Improving your office environment?
Discussion
NinjaPower said:
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 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.
All of that, and natural light.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.
Best thing though is nice people to work with, if you don't have that, nothing will help.
Oh the good old days......
NinjaPower said:
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. Machines removed at staff request - what ? No we didnt ask for this. Oh they've replaced the free machines with a costa franchise with presumably a kick back to the company and had to remove the machines as part of the contract
Water coolers. A mains fed tap dispensing cooled filtered water - this one they got right
Decent lighting and ventilation. Oh we are 'green' so we have a 'smart building' much better than aircon
. Except its hot and sweaty in summer and stuffy in winter. Horrible place to work people try to avoid going in.
Letting people put up Christmas lights and tacky decorations. Email comes round reminding us that we are not allowed to put up decorations due to Health & Safety and also to avoid upsetting the non christians. No christmas party or celebrations. This is the HQ of the fun police
Don't have a 'hot desk' or 'clean desk' policy... I don't care what anyone says, those things just piss people off. aha lets have hotdesks for only 50% of the workforce then sit back and enjoy the melee first thing every morning. Losers of the desk wars get to sit in the coffee shop all day on hard chairs
Make sure everyone has a decent chair - offices are notorious for everyone having st chairs. This one they got right. Great chairs and plenty of them. Unless you lose the early morning desk war and are stuck in the coffee shop all day
Don't put up crappy motivational posters or company slogans on the wall. We have more sinister ones in the toilets warning us about people overhearing us and stealing our ideas
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. We apparently have dress down Friday. But no one really goes into the office on Friday so I cant confirm if this is true
Plants are good in an office. Especially the dead ones......
Noise levels - noise is fatiguing - if it's getting too noisy then install those acoustic panels between desks. We arent allowed those and it can get very very noisy. There used to be pods dotted around that had a desk and chair where you could go to shut out the noise, but they have been removed. I have been known to go outside and sit in the car to get away from the noise and also to run the aircon and cool down for a bit.
Having said that it cant be that noisy as we have a few sofas dotted around and its not uncommon to find a woman (yes its always a woman) laid down on one under a blanket having a nice snooze. I love the fact that they come prepared for this with a blanket !
Free tea and coffee available. Machines removed at staff request - what ? No we didnt ask for this. Oh they've replaced the free machines with a costa franchise with presumably a kick back to the company and had to remove the machines as part of the contract
Water coolers. A mains fed tap dispensing cooled filtered water - this one they got right
Decent lighting and ventilation. Oh we are 'green' so we have a 'smart building' much better than aircon
. Except its hot and sweaty in summer and stuffy in winter. Horrible place to work people try to avoid going in. Letting people put up Christmas lights and tacky decorations. Email comes round reminding us that we are not allowed to put up decorations due to Health & Safety and also to avoid upsetting the non christians. No christmas party or celebrations. This is the HQ of the fun police
Don't have a 'hot desk' or 'clean desk' policy... I don't care what anyone says, those things just piss people off. aha lets have hotdesks for only 50% of the workforce then sit back and enjoy the melee first thing every morning. Losers of the desk wars get to sit in the coffee shop all day on hard chairs
Make sure everyone has a decent chair - offices are notorious for everyone having s
t chairs. This one they got right. Great chairs and plenty of them. Unless you lose the early morning desk war and are stuck in the coffee shop all dayDon't put up crappy motivational posters or company slogans on the wall. We have more sinister ones in the toilets warning us about people overhearing us and stealing our ideas
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. We apparently have dress down Friday. But no one really goes into the office on Friday so I cant confirm if this is true
Plants are good in an office. Especially the dead ones......
Noise levels - noise is fatiguing - if it's getting too noisy then install those acoustic panels between desks. We arent allowed those and it can get very very noisy. There used to be pods dotted around that had a desk and chair where you could go to shut out the noise, but they have been removed. I have been known to go outside and sit in the car to get away from the noise and also to run the aircon and cool down for a bit.
Having said that it cant be that noisy as we have a few sofas dotted around and its not uncommon to find a woman (yes its always a woman) laid down on one under a blanket having a nice snooze. I love the fact that they come prepared for this with a blanket !
Edited by Dodsy on Friday 26th June 08:03
Dodsy said:
Oh the good old days......
That sounds just like one of my customer's offices in North Bristol.NinjaPower said:
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. Machines removed at staff request - what ? No we didnt ask for this. Oh they've replaced the free machines with a costa franchise with presumably a kick back to the company and had to remove the machines as part of the contract
Water coolers. A mains fed tap dispensing cooled filtered water - this one they got right
Decent lighting and ventilation. Oh we are 'green' so we have a 'smart building' much better than aircon. Except its hot and sweaty in summer and stuffy in winter. Horrible place to work people try to avoid going in.
Letting people put up Christmas lights and tacky decorations. Email comes round reminding us that we are not allowed to put up decorations due to Health & Safety and also to avoid upsetting the non christians. No christmas party or celebrations. This is the HQ of the fun police
Don't have a 'hot desk' or 'clean desk' policy... I don't care what anyone says, those things just piss people off. aha lets have hotdesks for only 50% of the workforce then sit back and enjoy the melee first thing every morning. Losers of the desk wars get to sit in the coffee shop all day on hard chairs
Make sure everyone has a decent chair - offices are notorious for everyone having st chairs. This one they got right. Great chairs and plenty of them. Unless you lose the early morning desk war and are stuck in the coffee shop all day
Don't put up crappy motivational posters or company slogans on the wall. We have more sinister ones in the toilets warning us about people overhearing us and stealing our ideas
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. We apparently have dress down Friday. But no one really goes into the office on Friday so I cant confirm if this is true
Plants are good in an office. Especially the dead ones......
Noise levels - noise is fatiguing - if it's getting too noisy then install those acoustic panels between desks. We arent allowed those and it can get very very noisy. There used to be pods dotted around that had a desk and chair where you could go to shut out the noise, but they have been removed. I have been known to go outside and sit in the car to get away from the noise and also to run the aircon and cool down for a bit.
Having said that it cant be that noisy as we have a few sofas dotted around and its not uncommon to find a woman (yes its always a woman) laid down on one under a blanket having a nice snooze. I love the fact that they come prepared for this with a blanket !
Free tea and coffee available. Machines removed at staff request - what ? No we didnt ask for this. Oh they've replaced the free machines with a costa franchise with presumably a kick back to the company and had to remove the machines as part of the contract
Water coolers. A mains fed tap dispensing cooled filtered water - this one they got right
Decent lighting and ventilation. Oh we are 'green' so we have a 'smart building' much better than aircon
. Except its hot and sweaty in summer and stuffy in winter. Horrible place to work people try to avoid going in. Letting people put up Christmas lights and tacky decorations. Email comes round reminding us that we are not allowed to put up decorations due to Health & Safety and also to avoid upsetting the non christians. No christmas party or celebrations. This is the HQ of the fun police
Don't have a 'hot desk' or 'clean desk' policy... I don't care what anyone says, those things just piss people off. aha lets have hotdesks for only 50% of the workforce then sit back and enjoy the melee first thing every morning. Losers of the desk wars get to sit in the coffee shop all day on hard chairs
Make sure everyone has a decent chair - offices are notorious for everyone having s
t chairs. This one they got right. Great chairs and plenty of them. Unless you lose the early morning desk war and are stuck in the coffee shop all dayDon't put up crappy motivational posters or company slogans on the wall. We have more sinister ones in the toilets warning us about people overhearing us and stealing our ideas
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. We apparently have dress down Friday. But no one really goes into the office on Friday so I cant confirm if this is true
Plants are good in an office. Especially the dead ones......
Noise levels - noise is fatiguing - if it's getting too noisy then install those acoustic panels between desks. We arent allowed those and it can get very very noisy. There used to be pods dotted around that had a desk and chair where you could go to shut out the noise, but they have been removed. I have been known to go outside and sit in the car to get away from the noise and also to run the aircon and cool down for a bit.
Having said that it cant be that noisy as we have a few sofas dotted around and its not uncommon to find a woman (yes its always a woman) laid down on one under a blanket having a nice snooze. I love the fact that they come prepared for this with a blanket !
Edited by Dodsy on Friday 26th June 08:03
northwest monkey said:
Also, don't put artificial plants in without a big sign saying "Artificial Plants - DO NOT WATER" as someone might spend 3 months watering them leading to stinking stagnant water in the office.
Do what our place did and get *real* plants in. And then wonder why the office workers are confused about the person turning up once a week to water and dust them. I wasn't one of those workers. Not I.I suggest not hiring an ex-NHS office manager. Our office manager left recently and has been replaced with one of the aforementioned.
The whole office (several hundred here) are ready to begin a dirty protest. If he's reading this, removing staplers and calculators from a window ledge each evening, and having us traipse downstairs each morning to go retrieve it from security in no way improves our productivity!
The whole office (several hundred here) are ready to begin a dirty protest. If he's reading this, removing staplers and calculators from a window ledge each evening, and having us traipse downstairs each morning to go retrieve it from security in no way improves our productivity!
NinjaPower said:
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...
Well, he worked in London and had his fair share of holidays..... Edited by NinjaPower on Thursday 25th June 21:58
As for the air con - oh yes, I think we pretty much had one of the "support" guys set up a tent on our floor, because it was too hot, no too cold, no wait too hot, hang on it's too cold.......... What was amusing was it was about 6 different ladies on three different desks who would ring up each time......... Because of the way the venting worked. I solved in on my desk by swapping sides with the female on the team so she was no longer near the output of the air con.....
ETA - I should note she had the last laugh really because being under the air con vent is great for being cool in the office, I think had about a two year cold, could never get rid of the f***er. Until I moved desks.....
One place I worked had 'Cake Club' - One person each week would volunteer to make cake for the rest of the team, and at 4:30 on Friday, we'd down tools and have half an hour in the kitchen to eat cake. It got quite competitive; a bunch of guys taking baking very seriously and some really very nice food. To be a member of cake club you had to volunteer at least once every few weeks - the guy that ran it kept a spreadsheet and would remind you if you weren't contributing.
The trouble with a lot of these things is if they feel forced, it's a complete wind up. Spontaneous 'lets go out for lunch' events feel much better (even if they happen every week on the same day) than some company dictat that 'On Fridays you must go and eat out'. For that matter food always seems contentious. There's always someone who doesn't like the cuisine, someone who doesn't want to pay, someone who's on a diet, or someone who makes a meal of splitting a bill.
The trouble with a lot of these things is if they feel forced, it's a complete wind up. Spontaneous 'lets go out for lunch' events feel much better (even if they happen every week on the same day) than some company dictat that 'On Fridays you must go and eat out'. For that matter food always seems contentious. There's always someone who doesn't like the cuisine, someone who doesn't want to pay, someone who's on a diet, or someone who makes a meal of splitting a bill.
Pool table
Table tennis
Table football
Big screen chill area with huge beanbags and Xbox etc
Outdoor BBQ area with beers for those working late or post work staff meetings
Decent IT/Internet
Airy bright with decent colour scheme
Decent desks and furniture
Regular incentives and pissing about whilst getting the job done
An atmosphere that's fun which comes down to people and environment
Nothing wrong with company logos and messages if combined with the above, remind people they are at work
Free snacks and drinks
Fridges, microwaves etc
Background music, not loud but silence is quite st.
I'm a fking awesome boss 
Table tennis
Table football
Big screen chill area with huge beanbags and Xbox etc
Outdoor BBQ area with beers for those working late or post work staff meetings
Decent IT/Internet
Airy bright with decent colour scheme
Decent desks and furniture
Regular incentives and pissing about whilst getting the job done
An atmosphere that's fun which comes down to people and environment
Nothing wrong with company logos and messages if combined with the above, remind people they are at work
Free snacks and drinks
Fridges, microwaves etc
Background music, not loud but silence is quite s
t.I'm a f
king awesome boss I think you should get the basics right. Temperature / Noise / Equipment
Equipment is the easiest. Make sure everyone's computer equipment is relatively up to date. Get a desk assessment done by someone who knows what they are doing and the be the correct desks and chairs etc
Get the air con sorted and put diffuses on the outlets. Ours always gets turned off by the people in direct firing line of the arctic blast.
Noise is tricky, some people hate silence, some need it. Background music can be fking annoying. In our office we let people put headphones in if they want. I use them all the time.
Once that is done you can worry about the fun items
Equipment is the easiest. Make sure everyone's computer equipment is relatively up to date. Get a desk assessment done by someone who knows what they are doing and the be the correct desks and chairs etc
Get the air con sorted and put diffuses on the outlets. Ours always gets turned off by the people in direct firing line of the arctic blast.
Noise is tricky, some people hate silence, some need it. Background music can be f
king annoying. In our office we let people put headphones in if they want. I use them all the time.Once that is done you can worry about the fun items
jkh112 said:
Dodsy said:
Oh the good old days......
That sounds just like one of my customer's offices in North Bristol.NinjaPower said:
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. Machines removed at staff request - what ? No we didnt ask for this. Oh they've replaced the free machines with a costa franchise with presumably a kick back to the company and had to remove the machines as part of the contract
Water coolers. A mains fed tap dispensing cooled filtered water - this one they got right
Decent lighting and ventilation. Oh we are 'green' so we have a 'smart building' much better than aircon. Except its hot and sweaty in summer and stuffy in winter. Horrible place to work people try to avoid going in.
Letting people put up Christmas lights and tacky decorations. Email comes round reminding us that we are not allowed to put up decorations due to Health & Safety and also to avoid upsetting the non christians. No christmas party or celebrations. This is the HQ of the fun police
Don't have a 'hot desk' or 'clean desk' policy... I don't care what anyone says, those things just piss people off. aha lets have hotdesks for only 50% of the workforce then sit back and enjoy the melee first thing every morning. Losers of the desk wars get to sit in the coffee shop all day on hard chairs
Make sure everyone has a decent chair - offices are notorious for everyone having st chairs. This one they got right. Great chairs and plenty of them. Unless you lose the early morning desk war and are stuck in the coffee shop all day
Don't put up crappy motivational posters or company slogans on the wall. We have more sinister ones in the toilets warning us about people overhearing us and stealing our ideas
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. We apparently have dress down Friday. But no one really goes into the office on Friday so I cant confirm if this is true
Plants are good in an office. Especially the dead ones......
Noise levels - noise is fatiguing - if it's getting too noisy then install those acoustic panels between desks. We arent allowed those and it can get very very noisy. There used to be pods dotted around that had a desk and chair where you could go to shut out the noise, but they have been removed. I have been known to go outside and sit in the car to get away from the noise and also to run the aircon and cool down for a bit.
Having said that it cant be that noisy as we have a few sofas dotted around and its not uncommon to find a woman (yes its always a woman) laid down on one under a blanket having a nice snooze. I love the fact that they come prepared for this with a blanket !
Free tea and coffee available. Machines removed at staff request - what ? No we didnt ask for this. Oh they've replaced the free machines with a costa franchise with presumably a kick back to the company and had to remove the machines as part of the contract
Water coolers. A mains fed tap dispensing cooled filtered water - this one they got right
Decent lighting and ventilation. Oh we are 'green' so we have a 'smart building' much better than aircon
. Except its hot and sweaty in summer and stuffy in winter. Horrible place to work people try to avoid going in. Letting people put up Christmas lights and tacky decorations. Email comes round reminding us that we are not allowed to put up decorations due to Health & Safety and also to avoid upsetting the non christians. No christmas party or celebrations. This is the HQ of the fun police
Don't have a 'hot desk' or 'clean desk' policy... I don't care what anyone says, those things just piss people off. aha lets have hotdesks for only 50% of the workforce then sit back and enjoy the melee first thing every morning. Losers of the desk wars get to sit in the coffee shop all day on hard chairs
Make sure everyone has a decent chair - offices are notorious for everyone having s
t chairs. This one they got right. Great chairs and plenty of them. Unless you lose the early morning desk war and are stuck in the coffee shop all dayDon't put up crappy motivational posters or company slogans on the wall. We have more sinister ones in the toilets warning us about people overhearing us and stealing our ideas
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. We apparently have dress down Friday. But no one really goes into the office on Friday so I cant confirm if this is true
Plants are good in an office. Especially the dead ones......
Noise levels - noise is fatiguing - if it's getting too noisy then install those acoustic panels between desks. We arent allowed those and it can get very very noisy. There used to be pods dotted around that had a desk and chair where you could go to shut out the noise, but they have been removed. I have been known to go outside and sit in the car to get away from the noise and also to run the aircon and cool down for a bit.
Having said that it cant be that noisy as we have a few sofas dotted around and its not uncommon to find a woman (yes its always a woman) laid down on one under a blanket having a nice snooze. I love the fact that they come prepared for this with a blanket !
Edited by Dodsy on Friday 26th June 08:03
Here X, complete this survey about how you sit at your desk.
- Completes survey*
- phone rings* Hi this is occupational health, we are worried about your survey results, we'd like to move you to a permanent desk and get you XYZ.
No.
Is the laptop stand, million pound chair, funky mouse and spinning things portable?
No.
As an agile worker what can you do for me?
- click*
NinjaPower said:
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...
Yeah, I used to feel sorry for them based on that reputation. Until I tried working, while being a contractor without paid holiday, with a US organisation who were never around because of Federal, State or various other other categories of holidays.devnull said:
I improved my office environment by working from home.
It might sound like a sarcastic comment, but it's true!
The coffee is good, no disturbance, quiet when it needs to be, I can crank music when I need it, NO OFFICE POLITICS and there's a lady here who seems to like me.
You may be in there... sod political correctness, make a pass at her!!!It might sound like a sarcastic comment, but it's true!
The coffee is good, no disturbance, quiet when it needs to be, I can crank music when I need it, NO OFFICE POLITICS and there's a lady here who seems to like me.
Greg_D said:
devnull said:
I improved my office environment by working from home.
It might sound like a sarcastic comment, but it's true!
The coffee is good, no disturbance, quiet when it needs to be, I can crank music when I need it, NO OFFICE POLITICS and there's a lady here who seems to like me.
You may be in there... sod political correctness, make a pass at her!!!It might sound like a sarcastic comment, but it's true!
The coffee is good, no disturbance, quiet when it needs to be, I can crank music when I need it, NO OFFICE POLITICS and there's a lady here who seems to like me.
Just don't do it when your wife is home too.
devnull said:
I improved my office environment by working from home.
It might sound like a sarcastic comment, but it's true!
The coffee is good, no disturbance, quiet when it needs to be, I can crank music when I need it, NO OFFICE POLITICS and there's a lady here who seems to like me.
I've done this since about 2003, my patience is wearing thin on it now though. It's great to not have a commute, to be able to fall into my study / spare bedroom and do calls in my kecks n'all, but I've got a bit of cabin fever going on, and need to find ways to get out of the house and interact with people during the day. It doesnt help we moved out to the country and it's half an hour into town, so I'm looking at office space on one of the local business parks to see if there's any cheap units there I can get a desk in. It might sound like a sarcastic comment, but it's true!
The coffee is good, no disturbance, quiet when it needs to be, I can crank music when I need it, NO OFFICE POLITICS and there's a lady here who seems to like me.
Council Baby said:
Pool table
Table tennis
Table football
Big screen chill area with huge beanbags and Xbox etc
Outdoor BBQ area with beers for those working late or post work staff meetings
Decent IT/Internet
Airy bright with decent colour scheme
Decent desks and furniture
Regular incentives and pissing about whilst getting the job done
An atmosphere that's fun which comes down to people and environment
Nothing wrong with company logos and messages if combined with the above, remind people they are at work
Free snacks and drinks
Fridges, microwaves etc
Background music, not loud but silence is quite st.
I'm a fking awesome boss
Well that covers the college teens but how do you lure in your more mature victims?Table tennis
Table football
Big screen chill area with huge beanbags and Xbox etc
Outdoor BBQ area with beers for those working late or post work staff meetings
Decent IT/Internet
Airy bright with decent colour scheme
Decent desks and furniture
Regular incentives and pissing about whilst getting the job done
An atmosphere that's fun which comes down to people and environment
Nothing wrong with company logos and messages if combined with the above, remind people they are at work
Free snacks and drinks
Fridges, microwaves etc
Background music, not loud but silence is quite s
t.I'm a f
king awesome boss Have a number of TVs with live news feeds from your industry and maybe some tuned to a financial news channel. The news flow is good, keeps your guys up to date, in the loop and makes work more involving.
If you have sales volumes, have live sales volumes feeds by salesperson / country / product line / etc, very nice effect to ensure competitiveness within the office.
Keep things intense, get things sold, pay everyone a nice big bonus to celebrate at the end of the year.
If you have sales volumes, have live sales volumes feeds by salesperson / country / product line / etc, very nice effect to ensure competitiveness within the office.
Keep things intense, get things sold, pay everyone a nice big bonus to celebrate at the end of the year.
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