Presuming that you, or your staff, don’t work from home, it would be fair to assume that a very large chunk of your life is spent at work. If you have an office job, that’s around 40 hours a week.

That’s close to 25% percent of every year, spent in an office. Therefore, we think it’s important that an office is inspiring, creative and welcoming for those 330+ days a year you’ll populate it.

Here are our suggestions for sprucing up that office creativity:

 

1. Get creative

Creativity is contagious. Four walls, a roof, and a desk don’t scream passion and inspiration, but doing something just that little bit out there can be the golden ticket to perking up your employees. Whether it’s installing a slide like Google, which may be a bit audacious for a quick office refresh, or adding little snippets of creativity, like this meeting room wall, at HootSuite

2. Encourage communication

One thing that modernising an office can do is cut any communication ties. On an hour long lunch break, it can be good to keep yourself company, as a break from a hectic morning, but more often than not, it’s a chance to engage in an informal natter with your colleagues, but how does an employer, or even an office layout, encourage this?

 

  • Ditch the TV’s for mini games

  • Roll in the round tables

  • Encourage staff to eat in the kitchen

  • Sound proof the breakout room, to an extent

 

Ditch the TV’s, you say? Blasphemy! In an hour/45 minute or even half an hour lunch break, there isn’t enough time to get into and enjoy a television programme, and if you do, it’s difficult to get back to work after it. Ditching the TV’s for mini games like Table Football or a mini (Or even full size) pool table will make lunch times and break more enjoyable and more sociable.

As for the round tables – people tend to see a square table with 4 chairs as a very linear 4 capacity space. A round table, on the other hand, has no set seating amount. You can fit a lot more on, in a much more sociable way, as you’re able to see everyone much more clearly.

Photo by Jon Mitchell on Flickr under CC

 

3. The use of colour

An easy way to enforce some branding in your office, whilst making it inspiring is to throw some colour around the place. Paint a wall a different colour. Make the furniture and fittings vibrant and nice to look at. Minimalism really works, for certain places, but a sure fire way to add character is to add colour. See what difference it will make in your office.

Photo from Nick Keppol on Flickr under CC

 

4. Be personal

Allow people to bring in personal items such as family pictures or even their own mug. This isn’t about blurring the lines between home and work, it is about making people act more natural, and be more comfortable which in turn is really good for innovation and creativity.

 

5. Wall size whiteboards

What good is being inspired, if inspiration only lasts as long as a your short term memory allows it to? Wall sized whiteboards are practical, attractive and creative. Jotting down your ideas in a particularly creative way and throwing in the odd doodle for aesthetics sake can really transform an office from a bland room to a bustling box of ideas and personality.

 

What do you have in your office that inspires creativity? We’d love to hear!

 

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