativity at work means continuous collaboration and ideation. You as a business should be able to provide all the necessary tools that your employees need to work together successfully. You could promote the use of instant messaging platforms such as Slack to give people more ways to keep in touch in real time.
Also consider setting up company initiatives to drive innovation, by creating spaces within your office where people can gather and bounce ideas off of each other. Brainstorming areas are fantastic ways to bring new ideas to light and give everyone a voice. No suggestion should be off limits, and all contributions are valid. Provide mobile whiteboards (harkening back to school days) to document these ideas and drive forward the thinking of the group.
Individuality and Uniqueness
Every human is different. This is where you should start when striving for a creative work environment. People can approach tasks in different ways and still achieve the same end goal. This is one of the best things about employing people from a range of backgrounds and expertise.
Find out what makes your team tick, what their overall company goals are, and hold meetings in an open forum to discuss ideas with regard to the company. Surveys and questionnaires are great tools to utilise to examine the health of your business.
This allows you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your team, and what you can do to inspire each employee and pull the best out of them. Allow them to self-improve through collaboration or pair people up so they can learn from one another. There’s a plethora of things you can do to ensure maximum capacity creativity.
Stimulating Creativity
Creativity is a fickle beast. It comes and goes without a second thought. It can also strike at the most opportune moments and greatness can quickly ensue. This is why you need to pay close attention to how your employees feel, so you can adapt their work environment to suit their needs.
You can stimulate creativity by ensuring a number of factors are taken into account in your space, from the lighting, temperature, noise levels to even the colour of the office. Conduct an employee survey, finding out what they like and don’t like in their surroundings, and when they feel at their creative best to find the best solution for your business.
Create Purpose and Communicate Your Values
Employees need direction and will be looking for you to give it to them as a business. To create a highly creative work environment, you’ll need to communicate as best you can what the values and goals of the company are. How do they fit into all this?
Clear messaging from the very top will give employees more purpose and drive to get the job done, with all of them on a mission set by ground control. With everyone on the same page, it will help to enhance bonds both with each other and to the company’s vision. Keep them in the loop at all times.
Take on Ideas from Employees
In a creative work environment, taking on ideas and adapting on the fly should be a regular strategy. Your employees are the people on the ground getting the work done, so allowing them to be heard will only further enhance the bond they have with the company as a whole.
Set up regular company-wide meetings (or feedback sessions) in which any grievances can be aired without punishment, and suggestions on how to better do things can surface. If good ideas are put forward, make sure to act on them. It will improve the overall health of your business and build a lasting trust with your workforce.
Hiring Talent
Last, but very much not least, you should be hiring a diverse range of people from different backgrounds, ages and expertise. We’re not saying you should be filling a quota here at all but broadening your talent-base will open up the floor to a flood of interesting and achievable ideas. The best creative thinking comes from the collaboration of diversity.
When looking to take on new talent, look at CVs or résumés that include skills from areas that you feel your business currently lacks, and could benefit your team, rather than employing someone that simply ‘fits the mould’ on paper.
You should also consider the option of recruiting and hiring remotely, as this can speed up your hiring process, and find talent that’s much farther away, but fits the bill perfectly for what your company needs.
Creating a highly creative work environment is easy if you try to follow some of the steps we’ve outlined for you here today. From celebrating individuality to understanding the impact of design and comfort in the office itself.
If your current office isn’t quite up to your standards, or you’re looking for more space to accommodate your employees, head over and take a look at out serviced offices or our managed office spaces today, and see what we have available in your area!
