3 Steps to Boost the Energy in Your Workspace

Do you want to maximize workplace performance? Foster an overall sense of community?

Energy is key to a collaborative and balanced office. High energy leads to happier and more productive employees – the right environment increases retention, stimulation, and ultimately success.

 In 2016, for example, the Mayo Clinic sent a select group of employees to a specially designed workspace. They then scientifically gathered and analyzed their reactions to everything, including environmental factors like piped-in noises, fluctuating temperatures, and variable desk heights. This experiment provides critical insight into what real-world employees need to perform at a higher level without compromising their well-being or their health.

 A true active workspace provides enough variety to satisfy everyone’s needs without taking a bite out of workflow. And all of this renders that energy that the most attractive (and active) workspaces seem to have.

Here are 3 steps to begin this journey for your own workspace:

1. Be open to trying new things. At VARIDESK, we constantly experiment and make changes. The worst that can happen is that we go back to an old system after a week or two. Never stay locked into believing that what works for your team today will work tomorrow. The definition of collaboration and what it takes to balance a work culture will inevitably evolve as your employees change (through age, generational values, job roles, interests, relationships, etc.). See collaboration and balance through their eyes, because what works for your employees today may be different tomorrow.
2. Know your employees. We’re a vibrant company, and we have a younger demographic than many corporations that may be older or have wider scopes. But what’s good for our employees isn’t necessarily good for all organizational cultures. We know this, so we don’t try to imitate anyone else, and neither should you. Culture should grow naturally. The key is understanding and acknowledging who your people are and what they need to thrive. Ultimately, you’re trying to play sociologist by making small tweaks to the environment that maximize productivity. Whether it’s through scent machines, a social committee, or the environment that you’re putting people in, it’s all intrinsic to business, because your people are the main driver.
3. Don’t get stuck on one iteration. It’s not realistic to think you’ll be able to enter the office one day and say, “We finally have the perfect environment with the perfect energy. Time to stop worrying about it.”Achieving a collaborative/balanced culture is a dynamic and ongoing journey, during which every worker has a voice and plays a part. And if you have a movement-centric, flexible, and simple work environment, you have tremendous elasticity to keep striving for better performance as a team.

Every organization can become a place where employees can’t wait to dive into each day’s work without giving up their humanity, health, creativity, or mental well-being. Because every organization can (and should) create an active workspace — one where movement, flexibility, simplicity, and a collaborative/balanced culture aren’t just pipe dreams, but rather a manifestation that makes your business the best it can be on all fronts.

How are you growing the energy in your workspace?