To actually be productive, you have to be in a stable state of mind and stay focused in your work. But that’s not always the case. More often than not, there are little factors that are dragging your work rate and actually hampering your productivity. Some of these factors are discussed in this post.
1. Noise
Putting it bluntly, any unrequired incoherent persistent disturbance can be labeled as a noise. The office machines, chattering co-workers, nearby construction site or trains are the usual suspects when it comes to creating noise inside the office. Though these may sound trivial, studies have shown these noises have serious implications with office productivity.[1]
2. Temperature
Temperature is one of the most overlooked factors when it comes to creating an office environment. So it’s easy to grasp why employees persistently complain about the workplace being too hot or too cold. It’s easy to see the picture; any place that is too hot, too cold or too humid makes the employees feel uncomfortable and reduces their productivity. A study linked warm offices to fewer typing errors and higher productivity of the workers. The results of the study also suggested that raising the temperature to a more comfortable thermal zone saved the employers about $2 per worker, per hour.[2]
3. Light
It is a wide known fact that working in dark interferes with your eyes and decreases your productivity in the long run. But lighting has effects well beyond that: a study conducted by the American Society of Interior Design indicated that 68 percent of employees complain about the lighting situation in their offices.[3] Two of the most common complaints were that the lights in the office were either too dim or too harsh. While selecting lighting arrangements for your office, natural light is the best choice but consider this: an employer’s choice of lighting can have a considerable effect on the productivity of the company.
4. Interruptions
Imagine a situation where an employee is completely immersed in his/her work and out of the blue, a co-worker comes and asks him/her if he/she has a minute and then goes on to ask which color he/she should paint the nursery to? These types of situations are all but frequent in offices. Time magazine estimates that on an average day, the workers are interrupted about 7 times an hour adding up to 56 times per day and more than 80% of time these interruptions result to mundane discussions.[4] Another research suggests that these interruptions are costing the U.S. economy $588 billion a year.[5] Using time tracking software and optimizing employee break times can help alleviate the productivity problems due to inane interruptions.
5. Air
Air is vital to us, yet we tend to overlook its significance. Poor quality air may lead to chronic problems like asthma and bronchitis while minor health problems like headaches, dry throat, runny eyes and respiration problems are frequent. Research from the Technical University of Denmark concluded that poor indoor air quality in buildings can decrease productivity by as much as 6-9 %.[6] The problems do not stop at employees; even visitors tend to express their dissatisfaction if there is lack of fresh air. U.S Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that around $15 is being lost due to poor indoor air quality.[7] Maintaining natural air circulation is the key. You should also strategically set up air conditioners so they can circulate fresh air with minimal amount of foreign particles being mixed in it.
6. Office Anatomy
Remember the mantra: ‘Healthy environment creates happy employees’. Worryingly enough, the opposite is equally true as well. Unhealthy environments create dissatisfied employees. A bad office anatomy plays into the psyche of the workers and creates a mental barrier, which hampers productivity. A neatly maintained office anatomy helps to boost the productivity. Use privacy panels for increasing focus of employees and allow natural lights to flow in through the windows to help the workers concentrate more.
7. Tech Problems
There is an old proverb ‘Time is Money’. Consider the time you’re losing because of small tech problems like your computer crashing or the server going down. These days a majority of companies rely on evolving technologies to increase their efficiency but it’s not always the case. Sometimes working with technology works against your favor, especially if you have little to no experience with it. It wastes a lot of your time with little development. To ensure maximum productivity, experiment with technology that you’re confident you’ll get a hold of.
8. Food
When discussing about office problems, people often tend to completely ignore the problems created by food quality. Employees take snacks during their work time. It helps to fuel their energy levels and helps them stay productive. But not all foods are good for you. A study by Harvard Business Review suggested that misbalance of glucose in sugar is bad for your productivity while consuming too much fat in your food makes you lazy.[8] Consuming healthy snacks at specific intervals improves your digestion and smoothens your metabolic process to ensure you stay focused on your work, helping to increase your productivity. Featured photo credit: Flickr via c2.staticflickr.com
