Mental health is a big issue at present. We’re learning as business owners and entrepreneurs, that pushing employees too far can damage them as well as our business. Nobody wins in the game of burnout. That’s why you should do your utmost to try and prevent your employees from becoming fatigued quickly and feeling as if they are being asked to do too much too fast. There are many practical elements to this puzzle and they are the ones that many business owners often overlook. Instilling calm in the office can be done in numerous ways and in a relatively economical manner. A few small changes and you will be surprised at how calm your office feels and the effect this has on your workers.

Two-desk approach

Your employees should never feel like they’re hemmed in and trapped. Office clutter adds to people’s anxiety because there are so many things around you, that you feel as if you’re being bombarded with several different tasks at once. However, employees need to open files and folders in real life. They need to examine printed documents and designs, as well as drawings if you are a creative business. However, if you have a two-desk approach, whereby one is for working and the other is for laying out work, you will have more focussed employees. Their main desk is for typing and doing the tasks, while they can turn to their side and examine different things either for research or references. It clears things up yet gives employees a separate space to be creative.

The acoustic problem

Every office is loud and noisy. When you have many employees in one room, playing music, chewing, typing, clicking, flicking through documents and talking with each other, you will have a somewhat unpleasant cacophony of white noise. Not allowing employees to express themselves is out of the question, far better to manage the noise in a stealthy manner. Take a look at the ecophon acoustic panels designed to control and dampen echos. These panels can be fitted to the walls as decoration in the office or perhaps hung from the ceiling so they’re hardly noticed by employees. The panels have been designed to absorb as much sound as possible, with the aim of killing the echo inside a room. You can feel less vibration when you finish speaking and it localizes noise. You won’t hear what’s going on, on the other side of the room but you can clearly hear things in your personal space.

The tried and tested

An office that looks lifeless usually doesn’t have something living in it as standard. Greenery is the tried and tested way of adding a ‘zen’ atmosphere into an office. Plants and flowers add natural beauty to the office. They calm us down because they remind us of tranquility and the outdoors. When you’re couped up in an office for 8 hours, being reminded of a green open world outside the window is relaxing.

Nobody should walk into your office with dread in their hearts. A professional working space that controls the amount of white noise, offers employees plenty of desk space and has plants growing tall and strong, will bring out the best in your employees.