Improving your office environment?
Discussion
Wondered if I could get some ideas of things people/workplaces have done to improve the working environment?
Everyone gets along so I'm not coming at this from that angle, simply that the office is a little stale and static - I don't think we're likely to get table football and chairs that look like grass but any suggestions on those low cost "why didn't I think of that?" things would be great
Everyone gets along so I'm not coming at this from that angle, simply that the office is a little stale and static - I don't think we're likely to get table football and chairs that look like grass but any suggestions on those low cost "why didn't I think of that?" things would be great
Place I worked at about once a month they'd call an ice cream van in and everyone got a freebie
Friday at 3 would be beer o clock for half an hour, bottle of your choice, soft drinks available
Usual table football etc - however when there were redundancies it always seemed to be the table football players and smokers who were out the door first
Friday at 3 would be beer o clock for half an hour, bottle of your choice, soft drinks available
Usual table football etc - however when there were redundancies it always seemed to be the table football players and smokers who were out the door first
Please, whatever you do, dont consider inspirational words vinyl'd to the walls. Company I used to work for decided they'd sign up 'Commitment' 'Satisfaction' and 'Quality'
It was massively patronizing and smelled s
tty, like you werent doing your job properly and these things were standing over you reminding you about it
It was massively patronizing and smelled s
tty, like you werent doing your job properly and these things were standing over you reminding you about it In my last place of work I barricaded myself into a corner with acoustic partitions, brought in my own desk and chair and generally tried to keep my head down and not get involved. I wasn't happy there, but it helped until I left.
Current place of work is fine, the people are ok and put up with me, the only improvement would be to fix the leaky roof.
Current place of work is fine, the people are ok and put up with me, the only improvement would be to fix the leaky roof.
LivingTheDream said:
Leafspring said:
Where I work we shut up shop and go for an extended pub lunch on staff birthdays
Awesome!! Get to about 400 employees and every week is guaranteed to be a great week 
) so that's twelve pub trips a year... around April/May mainlyLeafspring said:
LivingTheDream said:
Leafspring said:
Where I work we shut up shop and go for an extended pub lunch on staff birthdays
Awesome!! Get to about 400 employees and every week is guaranteed to be a great week ) so that's twelve pub trips a year... around April/May mainlyPresumably you go on the Friday before if a birthday falls at a weekend/ bank holiday? Mine falls on a May bank holiday and to start the weekend with an extended Friday pub lunch would be perfect!!
Loads of (real) plants. Release oxygen into the air during the day and take in carbon dioxide, look for low light ones such as peace lillys and parlour palms which do ok in office environments. Got 3 plants on my desk, going to get more, make my own little rain forest Might set up a fish tank too.
Might set up a fish tank too.I think a decent office environment is about making sure the small things are all in place, which in turn add up to people enjoying working there:
Free tea and coffee available.
Water coolers.
Decent lighting and ventilation.
Letting people put up Christmas lights and tacky decorations.
Don't have a 'hot desk' or 'clean desk' policy... I don't care what anyone says, those things just piss people off.
Make sure everyone has a decent chair - offices are notorious for everyone having st chairs.
Don't put up crappy motivational posters or company slogans on the wall.
If the staff in your office don't meet the public or have to meet other businesses regularly, consider having a casual dress code - comfortable employees are more productive.
Plants are good in an office.
Noise levels - noise is fatiguing - if it's getting too noisy then install those acoustic panels between desks.
Free tea and coffee available.
Water coolers.
Decent lighting and ventilation.
Letting people put up Christmas lights and tacky decorations.
Don't have a 'hot desk' or 'clean desk' policy... I don't care what anyone says, those things just piss people off.
Make sure everyone has a decent chair - offices are notorious for everyone having s
t chairs.Don't put up crappy motivational posters or company slogans on the wall.
If the staff in your office don't meet the public or have to meet other businesses regularly, consider having a casual dress code - comfortable employees are more productive.
Plants are good in an office.
Noise levels - noise is fatiguing - if it's getting too noisy then install those acoustic panels between desks.
I had an American boss once. This meant that Friday afternoon might involve
1. Him getting a little stress ball thing, throwing it at people and shouting "catch".....
2. Him ordering in a load of beer for people to enjoy
3. Him order a load of pizza for people to enjoy
4. Him saying "It's hot, causal dress next week guys"
1. Him getting a little stress ball thing, throwing it at people and shouting "catch".....
2. Him ordering in a load of beer for people to enjoy
3. Him order a load of pizza for people to enjoy
4. Him saying "It's hot, causal dress next week guys"
Jasandjules said:
I had an American boss once. This meant that Friday afternoon might involve
1. Him getting a little stress ball thing, throwing it at people and shouting "catch".....
2. Him ordering in a load of beer for people to enjoy
3. Him order a load of pizza for people to enjoy
4. Him saying "It's hot, causal dress next week guys"
I'm fairly certain that most Americans would trade those minor perks for actually being allowed to go on paid holiday leave with their families for more than 1-2 weeks a year...1. Him getting a little stress ball thing, throwing it at people and shouting "catch".....
2. Him ordering in a load of beer for people to enjoy
3. Him order a load of pizza for people to enjoy
4. Him saying "It's hot, causal dress next week guys"
Edited by NinjaPower on Thursday 25th June 21:58
Chlamydia said:
Air-conditioning is nice, we have it but we also have women in the office so it gets turned off almost as soon as it comes on as it's "too cold".
Oh Jesus... Please don't get me started on this...It's an absolute f
king nightmare.I work in an relatively large office of around 220 people, most of which is a really large open plan room and side offices for more important types like me
When I used to sit out in the 'general population' to use a prison term, it was absolute torture. The women moaned about the air con all the sodding time during the summer.
During winter it was fine as the system shut down and the radiators kicked in, just leaving the ventilation fans, but once the weather starts to warm up, it auto-switches to the chiller units, and blows cool air.
They kicked up such a fuss that we kept having to have service technicians come in and look at it as "it wasn't working properly".
I was talking to one of the engineers, and he said it's the same everywhere, women complaining about air con, and went on to point out a simple fact: The AC/heating system is set to 20c not matter what the time of year, and all year round men wear the same clothes all year round, shoes, socks, trousers, shirts. But in summer, the women start wearing sandles, vest tops, and generally much lighter clothing. Then they complain about being freezing cold in the office
Oh, and then you always get the fat middle aged women who complain about being 'roasting' all year round and constantly have a desk fan blasting.
Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff