The outbreak of COVID-19 has meant that more people than ever before are working remote.

As employees begin to return to the office, businesses must ensure their health and safety. This includes reducing the risk of infection by keeping spaces clean and ensuring people keep six feet apart.

Your office furniture and design can be a huge help or hindrance. Make sure that you have the best office furniture to keep employees safe, healthy, productive, and comfortable.

Desks and Workstations

Desks and workstations are crucial in any office. This is probably where your employees will spend the majority of their day and will be most productive.

As employees return to work, allocate specific desks to individuals. If you stop people from sharing space and surfaces, you reduce the risk of spreading infection.

Consider using singular desks or workstations that only one person sits at. Alternatively, invest in larger shared work stations, so that people can sit further apart from each other.

Partitions Between Desks

One way to keep employees safe is to install partitions or plexiglass between workstations. This will act as a physical barrier, helping to prevent the spread of infection amongst colleagues.

Comfortable Chairs

It is important that employees have comfortable and supportive chairs, especially as employees will likely be spending more time at their workstations than before. There will be fewer in-person meetings, and people may feel reluctant to move about the office as freely as they once did.

Cabinets or Drawers

Encourage employees to adopt a clean desk policy. All nonessential items are placed in cabinets or drawers nearby at the end of the day.

This makes it much easier to completely sanitize work stations at the beginning and end of every day.

Screens and Speakers

To reduce the spread of COVID-19, some employees may continue to work from home, either part-time or full time. Internal and external face-to-face meetings are also expected to reduce. This means that virtual meetings and collaboration will increase drastically.

Installing large screens and speakers may be a worthwhile investment for your company. This equipment should be compatible with your computer or mobile device. This would make it easier to see, hear, and communicate with colleagues, clients, and contacts who meet with you virtually.

Conference Room Tables

Conference rooms are likely to be underused. In-person meetings and conferences will be smaller, as more people work remotely and fewer people can share space while maintaining a safe distance.

Maximize the space that you have by investing in larger conference room tables. That way, you will be able to use most of the conference room space available, and safely seat employees six feet apart from each other.

Or, turn unused conference rooms into personal office space. Wall systems allow you to turn an open space into smaller spaces through a few glass partitions. When you’re ready to go back to business as usual, they’re easy to remove.

The Best Office Furniture for Social Distancing

The COVID-19 pandemic will have a long-term effect on our lives, including the way we work. As we all adapt, invest in the best office furniture to ensure that your employees remain safe and productive as they return to the office.

While redesigning your office space for social distancing, take a look at some of the ways to improve your office environment, and boost productivity.

Everyone needs to take a break now and then. Give your employees a space to do that.

If you don’t know what a wellness room is, you’re not the only one. But, as we learn more and more about mental health and the benefits of positivity in the workplace, they’re going to become the norm.

In this post, we’ll be talking about how you can set up an office wellness room that will give your company culture a well needed shot in the arm. Your employees will appreciate it and we’re sure that you’ll appreciate what it can do for productivity, so let’s get started.

What Is a Wellness Room?

A wellness room is different than a break room. In a break room, you’d have a few chairs and a table to eat at, a fridge, a microwave, and maybe a water cooler. It’s a place to sit and eat while you stare at your phone for 30 minutes.

Wellness rooms are designed for employees to take a quick break from their day to do whatever they need to do to get right. Work can get stressful and if you’re prone to anxiety and depression, it’ll exasperate their effects. That’s not the only reason to have a wellness room, however.

The wellness room can serve as a place for prayer, meditation, and yoga. It’s a place for new mothers to go when they need to pump. It can also be a place for personal phone calls or just a place to sit and think for a while.

Creating a Great Wellness Room

Since there’s no singular definition for what a wellness room needs to function as you don’t need to go in any one direction with how you construct it. Most offices that have them just repurpose an unused room or closet and furnish it accordingly.

What you put in your wellness room will be dictated by the type of company you run and what kind of personalities you have on your team. If you’re creating a space for your employees to rest and recharge during the work day, you should keep the features dark and add comfy chairs.

Try to keep technology to a minimum. The idea isn’t to get distracted in the wellness room, it’s more to function as a space to pop into quickly when you need a moment to yourself.

Instead, focus your energy on finding art and artifacts that set the tone. Things like candles, wall art, and speakers to play some relaxing music will help your employees chill out, regardless of why they’re in the wellness room.

Your goal should be to create a place that makes your employees happy and also happy to work at a company that cares about their well-being. There are no rules when it comes to wellness rooms, so poll your workers and find out what they need.

The Importance of Wellness

No one wants to work in a place that stresses them out, but it’s going to happen every now and then. Regardless of the person, their mental state, and what’s going on at work, everyone needs a moment to reflect during the day.

Putting a wellness room in your office will help your employees get through the day just a little bit more engaged. When your employees are happy and engaged, productivity will rise. You’ll see.

To read more about how to optimize your office, check out Workspace Solutions.

Does it seem like everyone at the office is feeling the winter blues? The good news is that winter is almost over! On the other hand, there’s still a good chunk of it left. If you’re struggling to stay productive at work lately, it is possible to get over the dreary plateau. Here’s how to be more productive at work for the remainder of winter!

Reorganize the Work Setting

Is the office currently littered with piles of paper, old coffee cups, and stacked folders? It’s not just the snow and overcast skies that has everyone in a slump! An untidy, cluttered workspace can hinder everyone’s productivity. So, the first order of business is to get rid of all the clutter and tidy up. Not only will it clear your headspace and make you feel better. Tidying up can actually make you more social. Plus, you’ll get a better idea of which office supplies and resources you’re low on.

While you’re at it, reorganize the entire office. Changing around the office layout will make for a fresh atmosphere. Even an open workspace can engage your team more and make for great collaborative energy.

You can incorporate office tools that boost productivity, too.

Long hours in front of the computer can lead to neck and back pain. The cold weather doesn’t help. Standing desks could be something you introduce to help your team feel better.

Give the Office a Fresh Coat of Paint

If you’re going to spend a weekend reorganizing the office layout, why not add a splash of color while you’re at it? The color of your office can have an effect on your productivity. The overcast winter skies certainly aren’t helping. But even beige and white offices make for bad productivity in spring and summer.

Calming blues and soft greens can help your team stay productive. Incorporate these colors around people’s desks.

You don’t have to paint the entire office over, either. Add a blue or green accent wall. You could even add a soft yellow accent wall in a conference room for a creativity boost.

Make the Office Cozier with Lighting & Warmth

In the winter, there’s less daylight, which can make people feel sleepy and less productive. The colder temperatures can also disrupt your concentration. If you’re wondering how to be more focused, change the lighting in the office.

Turn down irksome, headache-stirring fluorescent lighting. Use daylight lamps instead. These lamps produce lighting that’s similar to natural daylight. They’re softer than fluorescent lighting and they can help fight seasonal depression.

Area rugs in the office can add warmth and a cozier feel. Give your employees fleece blankets to wrap themselves in. Provide hot beverages and soup on freezing days.

Promote Health & Wellness

It’s no secret that cold and flu viruses ran rampant in the winter. When people aren’t feeling well, their productivity takes the hit. Encourage your employees to take sick days and long weekends to recuperate. You can even designate a resting area and encourage your team to take power naps.

Offer healthy snacks and fruit smoothies packed with vitamins. You can also encourage yoga stretching and team exercises during breaks. The endorphin boost can do wonders for everyone’s productivity.

Stay Productive This Winter and All Year Long

Winter is almost over… but there’s still plenty of time for the winter blues to wreak havoc on your office productivity. Don’t wait around for warmer weather and sunnier skies to arrive. By working in these ideas, you can zap the winter blues now and help your team stay productive.

Are you still wondering how to be more productive at work? Bad posture may have something to with the current slump! Learn more about ergonomy and how it can boost your productivity.

How does your office prevent slips, trips, and falls? What about equipment and tool accidents? Every office has hazards; even if you have the best health and safety training around. The key is knowing how to predict problems and prevent them. Although workplace accidents happen far too often, 99 percent of them are preventable, you can keep your office safer by knowing how to prevent these accidents.

Keep reading for four office safety tips you need to know.

1. Check Your Electrical Cords

Office fires occur when devices aren’t turned off or cords aren’t maintained. You can prevent these hazards by checking on your electrical equipment regularly. Either you or your health and safety coordinator should inspect all cords. Many offices use extension cords when plugs are few and far between.

Extension cords can easily start a fire if they’re placed under carpets. Or, if they’re connected to too many different devices. Check that the outlets are working and not causing shocks. Don’t put too many plugs into extension cords. Unplug all electrical devices for when the office isn’t open, like on the weekends.

2. Declutter Space

Slips, trips, and falls occur when the office is messy. Clutter in the walkways, cubicles, and open spaces is a hazard. By having a disorganized office, you’re asking for accidents to happen. Make an effort to keep your office clean. Walkways need to be clear. Encourage your employees to put away boxes when they’re done with them.

It’s especially important not to let clutter pile up near fire exits. Evacuation routes need to be clear at all times.

3. Don’t Rush

The pressure to complete all the tasks you need done causes employees to rush. When they’re rushing, they aren’t paying attention to safety hazards around them. This is when they might trip over a box or slice their hand open with a letter-opener.

You need to create a calm yet productive atmosphere in the office. Work is important, but nothing’s more important than your employees’ safety.

4. Use Caution Signs

Your office should already have safety hazard signs ready for use. For example, caution signs for wet floors are common for office staff rooms. Drinks spill and make the floor slippery. Make sure your office has plenty of hazard signs for different situations.

If there’s a bookshelf that has boxes on the tallest shelf, employees must beware of falling objects. Open drawers of filing cabinets can cause trips. Place signs to remind employees of their safety, like “look up” and “please close drawers”.

Want More Office Safety Tips?

Accidents happen, especially in the workplace. But, the majority of them are preventable. It’s the employer’s job to make sure the office is safe from potential accidents. Follow the office safety tips above to accident-proof your office. Encourage your employees to take workplace safety seriously. Place their safety above productivity.

It’s also important to make sure your office’s layout can prevent accidents. Use comfortable and ergonomic furniture and keep walkways clear. If you follow these tips you’re bound to see a decrease in workplace accidents.

Does your office space need an infusion of life and energy? Office desk plants are a classic method for improving a workplace environment. Along with looking nice, plants actually have several scientifically supported benefits for indoor spaces.

Here are 5 of the incredible benefits that desk plants can bring to your office.

Relieve Stress

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of desk plants is the potential for stress relief. Several studies have shown that employees in offices with plants have reduced levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Plants contribute to stress relief in a variety of ways. One way is through color. Cool colors such as green are known to produce a calming effect in the brain.

Certain plants also provide aromatherapy. Some species such as lavender or lemon balm give off scents that can relax employees.

Improve Air Quality and Reduce Sickness

Working inside an enclosed space like an office is bound to lead to sickness. Pollutants, germs, and other harmful particles in the air can get trapped and continue circulating. Luckily, plants serve as natural air filters. Studies show that plants are great at removing air pollutants. Plants also remove carbon dioxide and replace it with more oxygen.

Better air quality means your employees will have to take sick days less often and generally be healthier. A 2015 study showed that natural elements can improve well being by 15%.

Boost Productivity and Energy

An office full of plants tends to be a more productive work environment. The stress reduction helps employees concentrate more on their work. The better air quality and improved health means your workers are in the office and doing their jobs more consistently.

The lower levels of CO2, higher levels of oxygen, and pops of bright color will also give your employees more energy. With less drowsy eyes and more brain power, your employees can do better work faster.

Plants also help to dampen and reduce noise throughout the office. For those who need some peace and quiet to work, plants are a big help.

Stimulate Creativity

Plants and nature in general, as shown by several studies, can increase the production of new ideas and creativity. Some speculate the creativity boost comes from instincts carried over from the hunter/gatherer stage of humanity, as greenery meant food and shelter.

The vibrant color green and some of the other colors seen on flowers and plants might also provide a creative spark.

Impress Office Visitors

Office plants simply make your office look nice. It brightens a room, adds a pop of color, and shows you care about the design of your office. An eye-catching workspace leaves a good impression for visitors. This can include clients and partners, job candidates, and even media members. That means desk plants can help you nail down some extra sales, hire great workers, and maybe get some positive PR.

Improve Your Office With Desk Plants

With so many proven benefits, desk plants should be a staple in every office.

To learn more about improving your workspace, check out our blog.

We’ve heard of offices with sleep pods, ping pong tables, or even beer kegs on tap. It’s a dream to work in a place like that, but we’re not all so lucky.

While we’re working towards an awesome office for our employees, we have to make do with a regular office. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there is one big way you could be sabotaging your workforce and not even know it. If you have an office with no windows, you’re doing damage to yourself and your employees. Offices with natural light have tons of benefits, from improving employees’ blood pressure, communication, and more.

Once you hear about the benefits of natural light, you’re going to want to change things around. Keep reading to discover how natural life will improve your company.

Better Sleep

Natural light makes a big difference in people’s life. The simple answer is that it’s an important part of our biology. Almost all organisms have a circadian rhythm. This tells you when to wake up and when to go to sleep. Working in an office with no windows disrupts this natural sense of time.

With access to natural light, your employees’ natural rhythm works perfectly. Better sleep leads to more alert, productive employees.

Happier Employees

Studies have shown that your body’s production of vitamin D has positive effects on your mood. There are a few ways you can get vitamin D. Eating fish, mushrooms, and eggs are a few foods that help stimulate the production of vitamin D. However, the easiest way to stimulate vitamin D production is with sunshine. The natural light exposure from windows or natural lighting lamps will make your employees feel happy to be at work. That’s a big plus!

Increase Alertness

Your employees are sleeping better and they’re feeling happy. Naturally, their alertness will improve. Daylight helps your workers focus up. A bit of sunshine stimulates their creativity, too. Imagine it – no more endless coffee runs or misfired emails. Communication will improve, work will flow, and your company will run like a well-oiled machine.

Physical Benefits of Natural Light

You and your employees are well-rested, happy, and alert. Beyond those benefits, you’ll see a lot of positive physical changes, too. Employees with access to natural light have lower blood pressure. Their BMI numbers improve. With natural light, there’s a decrease in headaches and eye strain brought on by fluorescent lighting and computer screens.

What Can You Do If You Work In An Office With No Windows?

If you have to work in an office with no windows until you get your dream office, what can you do? Bring in some natural lighting lamps so that there’s some natural light in the office. Look for an office with similar rent and in a good location that has some windows.

If possible, treat your employees to a few healthy office indulgences. It can be anything from a standing desk to painting the walls a more uplifting color.

Want some ideas as to what you can do to improve your office? Talk to one of our designers today!

Working in a loud and distracting office can be hard for any employee. When it comes to limiting office noise there are a few things employers can consider when designing their office spaces. From flooring choices, to having separate collaborative spaces, to allowing noise-canceling headphones, employers can help their staff focus.

Keep reading if you’d like to learn more!

1. Choose the Right Flooring

When designing your open office space there are a few things to consider before adding some desks and cubicles. For one thing, you have to choose the right kind of flooring.

Hard flooring may be aesthetically pleasing, but it does very little to cancel out distracting noises that may soon fill your space. When considering flooring, investigate your vinyl flooring options.

Luxury vinyl tile will give you the aesthetic you may want without sacrificing the quiet you desire.

2. Noise Canceling Headphones

Sometimes focusing on work can be a difficult thing in an open concept office. Employees may want to invest in a set of noise-canceling headphones. This gives staff the freedom to choose how much noise and interaction they may want to subject themselves too. This is especially handy for those who have no say in how an office is arranged.

Many headphone sets are wireless now, making them excellent additions to a standing desk or a mobile employee who may not like a traditional desk set-up. Prices range for most models. While they are definitely not cheap, they can be a worthwhile investment.

3. Separate Meeting Spaces

Going back to designing your office space, it’s essential to make sure your meeting rooms and conference spaces are separate from the main office floor.

Separating the rooms that will hold meetings and large groups of people multiple times a week is a great way to limit office sounds. Products like nxtwall’s demountalbe walls give you the ability to add rooms in open spaces. They’re also flexible and can be removed and reused elsewhere when your needs change.

These rooms will be the space where you discuss your company’s future. Giving it an elegant touch will do wonders in promoting your business. These spaces will also be welcoming to your staff, which allows them to meet in a quiet space without bothering their co-workers.

4. Adding Some Textiles to Your Office Space

It’s not a bad idea to invest in some curtains and other textile features in your office space. Textiles will do wonders in decreasing the noise in your office. When designing your office, consider separating sections of your open floor plan with curtains. The fabric will buffer the noise coming from your desk spaces and will give employees quiet spaces they can go to when distractions are too much.

5. Add Some Ambient Noise to Cancel Annoying Office Noise

While it’s not a good idea to play music in your office space, adding some ambient noise to the background will definitely not hurt.

Having continuous low-level sound will not distract and will actually increase focus. Consider investing in a white noise machine or finding a soundtrack full of nature sounds. Playing this quietly throughout your space will greatly decrease the distracting noises people may focus on while working.

Make Your Office Space a Zen and Calming Space

When it comes to canceling office noise, there are a few things you can do. Most of it comes down to careful designing and considerate decorating. Consider your furniture choices when you are designing your space. If you would like a professional opinion, contact us!

Are you concerned that the back pain your employees are dealing with is costing your company time, money, and productivity? Do you feel like your employees lack focus, get tired more quickly, or just seem unhappy due to the back pain caused by their desk job?

If so, you’re more right than you might want to be. Not only do the consequences of back pain from sitting require employees to take a total of about 12 days off of work, but the complications from back pain at work can end up costing your company a whopping $13,000 in productivity losses in a single year.

As a company, you should be doing everything that you can to stop back pain at work. In this post, we’ll tell you how to help your team to make it happen.

1. Get Better Office Furniture

One of the main culprits of office back pain may be your office furniture. You should invest in pieces that have the proper ergonomic design, as well as the back support and even cushions that your team needs to stay comfortable.

You also should ensure that the height of your desks and computers are at employee eye level to prevent straining and having to tilt their head upward or downward to view their screen.

You should also look into desk chairs that can be easily adjusted according to the needs of each individual.

2. Limit Screen Time

The average employee sits in front of their computer for over 5 and a half hours every day. Sitting is one of the main reasons why so many people experience computer back pain.

While sometimes, getting away from the computer for long periods of time isn’t possible, it’s up to you to do all you can to limit screen time. Encourage your employees to look up from their screens for a minimum of five minutes every hour. If possible, move meetings outside to ensure they get a break. And, discourage them from taking lunch at their desk.

This won’t just help to limit computer neck, it will also help to mitigate the impact of sitting on the heart, overall back pain, and even obesity levels.

3. Create a Corporate Wellness Program

If you want to get serious about stopping back pain at work, you may need to start a corporate wellness program. This can include things like better health coverage and chiropractic visits for your team members.

You may also want to look into things like bringing a masseuse into the office or even gifting your employees back massage gift cards after a stressful week.

You could even implement a company-wide yoga program or look into the cost of getting a gym installed in your building. Or, start doing a five-minute stretch break once every two hours. This isn’t just healthy, it’s also tons of fun!

When you prove to your team that you care about their health, they won’t just feel better. They’ll also want to work harder for you.

Stop Back Pain at Work With the Right Furniture

We hope this post has helped you to learn how to stop back pain at work.

In addition to helping you to find the best furniture, we can also create the ideal workspace for productivity and general employee comfort.

Spend some time on our website to learn more about what we offer and reach out when you’re ready to get started.