As working individuals, I am sure many of us are going through or have gone through some of the most stressful working environment while we were employees at any company.
A stressful working environment not only consists of the everyday tasks that you have to do or the multiple deadlines which come up at once but also the physical conditions of your workplace matter.
If you are working in a confined space where you can hardly move around or your colleagues have a habit of interrupting you while you are working on an important report. All of these contribute to raising your stress levels while you are working which will ultimately affect your behavior and performance.
Many companies now understand this issue and use different methods to create a more relaxing environment for their employees so that the employees are motivated which will ultimately increase their productivity.
Some of the ways include hiring a psychologist to take care of the mental well-being of an employee or a television rental so that employees can get entertained during their spare time. In any case, if you are looking for ways to create a relaxing environment in your workplace, here are some of the things that you can do.
Ways To Create A Relaxing Environment At The Workplace:
Here are the below ways to create a relaxing environment at the workplace. Have a check.
1) Encourage A Healthy Lifestyle:
It has been proven without a doubt, that a healthy individual is more satisfied than his ill counterpart. There is no need to spend too much time on work and encourage your employees to maintain their work-life balance. You can also introduce exercise classes within your office such as a yoga class after work so that the employees can relax a little bit before they go off to their homes.
Doing such things will not only make your employees more relaxed but will also help them to know their colleagues better which would help them to develop a positive relationship with them.
In any case, if you have to ask your employees to sit extra hours for work reasons, there should be a proper rotation policy enforced so that the same individuals do not have to sacrifice their time which they could have spent with their family. Perhaps the best advantage of promoting a healthy lifestyle is that it will play a role in increasing the productivity of the employees.
2) Be Approachable:
If you are working at an upper management level, you should be looking for ways to improve the productivity of your subordinates. Many people are going through issues that ultimately hurt their performance at work. You should encourage your employees to approach you if anything is bothering them that you can solve.
Perhaps a colleague is constantly interrupting them which affects their concentration level. In any case, make sure that you listen to your employees and give them positive reinforcements when necessary. Every employee is encouraged to perform well if he feels that his suggestions are valued and there is clear transparency within the hierarchy of the company.
As a manager, if you involve your staff in the decision making as well, they will value it and will naturally create a positive work environment where you can relax a bit so that your productivity levels are not decreased.
3) Have A Dedicated Team:
The reason why some companies are successful today is not mainly due to the upper management of the company. These companies also spend a lot of time finding the right type of employees for the job so that they can take the company forward in the coming years.
If you are in the hiring team, you should ensure that your new employees are professional and can work in teams without putting their interests first. Doing this is necessary since if you hire an employee who has a toxic nature, he will likely infect those colleagues who work around him which will ultimately create a toxic work environment for anyone newly joining the firm.
As a manager, the interest of your company and your employees come before the interest of that toxic individual so you should never feel ashamed of firing such employees who have a negative influence on the work environment. There have been several cases where the workplace environment has improved significantly when such individuals were let go and the productivity levels increased simultaneously as well.
4) Offer Training:
Employees might be stressed during work because they are sometimes given goals to achieve which are beyond their skill levels. You will also have employees working for you who would like to increase their skill level apart from gaining knowledge so that they can progress up the corporate ladder.
If a company provides adequate training opportunities to develop their skills, it will likely create a relaxing environment for them and they will have a good relationship with the company along with their colleagues. Such employees also prefer to stay with the company and help the company to achieve its long term goals. The training can vary from offering on-the-job training or giving time time-off to take courses which will mostly vary from company to company.
Many companies offer training to address common workplace issues such as harassment or domestic violence awareness which will make the employees feel comfortable working with their colleagues and ultimately make a huge difference in your workplace.
5) Encourage Employee Interactions:
You should encourage your employees to get to know each other. Encouraging your employees to interact will help to develop a positive relationship within the workplace which will lead to a peaceful work environment where everyone can relax down and work without being stressed.
If your employees are comfortable talking to each other and are friends, they will have no issue sharing their problems with one other and may even help each other out on different tasks. Hence it would be wise for you to encourage such interactions by hosting events where your employees can socialize and enjoy talking with each other outside of a professional environment.
Also, consider organizing lunch for your staff members outside after every term so that your employees can relax around each other and interact with you and others and feel comfortable.
6) Have A Clean And Comfortable Office:
To ensure that you can work peacefully, you need to at least be working in a clean place. Nothing puts people off more than working in a place that is messy and has a bad odor. Not only will you struggle in concentrating on your work but there is a high chance of your important documents getting lost.
Apart from this, you may also be at a higher risk of getting sick which will impact your productivity and will cause a decline in the performance of the company. Another important aspect to remember is that you need to be working in a comfortable environment too.
You need to be relaxed while you are concentrating on finishing that report which you need to present tomorrow otherwise you will constantly feel irritated. Not only that but having low-quality equipment may cause other problems such as you may suffer from back pain by sitting on that low-quality chair within your office.
7) Have Good Lighting Facilities:
One thing that many people complain about when discussing their workplace is the lack of sufficient lighting facilities available. It has been found that being exposed to natural lights play a role in improving the mood and performance of your employees.
Since your workers will feel more relaxed when they are satisfied, it would do your company good if you install large windows in your office so that plenty of sunlight can enter. However, the statistics do not look good so far since many employees have complained that there is little to no sunlight inside their work which makes it look dark and gloomy.
Not only will you lower your costs spent on the electric bill but it is confirmed that natural light is also healthier for an individual to stay healthy and have higher productivity.
8) Schedule Breaks:
If you spend a lot of time working on a screen, it can be unhealthy for you. You should regularly take breaks from your computer screen so that your eyes can get a break from the work that you have been doing for hours. Such breaks will help you to work with a relaxed mind so that you can go and concentrate on your work again.
Spending too much time on the screen will increase the process of you getting burned out which will only cause your productivity to fall. Take regular breaks while you are at work and you would also be wise enough to take some time off after you are done with a project so that when you come back, you will be relaxed and energized to work again.
Conclusion:
Many people find it difficult to focus on their work when they are stressed so the manager should create a relaxing environment within the office so that the employees can relax a bit and work without having too much pressure on their back.
There are several ways you can create a positive environment without incurring too many costs. As your employees work constantly, they do require little breaks from time to time while you can also encourage training and a fair system of accountability so that the employees have trust in the system and are willing to stay with you.
You can also encourage your employees to open up and interact with themselves by regularly organizing lunch and events where they can socialize and lower their stress levels.
